The Benton Museum. (Zheyun Lang/The Daily Campus)
With election season in full swing, The William Benton Museum of Art is debuting its newest exhibition tonight “Presidential Campaigning Over the Decades.”
The collection will have more than 60 presidential campaign flags and textiles made between 1815 and 1912, according to a press release.
There will also be an official Massachusetts broadside of the Declaration of Independence printed in Massachusetts on July 20, 1776.
All the pieces are from The Mark and Rosalind Shenkman Collection of Early American Campaign Flags.
Opening reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by a panel discussion moderated by University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst at 7 p.m.
Guest speakers include UConn Associate Professor of Art and Art History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Alexis Boylan, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of History Frank Costigliola and Professor of English at UConn and Director of American Studies Chris Vials; as well as Jeff R. Bridgman, owner of Jeff R. Bridgman Antiques, Inc. and expert on antique American flags and dealer in American political textiles.
The exhibit will be on display until December 18. The hours of The Benton are: Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4:30 p.m.; closed on Mondays. Admission is free. For more information visit Benton.uconn.edu
Angie DeRosa is the life editor for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at angelina.derosa@uconn.edu. She tweets @theangiederosa.
