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Norman Rockwell News

21 Nov 2005

Old Shipyard's Glory Put on Display

Artifacts and photos detailing the once thriving local shipbuilding industry are on display at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation exhibit aboard the Battleship New Jersey Museum. The New York Shipbuilding Corporation -- named for its intended location on Staten Island -- established a high reputation for itself by building the newest, high-speed warships from the beginning of the 20th century into the 60s. New York Ship grew to become the largest shipyard in the world by 1917, and built nearby Yorkship Village -- a self contained neighborhood in Camden now known as Fairview -- to cater to a growing work force. Seeing the slide-rules, eye glasses and scribing tools on display sparks questions about the people of the period. Who used these things? Who wore these things? Women, that's who.

11 Mar 2003

Maritime History: Mariners in the Artist's Eye

We couldn't say it never happens, but we doubt it is any too frequent: a fine artist, commission in hand and passion in heart, sets-up easel, mixes palette, and fervently depicts the people at work at the of Motor Vehicles department. Sure they're good people, and they uphold social order. Still, their setting, their actions, their challenges each day, do not seem the sort to engage the artist. This is the stuff for the Kodak Advantix. Artists could spend hours reproducing a gesture that took a split second in life. This gives them time to think. What was the mood of that gesture, and its eventual effect? The artist expands time with those thoughts, having seen what came before, during, and after the instant depicted.