If you attend any of the Plaza Classic Film Festival’s screenings at the El Paso Museum of Art this year, check out the exhibition the museum’s curators have on display near the auditorium.
During World War II, the United States government commenced a vigorous propaganda campaign aimed to rally up public support in efforts to win the war. They recruited the nation’s most talented artists and filmmakers to inform, engage, and persuade the greater public.
The posters in this exhibition, The Art of Propaganda: War Posters from the Collection, come from a collection of nearly 600 posters that were gifted by Rose Nordwald and the El Paso Public Library to the El Paso Museum of Art in 1975. The posters on display reflect various themes and subjects within most of the films that will be shown in the EP Energy Auditorium during the Plaza Classic Film Festival. Due to the delicate nature of the posters, the 10 posters in this exhibit only will be on view for the duration of the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
These films include several directed by noted Hollywood directors, including John Ford (The Battle of Midway), Frank Capra (Why We Fight: War Comes to America), John Huston (The Battle of San Pietro), William Wyler (Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress) and Stuart Heisler (The Negro Soldier). Additionally, Connie Field’s 1980 documentary The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter will screen.
The Art of Propaganda: War Posters from the Collection will be on exhibit at the El Paso Museum of Art, 1 Arts Festival Plaza (corner of Trost Court and Santa Fe Street) from Thursday, July 17 through Sunday, July 27. Museum hours are from 10 am-6 pm Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 11 am-3 pm Sundays (closed Mondays and Tuesdays). Admission is free. 915-212-0300, epma.art
Image: Detail from Leon Helguera’s Americans All. Let’s Fight for Victory, 1943. color photo-lithograph on paper, 27.875 x 20 in. El Paso Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Rose (Otto T.) Nordwald and the El Paso Public Library, 1975.29.85. Photograph by Marty Snortum.