Additional Information
Interview of Mr. McKissack from 1980, in five parts.
MCKISSACK, JEFFERSON DAVIS (1902-1980). Jeff McKissack, born on January 28, 1902, in Fort Gaines, Georgia, the youngest of five children of Jefferson Davis and Beulah (Hill) McKissack.
McKissack's interest in the orange as a source of nutrients and energy was prompted by his job trucking oranges from the farmers' market in Atlanta, Georgia, through the Southeast during the Great Depression.qv He served in the army in 1942 and 1943, then worked in a navy shipyard and learned to weld, a skill that proved essential in construction of the Orange Show.
Over the next twenty years McKissack collected roof tiles, fire escapes, decorations, and other architectural refuse from the sites of Houston buildings that were being demolished or remodeled, as well as steel wheels, turnstiles, and tractor seats. With this material he constructed a multicolored maze that covers about a tenth of an acre. Messages written in tile and displays fabricated from items that McKissack purchased at antique stores and junk shops proclaim that the installation is dedicated to the health benefits of oranges. When asked why he built the Orange Show, he responded with a variety of explanations, including Edison's handshake and his own inability to find the perfect orange juicer. He called his work "the most beautiful show on earth, the most colorful show in harmony and the most unique" and estimated that 90 percent of the country's population would want to visit it. When the crowds did not materialize after the show's grand opening on May 9, 1979, neighbors observed that McKissack withdrew; seven months later he died of a stroke, on January 26, 1980.
The following year a diverse group, organized by art patron and civic leader Marilyn Lubetkin and ranging from Dominique de Menil to the rock group ZZ Top, donated money to purchase McKissack's Orange Show from his heir. The Orange Show Foundation, established in 1981 to restore and operate the facility, also sponsors children's art classes, special events, and tours of other folk art environments, thus ensuring that the Orange Show functions as a fitting monument to McKissack's eccentric vision.
Read more about this topic: The Orange Show
Famous quotes containing the words additional and/or information:
“Don’t you think I’ve had enough excitement for one evening, without the additional thrill of a strange man making love to me?”
—John L. Balderston (1899–1954)
“Many more children observe attitudes, values and ways different from or in conflict with those of their families, social networks, and institutions. Yet today’s young people are no more mature or capable of handling the increased conflicting and often stimulating information they receive than were young people of the past, who received the information and had more adult control of and advice about the information they did receive.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)