Stern Board c. 1940

Editor: This is "Stern Board," a drawing by Mary E. Humes from around 1940. It's rendered in colored pencil and watercolor. The American eagle immediately evokes a strong sense of national pride, but the colors feel a little muted, almost nostalgic. What layers do you see within this seemingly straightforward image? Curator: It’s interesting you say nostalgic, because I immediately think of simpler times – but maybe that’s the surface-level symbolism doing its trick! This piece screams of a time when patriotic imagery wasn't quite as, shall we say, *ironically* deployed. Look closely. Notice the carefully rendered feathers – almost like scales, hinting at a deeper strength, a protective armor, if you will. The eagle clutches both arrows of war and the olive branch of peace, classic symbols…but what kind of peace *is* it offering, presented with that arsenal at the ready? Editor: So, it's a layered message, not just simple patriotism? Curator: Precisely! Think about when this was created - on the eve of global conflict, of a time when America was caught in an internal conflict of needing to be both protector and neutral power, there is a constant struggle represented by a single being here. What’s peace without the means to defend it, after all? It speaks of an era wrestling with its identity on the world stage. It makes me ponder my role as both curator and person! Editor: That's a fascinating point. I initially took it at face value, but seeing it as a reflection of the era's anxieties gives it so much more depth. Curator: Art is like a funhouse mirror, distorting and reflecting us back to ourselves, revealing not always the most expected thing but often a necessary self portrait. Editor: I will think about all the different layers of art that tell the same stories as other forms of discourse. Thank you.