The response to our project is amazing! One person who would like to express our gratitude is Dennis Harper, curator of collections and exhibitions. He shares a little about what your donation means to our visitors from his perspective. JCSM welcomes nearly 40,000 visitors per year.

Support to build collections can go beyond the 24 hours of #TigerGiving through charitable gifts to Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. The 1072 Society is comprised of friends of the museum who contribute funds annually for the purpose of acquiring new art for JCSM's permanent collection. Donors who contribute through January 31, 2016 will join the 1072 Society Class of 2016. 

As support for the 1072 Society grows, so does the pool of resources we can purchase the very best of what the competitive art marketplace has to offer our community.

We are issuing the challenge to our donors and friends to donate within this timeframe. If you would like more information about the 1072 Society or for more ways to give past #TigerGiving contact Cindy Cox, JCSM office of development at 334.844.3005 or cindycox@auburn.edu

Those who are passionate about the arts have helped Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University achieve many goals over the last 12 years. From establishing an art collection for $1,072 in 1948 to a physical home for the collection in 2003 to professional accreditation in 2013 and beyond.

We are beyond proud to have exceeded our initial goal. But, you can still help create power art experiences for the Auburn Family.

Each year, a varied selection of art is exhibited and considered for purchase for the permanent collections in the 1072 Society Exhibition. The focus for 2015-2016 is photography and this year's exhibition features historic, traditional and contemporary examples, like Schaefer's Elektro Licht Kraft Sign. We selected Schaefer's work because of his connection to campus as an alumnus

Here's another work that has a tie to our area and is under consideration for purchase.

Lewis Wickes Hine, (American, 1874–1940), Opelika, Alabama, October 1914, From the series completed for the National Child Labor Committee, Vintage gelatin silver print, Courtesy of Robert Mann Gallery

Hine’s title caption:

Going back to work. Youngest boy is Richard Millsap. The family record in bible says he is 11 years old—born January 22, 1903 (doubtful) and father says 12 years old. He appears under 9. Works every day at spinning, and has been for some weeks. Boss saw investigator photographing him and whistled to him to get out. This photograph was gotten as he went in to work. Then boss took him off his regular job and put him helping others. Mother was furious at boss for not giving Richard and sister (a little older) more steady work. “He keeps changing em around and helpin others. I’ll tell him that if he doesn’t give em plenty of work there is plenty of mills that will.” Father and mother both well and able to support family. Location: Opelika, Alabama.

Founded in 1904, the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) was as an organization committed to the abolition of child labor. Lewis Hine felt so strongly about the NCLC’s work that he quit his teaching job and traveled nationwide on its behalf to photograph the working conditions of children in coal mines, meatpacking houses, textile mills, and canneries. As evidenced by the elaborate captions he prepared, Hine factually documented many of the photographs he made through conversations with his subjects. These interviews, as well as the noticeable 5 x 7 box camera he used, often brought him into direct conflict with factory managers. Hine noted that he regularly resorted to duplicity to take his photographs and conduct his talks, but he “made double-sure that my photo data was 100% pure—no retouching or fakery of any kind.” Because he realized his photographs were subjective, he described his work as “photo-interpretation” and he defined a good photograph as a “reproduction of impressions made upon the photographer which he desires to repeat to others.”

In the NCLC archive at the Library of Congress there are two versions of Hine’s image of the Millsap family returning midday to work, at what we believe to be the Opelika Cotton Mill. This tightly cropped version, features the family group making its way from the bright sun-filled mill yard toward the shadowy building which dominates the background. What frequently makes Hine's social documents so memorable is his use of strong modernist compositions as seen here. He has included a sharp triangular dagger of light as a dramatic formal device that separates the barefoot boy and girl at right from the larger group. Hine’s vision and progressive politics influenced others, such as the young Paul Strand, who was his student at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. Strand acknowledged Hine’s impact, noting how he arranged field trips to Alfred Stieglitz’s 291 Art Gallery—a bastion of modernist thinking for his classes. Hine will always be remembered for the impact he had not only on the lives of American children but also in American photography.

If you are in the area Tuesday, come visit Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University (901 S. College Street) today between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to make your Tiger Giving Day donation with our animatronic donation box, "Artful Dodger." Each piece is modeled after works from the permanent collections. The whimsy and magic when you insert a bill into this interactive display is truly educational and entertaining. All donations receive via the donation box Tuesday will go towards our project, demonstrating the transformative power in every gift.

Should you wish to contribute at the $100 level or above and receive additional recognition for your charitable gift, please ask the front desk to call our development office at 334-844-1675, or give online.

JCSM is a charitable non-profit organization committed to lifelong learning and community enrichment. Art Changes Lives!