Vintage Photographs and Shoe Shine Boxes at the Center for Visual Arts
DENTON, TX.- This will be the first venue outside of PDNB Gallery for the traveling show, SHINE. A smaller version of this exhibition debuted at PDNB Gallery last Fall.
The Greater Denton Arts Council has graciously accepted this unique exhibit for the Meadows Gallery at the Center for the Visual Arts. Photographs and various shoeshine paraphernalia will be featured.
Burt Finger, Director of PDNB Gallery, has collected shoeshine boxes the past 8 years. It all started with a gift of a shoe shine box given as a special piece of folk art by a friend. The collection of photographs with the same subject became an integral part of the compilation as well.
Morris Engel, New York City - Fred Wagner - Shoeshine Boy, 14 St., 1948. Images courtesy Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery
Many stories of successful entrepreneurs started at a young age with the “start-up” shoe shine business. This narrative of a young man’s first plunge into commerce offers a nostalgic look into our own youthful dreams of making our own money. But most of these photographs were taken in the Great Depression, when shine boys, and men, worked hard to help support their families.
The boxes from this collection are from different parts of the world. Some have their original tools, the brushes, polish etc. Each require the same features. The box has to be small enough to carry, but big enough to top with a man-sized shoe rest. They also need storage big enough to carry all the tools, either in drawers or an empty space below the shoe rest.
Related posts:
- Pavel Schmidt presents Kafka cycle at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
- Center for Cuban Studies Art Space Shows Rare Photographs
- Baltic Center for Contemporary Art Announces Partnership with Sky Arts
- Eight Remarkable Canadians Win Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts
- New international centre for the visual arts designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects opens in Colchester
