New Constellation (art prints of 1986 shuttle disaster)

Some of my readers know that I taught art on and off. 

For a while, I collected diverse art.   I sometimes imagined having a permanent eccentric art display — that could be used to teach small groups about art.  Art styles, media use, EOA, POD, artist bios, social movements, art movements, etc.  However, that idea waned and I donated 80% of my stuff (and never looked back, trust me). 

From that collection, here are two prints from January 29, 1986.

 The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986 and the next day, Orlando Sentinel cartoonists Ralph Dunagin and Dana Summers made drawings of the Space Shuttle crying and of a new Constellation.

 I guess these prints were “over” printed, which meant there were likely too many floating around. That was probably for the better. Maybe not for the collector, but for the people – because these wonderful drawings were received with so much love. Brought a lot of solace to people in Florida – and eventually to all in the US. I was not in Florida at this time – these prints were given to me during the 1990s, and these prints are an example of the “power of art” – so let’s see what you think – here they are: 

This is my copy of the Dunagin/Summers Crying Shuttle with an MC Escher feel (thinking of the blogger formerly know as the Doobsters with this as well). From the Orlando Sentinel: March 8, 1986 Although they secretly admit to loving the attention over their two cartoons of the shuttle tragedy, Orlando Sentinel cartoonists Ralph Dunagin and Dana Summers believe almost 200,000 reprints and 3,000 autographed copies may be too much.The two cartoonists — whose drawings of a crying shuttle with seven doves and a new constellation of the shuttle touched thousands — spent hours Friday at Cape Canaveral autographing about 1,500 of 20,000 reprints given out by NASA to its employees.The Sentinel reprinted 75,000 copies of the cartoons for the public, another 100,000 for Central Florida schoolchildren and allowed NASA to reprint 20,000.” Dunagin and Summers host a comic strip called the Middletons (here)

 

 

I also wanted to share this from the Sentinels’ archives:

“New Constellation

February 2, 1986

WHAT FOLLOWS was written Tuesday night. Now that I’ve seen cartoonist Ralph Dunagin’s powerful visual image of the space shuttle Challenger as a ”new constellation,” I realize the poem may be redundant.

Still, I feel I must send it in an effort to come to terms with this loss of seven people who have moved us forward by their equal sharing of risk and danger, and the excellence of their achievements here on Earth:

Tonight there should be a new con tellation,

Seven stars in the lucid dark.

At dawn the trees wept ice;

Shrouds wrapped our tender shoots and flowers.

Before noon we watched the rocket lift, explode into the sky.

Five men, two women, brown skin and white, shattered into equality.

All afternoon the sets replay this dream

That ends — always — with the same freeze frame.

Tonight, if we were Greeks, there would be new heroes

And heroines — riding the heavens forever.

by Elizabeth Ann Auerbach Jan 1986

from ALTAMONTE SPRINGS”

The entire paper for 1/29/86 is here:

 

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have a nice day and thanks for dropping by – and let me know if you like the prints.

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