Lee Southerland Collection of Essential Post-postmodernism

The Essential Post-Postmodernist gallery is a project of the 2012-2015 board of directors under board chair Lee Southerland, a response to the growing trend of cynicism that seems to go hand-in-hand with the global community of the 21st century. After a number of college students had visited the museum and left cynical comments on social media,  the staff and board elected to reinforce the essentially positive and optimistic nature of Beebee Dayle’s legacy by creating a special collection of the museum’s most positive and optimistic pieces.

Much recent creativity has been labeled postmodern, a vaguely defined movement that often incorporates a distrust of established narratives—a movement created in part by the profound alienation engendered by World War 1 and reinforced by the second World War. While it is as difficult to perceive an artistic epoch from the inside as it is for a fish to understand its water,  Southerland selected the pieces of the gallery to develop the post-postmodern  ideal, of pieces that challenge reason and cynicism with abstract expressions of vitality and faith.

The Lee Southerland collection of Essential Post-Postmodernism is on display in the Museum’s foyer, near the main entrance and information kiosk. The effect of the early afternoon sun sparkling on countless sequins is breathtaking, best observed in midsummer.