Schreckengost Owners Help Recruit Venues and Owners

An Update on the Viktor Schreckengost National Centennial Exhibition, June 2006

The Viktor Schreckengost Foundation staff and several dedicated volunteers are working overtime to register interested exhibition venues and connect potential venues with owners who want their pieces to be part of the National Centennial Exhibition next spring. The Exhibition, a national series of 100 simultaneous shows of Schreckengost works, is scheduled to open during the 100 days before Viktor's 100th birthday on June 26, 2006.

While the opening is still several months away, we are working against the clock to confirm all 100 venues by the end of August. The reason for the rush? The Foundation will be publishing a catalogue that will feature all 100 venues and the pieces to be exhibited. Deadlines are looming in August and September for high-resolution photographs and text that describe the pieces and exhibition venues.

"We have—across the board—an enthusiastic response from both owners and venues," explains Chip Nowacek, Foundation Executive Director. "What’s so interesting is that the uniqueness of the show makes it challenging to communicate about it. It's not well understood by the venues; it may take several times around for them to get it." He describes trying to make venues understand the unique, multiple-site structure of this show series. "But it’s so fun to see the light bulb go on, when they see that this is a very different way to think about exhibiting things—to think of a country as a gallery."

"The level of detail, the number of telephone calls, and the amount of information that must be organized is just mind-boggling," says Chip. He has created special databases to link venues, owners, and pieces. A summer intern is finding and entering descriptions and commentary related to the pieces that are confirmed for exhibition. Now owners of Schreckengost pieces have jumped into the fray to help confirm exhibition locations and works.

Joe Kisvardai, who owns several Schreckengost pieces, has been helping locate owners and potential venues. He explains his excitement about the National Centennial Exhibition. "He has an amazing ability to do so many things and to do them so well," he says. "Artists often make a tremendous career of just one thing: a painter, sculptor, or designer, but Vik did all of them, and superbly." The National Centennial Exhibition will spread the word about Viktor to the general public, he says. "When his work and images come on the American scene, people will just be scratching their heads and saying, 'Why haven’t I seen this before?' because he’s touched so many of us in so many ways. Initially 100 venues sounded like a tremendous undertaking, but I think he could very easily get 1000 venues."

Larry Waldman of Shaker Heights, Ohio, agrees. He has been collecting Schreckengost pieces since the late 1980s, when he purchased some Salem China dinnerware. Now he owns various ceramics and watercolors by Viktor. Like Joe, he has volunteered to help organize the Exhibition. "I’m acting as a liaison between various collectors and the Foundation. We’re all very happy to participate and looking to honor this great man," says Larry. "I think it’s a well-deserved honor for someone who has done so much for so many people. It’s a way of involving a greater audience in his creative spirit."

When asked what he would tell collectors and potential exhibition venues that haven’t signed on to the National Centennial Exhibition, Larry responds, "Get on board before the train leaves! Don’t delay, guys; you’re going to be sorry if you don’t participate. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that any collector should not miss."

If you’d like to participate in the Viktor Schreckengost National Centennial Exhibition, please complete and return your application materials as soon as possible:

Click here for an explanation and timeline of the National Centennial Exhibition (for both owners and venues).

Click here to view a prototype National Centennial Exhibition poster. Posters like these will list names and locations of participating venues.

Click here for an application....

If you are an owner

If you are an exhibition venue