The Early Years
The Scarab Club was formed in 1907. It began as an informal association named the Hopkin Club after the founder, marine painter Robert Hopkin. The members met regularly to talk art, eat dinner, and critique paintings. The club's vision since inception was
"to promote the mutual acquaintance of art lovers and art workers; to stimulate and guide toward practical expression the artistic sense of the people of Detroit; to advance the knowledge and love of the fine arts in every possible manner; and to maintain a clubhouse for entertainment and social purposes as well as to provide working and exhibit facilities for artist members."
Renamed the "Scarab Club" in 1913, the club grew in popularity, and member Lancelot Sukert, a Detroit architect, designed the current clubhouse, which opened its doors on October 5, 1928. The interior of the club is decorated with objets d'art created and contributed by members over the decades. The building showcases exquisite tile sculptures from Pewabic Pottery, including the Scarab Club logo. The ceiling beams of the lounge once served as the club's guest book, and poet Vachel Lindsay signed as one of the first visitors. Since then, signing the beam has become a ceremonial honor, and the autographs of art world luminaries such as John Sloan, Diego Rivera, Pablo Davis, Marcel Duchamp, Norman Rockwell, and John Sinclair grace the beams.
The club's themed costumed balls, held from 1917 to 1950, were the single most important social event in Detroit each year. Life magazine covered the 1937 event with a two-page photo spread, and The Detroit News and The Detroit Free Press also gave the annual balls two pages in their photo sections. Radio station WJR broadcast live from the 1937 "Scarabean Cruise" ball.
The annual Exhibition of Michigan Artists at the Detroit Institute of Arts was originated by the Scarab Club in 1911. In 1915 the Scarab Club Prize became the top award and in 1917 the first Scarab Club Gold Medal was awarded. The gold medal is still the club's most prestigious award, given each December at the Gold Medal Exhibition and Dinner.
Read more about this topic: Scarab Club
Famous quotes containing the words early years, early and/or years:
“Even today . . . experts, usually male, tell women how to be mothers and warn them that they should not have children if they have any intention of leaving their side in their early years. . . . Children don’t need parents’ full-time attendance or attention at any stage of their development. Many people will help take care of their needs, depending on who their parents are and how they chose to fulfill their roles.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“I do not know that I meet, in any of my Walks, Objects which move both my Spleen and Laughter so effectually, as those Young Fellows ... who rise early for no other Purpose but to publish their Laziness.”
—Richard Steele (1672–1729)
“Not too many years ago, a child’s experience was limited by how far he or she could ride a bicycle or by the physical boundaries that parents set. Today ... the real boundaries of a child’s life are set more by the number of available cable channels and videotapes, by the simulated reality of videogames, by the number of megabytes of memory in the home computer. Now kids can go anywhere, as long as they stay inside the electronic bubble.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)