Public Art Works In Cities

Durham, North Carolina prides itself as being a well rounded, diverse community. This diversity is reflected wonderfully in Durham's burgeoning arts community in the form of sculptures, murals, galleries, and public artworks located throughout the city. Please read on to learn about some key stops for you to make when visiting eclectic Durham.

Funeral art you say? Yes, Durham has some noteable and exceptional examples of funeral art, if that is something that meets your desire. Two cemeteries, Beechwood and Geer, feature graves of important early African-American business and cultural leaders, while the Maplewood Cemetery contains Italian marble figures and Victorian "funereal" art. Incidentally, Maplewood features the graves of confederate war veterans and tobacco magnates.

Of course, not everyone likes visiting graveyards, but art museums do abound in Durham.

The Nasher Museum of Art is located at Duke University and it houses a fine collection of Russian, European, African, and pre-Columbian artwork. Nearby at North Carolina Central University is an art museum containing African art objects, 19th and 20th century African-American collections, and works submitted by students of this historically black institution.

A stroll through downtown Durham will reveal many murals not easily appreciated by the driving public. Check out the Locomotive mural over at the Amtrak station; The Killer Tomato mural on Foster Street; the Here Comes the Sun mural on the Wee Shop Building; and the untitled mural on the Durham County Social Services building.

Foster Street is an arts-lovers paradise as the venerable thoroughfare contains a half dozen studios. Not to be outdone, the Durham County Public Library on Roxboro Street has paintings, drawings, tapestries, and sculptures while the Sarah P. Duke Gardens features a lovely metalwork fountain and many sculptures.

Fans of vintage art will not be disappointed in their visit to Durham. In the American Tobacco Historic District the Lucky Strike Smokestack and Water Tower hold prominence there. Over on East Parrish Street are signs for Chiclets, Double Mint, and Pepsi-Cola, while on West Main Street the famed Bull Durham Tobacco sign can be observed.

Finally, if the performing arts grabs your attention, then Duke University has five theaters and auditoriums to meet your needs.

Many galleries and studios hold planned exhibits throughout the year. One of the biggest is held in December -- the Durham Art Walk -- featuring over one hundred working visual artists, many of whom have their own studios downtown.

So, next time you visit Durham, plan on spending some time getting to know the city' unique tapestry of artists. There is something for you no matter how eclectic your tastes may be.

Popular Vintage Postcards And Illustrations

Vintage postcards are the thing nowadays. Illustrations that are vintage have been the most popular pictures and images used in many postcard printing projects. In fact, many have even made a collection of vintage postcards as a hobby.

One major factor of these vintage postcards being popular is that the vintage illustrations have helped the postcards to stimulate curiosity and interest of those who are not familiar with a certain era. Attraction have been generated for most people that made it easy for most vintage postcard printing design to catch the eyes of their target readers.

It's a proven fact though that people are most certainly attracted to things that are unfamiliar to them. Likewise, anything that speaks of, or illustrates an era gone by piques almost anyone's curiosity. What do people of a certain time have in fashion? Or what is the lifestyle during a particular time?

It seems that the less modern graphics are used, the more attention your project can get from your target readers.

But do you know how these vintage postcards came to be? When did they start becoming popular?

From 1939 to the present times, vintage postcard printing first came to being during the photochrome era. This is during the late 1930s. Also known as the Modern Chromes, the postcard printing pieces of that age were catching the eyes of many collectors mostly because of the colors applied. The colors appealed to a population that has embraced color images not only in their postcards, but most importantly in their movie industry. Hence, the popularity of The Wizard of Oz film.

The very first "Chrome" postcards were launched by the Union Oil Company in their service stations in the western part of the US. In 1939, they were the most widespread print material in the marketing industry. They were quickly reproduced, with high quality results, and most significantly, they were printed in color.

The spread of these vintage postcard printing pieces were momentarily subdued during WWII because of shortage in supply. But they were later revived and eventually replaced both linen and black-and-white postcards in 1945.

From 1900 to the present, there was also the vintage Real Photo Postcards that were produced from photos and developed onto photographic paper. It is very difficult to know their exact dates because most have lost their postmark or the photographer have not been able to indicate it in their postcards. Hence, there is much confusion in identifying them in the present time as there is nothing to indicate if they are reproductions or not.

Collectors of vintage postcards tell the real from the reel by looking at these postcard printing pieces with a magnifying glass. A real "Real Photo Postcard" has solid picture, while a reprinted one is made up of a lot of little dots.

Then there's the Art Deco Era (1910 to 1930s) that made popular the vintage postcards that have vibrant colors as their design. Art Deco subjects are usually of the past such as the ancient Greeks, Middle Eastern themes, and Egyptian artifacts, among others. The most common illustrations on Art Deco vintage postcards were ladies in fancy vogue style clothing; as well as the presence of sharp angles and straight lines.

Although vintage postcard printing has supposedly ended around the 1930s, it was during this era that the greatest volume of postcard printing pieces have been produced.

Lynne Saarte is a writer that hails from Texas. She has been in the Internet business for some years now, specializing in Internet marketing and other online business strategies.