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1/24/2019

Art History Doctoral Candidate Coordinates Exhibition and Lectures on World War II at Holocaust Center

Photo taken at last year's exhibition

Artistic Expression Through Conflict: 1939—1945

Featuring Dr. Jonathan Grant’s lecture “U.S Photo Exhibits: The Beginnings of Holocaust Education”

Exhibition: February 3 – April 5, 2019

Opening reception: February 3, 2019 at 3:00 pm

The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida
851 N Maitland Ave, Maitland, FL 32751


Black and white photo of man holding an airplane's propeller
Dog Nose Art

Florida State University’s College of Fine Arts welcomes visitors to celebrate the opening of the exhibition Artistic Expression Through Conflict: 1939—1945 at the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida on February 3, 2019 at 3:00 pm. This show, coordinated by Art History doctoral candidate Alison Reilly, will be on view from February 3—April 5, 2019. Showcasing more than 120 objects from Florida State University’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, the exhibition explores art as a critical device to provide psychological support to soldiers on the battlefront as well as a tool to commemorate personal experiences during pivotal events in the Second World War.

Artistic Expression Through Conflict: 1939—1945 consists of five sections that include both amateur and military-sponsored art during World War II: painting, music and the USO, sketches of war, unconventional art, and photography. Each category considers the armed services documentation of historical moments and GIs recounting their wartime experiences through personal artworks. Highlights include photographs from the Paul K. Dougherty collection, which recorded the movements of General George S. Patton’s army and the liberation of Dachau, and paintings by Peter Sanfilippo, a soldier who produced watercolors detailing scenes from his time stationed in European Theatre and North Africa.

Enfant from previous exhibition
Enfant a l’Etoile

This exhibition is organized by the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience under the directorship of Dr. Kurt Piehler. The show was curated by members of the Institute’s staff: Julianna Witt, Patricia Singletary, Gabriela Maduro, Jake Toyota, Dakota Yeager, and Simone Burgin, and coordinated by Art History doctoral candidate Alison Reilly. The display has been coordinated by Alison Reilly, an FSU doctoral student in Art History, along with the extraordinary efforts of Anne Marsh, Mike Kasper, Isabella Seijo, Huaqing Shi, Terrance Hunter, and Dr. Jonathan Grant.

To present Artistic Expression Through Conflict: 1939—1945, the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience partnered with the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida. The Holocaust Center’s exhibitions and programs are sponsored in part by the Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program, United Arts of Central Florida, home of OrlandoAtPlay.com and UAArtsEd.com, the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.


Special thanks to Anne Marsh, Mike Kasper, Isabella Seijo, Huaqing Shi, Terrance Hunter, and Dr. Jonathan Grant for their assistance in coordinating the project.