Fairfield Hosts Two “Grapes of Wrath” Discussion Groups

As Door County’s month-long celebration of John Steinbeck’s classic 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath through the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read initiative draws to a close, the Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art in downtown Sturgeon Bay will join the long list of peninsula institutions – from Washington Island in the north to Forestville in the south – to host free community book-discussion groups. The first is dedicated to Door County’s teenagers, while the second is open to all members of the public.

“Migrant Mother,” by Dorothea Lange, 1936, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

On Wednesday, January 30 at 4 pm, the art center is inviting area teens to attend a special discussion of The Grapes of Wrath, facilitated by Ann Hippensteel. On Thursday, January 31 at 1 pm, all interested members of the public are encouraged to join Fairfield staff and volunteers for a spirited discussion of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel in the third-floor Newkirk Gallery. Here, participants will be surrounded by a special exhibition held in conjunction with The Big Read in Door County, titled “The Grapes of Wrath: A Visual Story.”

For those who haven’t yet visited the Fairfield to view this exhibition, which opened on January 16, the book discussion will be an ideal opportunity to visually explore the world of the migrant Joad family through the photographic works of Dorothea Lange, Horace Bristol and Arthur Rothstein, all of whom documented the Great Depression. In fact, Bristol traveled with Steinbeck, documenting the plight of the agricultural migrant workers in California. His photographs were used heavily as references when casting the Academy Award-winning 1940 film version of The Grapes of Wrath, which starred Henry Fonda, John Carradine and Jane Darwell.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

The Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art is open free to the public, 10 am – 5 pm Wednesday through Saturday during the offseason. For more information about the art center and its upcoming exhibitions and events, call 920.746.0001, send e-mail to [email protected] or visit http://www.fairfieldcenter.org.