-: Well, hi, everyone.
Thanks again for joining us today
for our webinar featuring the Art of the USS Monitor.
And we're going to apologize up front,
but Kyra with The Mariners' Museum is having a little bit
of technical difficulty trying to get her webcam to work.
Her presentation is fine.
The museum had an outage about 15 minutes
before this broadcast was supposed to start,
so we're just experiencing a little bit
of technical difficulty,
but we do welcome you today
and we're so happy that you could join us.
So I'm Shannon Ricles,
the Education and Outreach Coordinator
for Monitor and Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuaries,
and I'm gonna be your host today along with Mark Losavio,
the Media and Outreach Coordinator for Monitor and Mallows.
This webinar is brought to you
by NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
in collaboration with the North Carolina Office
of State Archeology.
Now, partnering since 1975,
NOAA and the State of North Carolina work to research,
honor and protect the hallmarks
of North Carolina's underwater cultural heritage,
which are shipwrecks.
These shipwrecks hold information
about the ever-changing technologies
and cultural and physical landscapes.
They serve as uniquely accessible underwater museums
as a memorial to generations of mariners who lived,
died, worked, and fought off the shores.
This is one of the many webinars that we will host
in the coming months
for the "Submerged North Carolina Webinar Series"
in collaboration with the North Carolina Office
of State Archeology.
Now, Monitor is just one of 15 national marine sanctuaries
and two marine national monuments
in the National Marine Sanctuary System.
Now, this system encompasses more than 620,000 square miles
of Marine and Great Lakes waters
from Washington State to the Florida Keys
and from Lake Huron to American Samoa.
Now, during this presentation,
all attendees will be in listen only mode.
Now, you are welcome to type questions
for the presenter into the question box
at the bottom of the control panel,
which is on the right hand side of your screen.
And this is the same area that you can let us know
about any technical issues you might be having
that we can help you with.
We'll be monitoring incoming questions and technical issues,
and we'll respond to them just as soon as we can.
We are recording this session
and we will share the recording
with registered participants via the webinar archive page.
A URL for this page will be provided
at the end of the presentation.
So without further ado, we want to welcome Kyra Duffley,
a Multimedia Production Specialist
at The Mariners Museum and Park in Newport News, Virginia.
And Kyra, I'm now going turn it over to you.
So I'm going make you presenter.
Kyra: Wonderful.
[Shannon] And let you go from there.
Kyra: Thank you so much.
[Shannon} You're welcome.
Kyra: And I want to make sure
that y'all are seeing my screen behind me.
I do apologize for the outage today.
As Shannon said, we are having a little bit
of a technical difficulty over here,
but it actually works out with this being a presentation
about art because this is not really about seeing me,
this is about seeing the works in our collection.
So I'm really, really glad to have you guys here with me.
So many of us know the story of the small ship
with a short but mighty life that launched,
and fought, and sank, and was lost and then found,
the ship that became immortal, an enigma and an icon.
The technical marvel, the cheese box on a raft,
the little ship that saved the nation, USS Monitor.
But the story of USS Monitor is more than the story
of a ship, or a battle, or a sinking or a shipwreck.
It's more than a story of technology or a turret.
It's a story of looking towards the future,
of seeking and searching,
of discovery, of achievement and loss.
It's a story of people and inspiration.
So if you've seen the video series
that my team and I produce here
at The Mariners Museum and Park called "Beyond the Frame,"
you'll already know
that this is not going to be an art history lecture.
For those of you who have not seen the series,
our goal with "Beyond the Frame" is to make viewing art,
especially maritime art,
accessible, approachable and engaging.
We use little bits of the context surrounding the works
to help illustrate the narrative
that I truly believe anyone can see.
So as I mentioned a moment ago,
this is not going to be an art history lecture.
In our "Beyond the Frame" series,
we believe that you don't have to know all of the facts
surrounding every single piece
to be able to appreciate or understand it.
You just need time,
a little bit of curiosity and an open mind,
because when you use those to look at a work of art,
I truly believe that you can uncover a world of connections.
So with this in mind,
I invite you to join me in an exploration of that spark
of inspiration that USS Monitor has lit in so many artists
through the ages.
We're gonna look at these works, yes,
with the basic facts and context,
but especially from the lens of inspiration.
And in seeking the story that these works can tell,
I hope that you'll be open to forming
and exploring your own connections to the artist
or to the point in Monitor story that these works depict.
I also hope that we can, together,
celebrate the individual flames of inspiration
that show in these works through these artists,
through their artistic treatment
and then their similarities and differences.
So today, as you can see on screen,
we're going to look at a selection of four works
that depict key points in USS Monitor's story.
First is going to be a work showing the Battle
of Hampton Roads.
Next is going to be two paintings of the sinking
and the final is an intimate moment on the sea floor
of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
during the 2002 turret recovery mission.
So these works are incredible.
They have a span of 1892 to 2013,
and none of these belong solely to any specific art style.
They're truly unique,
and inspired and reflect facets of Monitor's story
that so clearly have touched the artists.
So I hope we can enjoy this and get started.
With a crack and a bang, another shot is fired.
It explodes mid-air.
Shrapnel punches down
sending water splashing around the vessels.
They're clouded in a swirl of white and black smoke.
The acrid sting of gun powder fills the air
and shots ring out deafeningly.
In the background ships of sail can be seen,
one battered and sinking.
They watch as the next generation of warships dance
in front of them.
It's an ungraceful and dizzying one,
but the encounter is important.
It is a battle for the ages,
the clash of the ironclads.
This is Worden Wood's 1925 watercolor on paper
depicting the "Battle of the Ironclads."
But it's possible
that this story carries an even deeper significance
to the artist.
Worden George Leveret Wood was born
on February 1st, 1876.
He served in the Naval Reserve,
and then was later called up to the US Navy.
And according to his family, as we can see here,
he was a member of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders
during the Spanish-American War.
I do also think that it's worth noting
that Worden Wood is the father of Hunter Alexander Wood,
who also served as a fantastic combat and marine artist
and served in the Coast Guard.
We featured his work in "Beyond the Frame,"
episode seven called "The Rescuers."
So if you're interested in learning more about Hunter Wood,
you can feel free to check that out afterwards.
But it's the artist's name that might ring a bill
for those familiar with USS Monitor's story, Worden.
It echos the memory of the famous Union Naval Rear Admiral,
John Lorimer Worden, who captained USS Monitor
during the Battle of Hampton Roads.
And according to family resources
and several outside sources,
Worden Wood is believed to be his grandson.
I do have to add the caveat here that we are still working
to solidify that connection,
but nonetheless it seems likely that
in Wood's naming there was that influence there.
In addition to Wood's military service,
he was a very skilled artist.
His technical abilities in watercolor really shine through
in his treatment of all of his works,
especially his ability to depict action and excitement.
We can see in these two travel ad prints
the glowing excitement that comes
from those rosy tinted clouds,
the feathery brushstrokes and the dazzling colorful waves.
And this work is no different.
Of course, as is imaginable,
The Mariners' has many works in all types of media
regarding USS Monitor,
but especially surrounding the Battle of Hampton Roads.
But so many of the works are actually set
from this high angle like we can see
in these two prints on screen.
They look down and show the battle
as if it's seen from a hill on shore or this stylized,
almost bird's eye view perspective.
It's a little hard to connect with a piece,
and it seems unrealistic.
In this work, Worden has actually set us at a low angle
as if we're in a water on a ship just nearby,
watching this firsthand.
We see those plumes of water splashing in the foreground.
And that water, it ripples with the purples and blues.
The peachy tone of the paper in the background contrasts
and simultaneously seems to compliment the blue,
creating the effect of light reflecting on the water.
The billows of smoke drift from a heavy smog
to a light vapor.
Monitor fires a shot at CSS Virginia,
and we see a glint of orange suggesting the action
that we are seeing.
A bomb explodes midair there in the foreground.
And it's in almost a comic like shape,
like something that we would see in a comic book.
And the structure of this explosion
not only shows us the action,
but in an almost onomatopoeic-like way
we can hear it too.
Of the works of the battle,
this one has really stuck out to me.
And I think that it's because of the romanticized action
and the excitement that Wood has brought to it.
We see his skillful composition and artistic choices.
And through those, Wood has transported us into this scene
to be observers, but also to reflect on the significance,
to watch part of this historic battle unfold,
this battle that was possibly part of his own heritage.
So as we move into our next piece,
I do have to say that this work has additional significance
to me because it was the very first "Beyond the Frame"
I ever wrote.
And in fact it was this painting
that I chose to start the whole series.
And I do love opportunities like this
because although we're not able to connect via video,
you can see the screen
and we can sort of pull back the curtain a little bit
and share a little bit more than I get the opportunity
to do in the videos.
And if you're familiar with the series
then you might remember this work.
And though it was the first script I wrote,
it actually became the third episode in the series.
The topic of USS Monitor,
yes, is a thematically appropriate starting point
for The Mariners', but we felt that the weight
that this work carries was a bit too heavy
for the opening of a new series.
Its poignance is echoed in all elements of this work.
Shannon: Kyra?
Kyra: Yes ma'am.
Shannon: Okay, we were not seeing anything,
just a green screen.
I just wanted to make sure
that's what we were supposed to be seeing.
Kyra: Oh yes, sorry, I was pausing between the images.
Shannon: Okay, just wanted to make sure, yep.
Kyra: I appreciate it.
So as we look at this piece,
the piercing moonlight begins to emanate
from the canvas like a siren song.
It calls us closer, pulling us in as we approach this piece.
The wind whips around us, the clouds envelope us,
the waves engulf us.
There seems to be no escape.
It's too late.
And personally I'm a sucker for chiaroscuro.
It's that intense contrast of darkness and light
that creates drama in the work of art.
We see it here in the waves that are illuminated
and the waves that are shrouded in darkness.
It's one of the things that drew me to this piece
in the first place.
And in fact, I really did fall in love
with this piece the moment that I saw it.
And I have to admit that despite its location
within our Monitor Center,
I did not really even put two and two together
to realize that this was a Civil War work.
In the darkness, the drama,
the haunting blue-green colors of the stormy waves
and the intensely mesmerizing moon,
I was lured in.
And looking at this work, "Rescue of the Crew
of USS Monitor by USS Rhode Island, December 31st, 1862"
or alternatively titled "The Sinking of USS Monitor"
by artist William Richardson Tyler,
it's a piece that's best, excuse me,
it's an experience that's best enjoyed
over a few minutes, at least.
With the darkness here,
you need a second to let your eyes adjust
like they do when you flip off the lights.
But once they do, a dramatic scene plays out.
The moonlight illuminates a ship with a red light
on the center right of the canvas, USS Rhode Island.
It rolls to its port side
and the bow is lost in the darkness of the waves.
Its stern and masks are silhouetted against the deep blue
of the dark sky.
We can see that the masks create
these long intense diagonals.
I've shown those here with those arrows.
And then those diagonals are also mirrored in the waves.
They crisscross and intersect.
And that choice to use diagonals
in a composition creates drama,
which is precisely what the artist has done here
through the use of that chiaroscuro and these diagonals.
We can see that the ship is being tossed
by the rough waves of a storm,
but somehow there's a calm, there's a stillness,
like this is a moment frozen in time.
But then we have to pause and ask ourselves,
what moment is artist trying to freeze?
Luckily, with a little bit of context from the catalog entry
and of course the title,
we're given context:
this is a scene of a rescue mission
during the final moments of USS Monitor.
And if we look closely just left of center,
we can see a tiny boat filled with figures.
And let me tell you,
if you come to the galleries and look at this in person,
it's so hard to see the boat
and its passengers are really just a few dabs
of paint consumed by the darkness.
But if you look very, very closely,
you can see the spray crashing around this boat
as it's headed for the Rhode Island.
So then we go back to the title,
okay, "Rescue of the Crew of USS Monitor."
"But where is USS Monitor?"
We'll ask ourselves,
and then we see it ever so slightly there
in the darkness off to the left,
the waves are swallowing it already.
It's lost, and some of the crew are escaping
in that little boat.
But the artist has actually done something
really peculiar here.
So typically the use of chiaroscuro highlights the subject
or emphasizes something important in the work of art,
but here the waves are a part that's illuminated.
And when I first started looking at this piece
and working on it, I was just racking my brain
thinking what is the artist trying to show?
You know, because this initially seems
really counterintuitive.
Every bit of the subject that he's included
in the title or that we have in the context
of this work seems to point to USS Rhode Island
as being the subject.
But then with that illuminated space
between the small rescue boat and the Rhode Island,
we realize that the subject is instead the act
of escaping to safety.
And through his use of drama,
through his use of chiaroscuro,
Tyler has actually frozen this moment
that makes us ask, "Will they make it?
And then what is going to happen next?"
This drama has created tension like a cliffhanger
at the end of your favorite show.
So of course, as if this painting wasn't eerie enough,
we see something strange,
and I would ask for you to look closely at your screens.
So ever so slightly just off the back of the Rhode Island,
we can see something strange like a shadow
of the Rhode Island ever so slightly more centered
on the canvas than where the Rhode Island is now.
So it looks like the shape has been changed.
That is called pentimento.
The artist has actually gone in and painted over part
of the image to change the composition
so we can still see sort of the ghostly outline,
the figure of the ship where the original composition was.
And I love this little bit.
This was actually one of my favorite things
when I first saw the pieces.
And I have to thank one of our former conservators
for pointing it out to me
because I would've probably missed it.
And that pentimento actually achieves two things
that help to amplify the drama, even unintentionally.
First, the artist has actually changed the narrative.
He's moved the ship further away from that lifeboat.
He's actually added space in between them,
and he's made that, will they, won't they moment
even more intense
by adding more treacherous water in between.
Secondly, it creates motion in the peace.
In moving that and having this ghostly blur,
it creates motion,
almost like a blurry photo of a moving object.
The lifeboat remains frozen in time
while the Rhode Island drifts further and further away
in this storm.
So we ask ourselves, you know,
will they ever make it?
Or will they ever catch it?
Or will it always be just beyond the grasps
of those sailors who are so desperate for safety?
And then ominously, if we look towards the Rhode Island,
we can see that red light.
We see the fate of USS Monitor
and part of the crew symbolized
by that red light on the Rhode Island.
And that fiery dab of red contrasts against the deep blues
and it glistens in the water,
it pierces through the darkness
and the reflection really seems to sink further
and further into the water
until the light is lost to the sea.
Of course, for those of us who know the story of Monitor,
we know that the eyewitnesses of this fateful night say
that the last thing that could be seen of USS Monitor
was its red emergency signal lantern
before it too slipped below the waves
to rest on the sea floor.
And this work on its own is stunning and haunting.
But the story of why this work was made
beyond depicting this historic event truly amplifies it.
Our catalog records note that this work was donated
by the Carl Espy family
in memory of Eloise Geer Gardner Espy,
who is the great-granddaughter of George Geer.
It was actually commissioned by Geer before his death,
and is actually noted in his obituary.
So here on screen we can see artist,
William Richardson Tyler, of this city is at work
on an oil painting that will show the rescue
of the crew of the Monitor
by the Steamer Road Island when the Monitor was sinking
in the gale off Cape Hatteras in 1863.
And it says, "The artist received most of his data
for the scene from Mr. Geer.
The remains will be brought to Troy for internment."
Not the remains of the painting,
but the remains of Mr. Geer.
So though it's likely that the artist's composition
was influenced actually from this image,
this print from "Frank Leslie's Illustrated News"
on January 24th, 1863,
as mentioned in the article,
it is said to have been informed directly
by Geer's firsthand account.
And I don't know about you,
but to me that brings so much additional weight
to this painting.
And in this work, the artist has
so successfully narrated Geer's harrowing story
through his techniques, through that chiaroscuro,
through the use of diagonals
and even through changing his composition
that even if we knew nothing about this story
or its tragic ending, we can just be caught.
We're just wrapped up in this piece.
We're sucked in, tossed in those waves
as if we're almost on a third ship
watching this scene play out.
We're set here, helpless spectators,
already mourning the loss of the first ironclad
and the brave men who went down with the ship,
and we are desperately hoping
that these few survivors can make it across
that dangerous moon-lit water to reach safety.
And he has just so amplified this
that he really just leaves us asking,
will they make it?
So will they, or won't they?
Sorry, I know I'm on a blank slide as we transition here,
but before we move into our next work,
I wanted to note that, you know,
one of the things that I really try to do
with the "Beyond the Frame" series
is break down these preconceived notions
surrounding maritime art.
And one of the things that's really amazed me about working
with the maritime art in our collection here
is that so many people, myself included,
believe that maritime art is realistically painted sure.
It depicts either the broad side of a ship or a battle scene
and they all look the same.
And I get it.
I thought so too before I really started working
with the art in our collection
or before I truly understood what maritime art is
and what it can be.
But one of my goals with the "Beyond the Frame" series
and in having the opportunity to talk about maritime art
is being able to work towards dispelling that notion.
So my response to somebody who would say
that all maritime works look the same
would be to show them the previous work
by William Richardson Tyler
and our next work side by side.
A heft of dark blue clouds,
like fingers begin to grip the sky,
engulfing it and threatening
to squash out the last semblance
of the bright orange moon's illumination.
Despite the shrouded light from the background,
this scene is fully illuminated.
Two stylized ships roll in the turning abstract waves.
It's a scene we might recognize,
USS Monitor's famous sinking
on the night of December 31st, 1862.
But it's depicted in a style so unique
that it makes us take a deeper second look
begging us to search further.
So art styles are really funny things.
They're more like Venn diagrams, in my mind,
or kind of like drops of watercolor.
They seep into each other overlapping and mixing,
sometimes forming something entirely new in the process.
They're not always as linear and defined
as textbooks may make them seem.
And of course, yes, some movements paved the way
for the next,
and some artists formed groups that adhered
to a set of artistic standards or principles,
but so many more simply painted what inspired them
and they painted it in whatever way they liked.
And in 1979, Robert Turner Ewell painted this inspired work.
And when first looking at it,
you might have a sense of deja vu,
especially if you're particularly interested in
or familiar with the story of USS Monitor.
If we were to strip away the vivid color and stylization,
we can see that this scene is replicated almost exactly
from the January 24th, 1863 edition of "Harper's Weekly,"
depicting the wreck of Ironclad Monitor.
Robert Turner Ewell was born and raised
in Norfolk, Virginia,
served in the Coast Guard
and then later worked for many years
at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard here in Portsmouth.
I had the opportunity to speak with his daughter, Linda,
and she told me of her father's expansive curiosity,
about how he was an avid learner fascinated
by technology and history.
But most importantly,
and the thing that really always touches me the most
is the joy he found in art and creating things
with his own hands.
As she described him,
the unique elements of his work truly began
to fall into place making so much sense,
you know, they reflect these inspirations in Ewell's life:
history, industry and creativity.
So of course as we spoke,
I had to ask the question, "Why Monitor?"
And I mean, that's what we're here for.
Why Monitor?
Linda told me that it was likely her father's connection
to his home here in Hampton Roads' local history
and his particular interest in the Civil War
that drew him to the subject matter.
This lifelong study of history is very possibly
what drove him to use the "Harper's Weekly" woodblock print
as his starting place.
But the thing that fascinates me the most about all of this
is the way in which he painted this work.
The style is just so compelling.
And I love this photograph actually from the family.
We can see that all four of the works
that are shown there have this wonderfully unique style.
It's segmented and broken down
and it's totally individual,
but it's one that seems to be drawn
from his interests and life experiences.
Ewell was a burner and a welder
at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for many years,
and he loved reading about industry and innovation.
So it's likely that those influences were a source
of inspiration for the highly mechanized feel of this work.
We see a riveted metal depiction of USS Monitor.
Yes, we know now it's artistic liberty,
but it emphasizes the Ironclad name.
We see these heavy puffs of smoke that rise from the ship,
and they appear solid and almost metallic.
I actually really love the smoke
coming out of this smoke stack.
It looks almost like a geode or a rock to me.
So it just really carries that heft and weight.
And then we look back at USS Rhode Island in the background,
and the side wheel on the Rhode Island looks very gear-like
on the gray ship
and especially amongst the rest of the mechanical aspects
of this painting.
Even the waves too,
that both of these vessels are being tossed
and look like they could be welded or fabricated.
The dark lines between them, they create this weight.
The scene is still and stagnant.
Those heavy outlines bring a separation
that makes this work feel
almost more sculptural than painterly.
So then of course being here at a museum,
we have to ask the question, how do we classify this?
You know, we look at the industrialism,
the color and abstraction
and we're racked with this question,
what do we call this style?
How do we put this in a box?
And sure, there's a lot of potential options:
pop art, psychedelic, maybe even steampunk.
I know, especially personally this piece reminds me a lot
of Peter Max or even the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" cover,
but none of those fit quite right.
Folk art comes a little bit closer
in that it's this reflection of local culture.
But this work, you know, it's individual,
it's singular and unique
even though it draws from many different influences.
We can see that it's born from this spark
of Ewell's creativity.
So his daughter told me of his artistic passion,
how he loved to make things with his hands.
He was an occasional artist and sold a number of pieces.
And I wanted to go back to this photograph of him here
because he's actually working on selling
some of his pieces at an art show in Murphysboro,
North Carolina in 1980.
And I think it's wonderful to get to see the artist
and this work together here in person.
But she told me that, you know, he never really,
truly thought much of his work,
and that's I think such a shame
because she told me that he would just light up
when someone liked one of his pieces.
And then when inspiration struck,
he created using a wide range of media
from drawing and painting to woodcarving.
So in the case of this work,
it was Monitor's story that sparked Ewell's creative flame.
By 1979 when Ewell painted this work,
the wreck of USS Monitor had been discovered,
its resting place designated
as the very first National Marine Sanctuary,
and its famous Red Lantern had been recovered
with a second expedition underway.
And it seems that the excitement surrounding Monitor story
had been rediscovered as well.
And that's an amazing aspect of this story.
But, you know, with Ewell being a local artist,
I think there's something more
that brings an amazing personal touch to this.
And that's because before there was a USS Monitor Center,
before the turret and other artifacts were raised
and brought here, Ewell walked the galleries
of The Mariners' Museum.
He actually brought his family here.
Linda told me about how he brought them here time
and time again.
She said he loved it here.
And I think perhaps he wanted his children to experience
that same spark of curiosity
that drove him to seek further and to create.
And the thing about Monitor's story is that there are
so many faces and facets of its life.
Like I said at the beginning,
it's not only the story of a ship, or a battle or a sinking,
it's so many stories in one,
it's multifaceted life,
whether in its inception and duty,
in it's sinking and mystery
or in its discovery and recovery
has the ability to inspire connection.
And that's what I think Ewell has showed us
in this painting.
He's really captured the thrill he finds in innovation,
mirrored in Monitor's story.
We see a tale of humanity possibly reflected
from his own service and a piece of his own local history
that he's studied so avidly.
And in the boldness of this work,
Ewell's many connections to USS Monitor and its story shine.
But in it too, he shared his inspirations and his story
and he's wrapped it all together in a way
that is purely his own to share with us.
These past two works were created 87 years apart
by artists of entirely separate backgrounds
and life experiences.
And yes, they painted the exact same night,
the exact same subject,
and both of them are based on news accounts,
but they turned out worlds differently.
And they are beautiful and unique
in their similarities and differences.
So the next time somebody tells you
that Maritime artworks all look the same,
I encourage you to remind them of these two pieces.
So as we're going to transition into our last piece,
I want to talk about individual experiences and inspirations
because so often it's these experiences like Ewell's
that lead artists to create.
And painting one's life or culture dates back millennia.
It's one of the most human instincts there is,
just like we like to capture important moments
on camera or video.
And for artists, it can be these big moments
that influence their works the most.
So for our next artist,
it was an experience with USS Monitor
that few in this world can say that they have
that drove his desire to create, to remember.
He sinks down deeper and deeper
all around him it's blue, blue, blue, blue.
At this depth all red,
yellow and orange light is filtered out.
It's dark like you're in a gray room
with only two small windows.
And then there it is, it begins to come into view.
It's hulking and cave-like,
upside down and covered in marine growth.
It could almost look natural
if you didn't know what this was.
He steps along the sea floor,
it's solid, but the sediment still billows slightly
with each step.
Then he moves forward,
slowly, gently, hand outstretched.
Hand meets iron.
In this fleeting moment of connection,
he imagines the history,
the sailors who had preceded him in service
to their country 140 years before,
some whose remains lay resting here at this sanctuary.
He snaps back to the present.
He has work to do.
He is Boatswain's mate first class,
diver first class, Michael Simo Simonetti,
and he is working to help raise USS Monitors turret
in the summer of 2002.
But before he gets back to his work,
he thinks, "This is a moment I'll never forget."
Art is fascinating in the way that it allows us
to peer into the mind of an artist,
see the world through their eyes,
through the lens of their creativity.
But there's something very special
about an artist allowing us to peek into their memory,
especially a life changing one like this,
one that we have never had the opportunity to see.
These works can have a different feeling to them.
The artist paints them with the emotions
that they felt at the time:
excitement, anticipation, poignance.
And yeah, sometimes these works are slightly different
from the exact memory depicting not just how something was,
but instead how it felt in that moment.
In this work,
"USS Monitor Wreck, 2002, Graveyard of the Atlantic"
by Michael Simon Simonetti, we see a scene, a memory,
but from a sort of out of body experience.
The artist and the viewer watch actually from a distance
as the artist's past self experiences,
this defining moment touching USS Monitor's iconic turret
before it was raised from its resting place 20 years ago
on August 5th, 2002.
On this day during this mission,
Simonetti was on a mixed gas heliox dive
235 feet to the sea floor
of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.
There in the Sanctuary with him was a master diver
and two other saturation divers.
He had two important jobs:
to run a cable around the hull so it could later be cut away
and allow the turret to be raised to the surface,
and then secondly, to look for artifacts.
in this painting, though,
despite the reality of the situation,
Simonetti has presented himself alone.
One of my favorite things about getting to work with the art
and the collection in this way is not just connecting
with the works, but also like in the last piece,
the Ewell's piece,
sometimes I have the opportunity
to connect with the artists' families
or the artists themselves.
And this work was especially special in my research
because I had the opportunity
to speak with Mr. Simonetti.
And I do have to mention
because it is absolutely worth noting
that this was the very first living artist
that has been featured in "Beyond the Frame."
So it was really incredible
getting to hear Mr. Simonetti's story firsthand
told by, you know, in the way that only he can tell it.
And so when I asked him why he chose to paint this work
and this way, he described to me the feeling
of privacy he had.
He told me about how the hard dive helmet he wore
limited his field of vision,
which was already obscured by the water.
He said it was dark and murky, almost like a cloudy day.
So in this work, he set the scene as he felt in that moment,
like there was nothing but him and this piece of history.
And he told me too, that as a sailor himself,
he felt a connection.
This ship, you know,
it was part of his heritage as a sailor.
But also in this moment he was thinking,
this is every little kid's dream,
diving on a sunken shipwreck.
And that's what we feel in this work.
And the contrast of the shadowy hull
against the intense blue with the light
from the surface trickling down on this wreck,
we feel the significance, the excitement and the adventure.
This is like something out of a storybook,
a tale to pass on, something to remember.
And one of the things that I loved most
about getting to talk to Mr. Simonetti
about this work was just his sheer excitement
in talking about this.
It really came through
even on the phone
and I think it comes through in this piece as well.
Mr. Simonetti began his naval career
in helicopter search and rescue.
But he told me how he applied to dive school three times
to get out of this field.
He poignantly told me
about how this decision came
after losing far too many friends
and attending far too many funerals.
But he said that in dive school,
and as his diving career began,
he told me about how much fun he had.
"High adventure," he told me laughing.
He thought back to when he was a little kid
and he would watch Jacques Cousteau
and dream of being an oceanographer.
And of course as for art that started in childhood too.
He told me he always loved drawing
and later would do commissions for friends.
Once his time in the Navy was done,
Simonetti dove fully into art,
actually pursuing a degree in painting and printmaking
at San Diego State University.
And this work came from his school portfolio.
"The prompt," he told me was,
"paint a memory that will always be with you."
In this work, Simonetti reflects on the moment
when he stretched out his black glove hand
touching the algae covered chocolatey brown
and rust-colored hull of USS Monitor.
It was this moment that he saw the indentations
on the turret made by cannonballs
during battle 140 years earlier.
It was the moment that he connected with the crew
and with the legacy of those who had served
and gone before him.
He painted this work to commemorate the history
that he touched, that he was helping to save.
And not only that, but also to celebrate this memory,
a story that he told me he would be proud to share
with his little granddaughter.
She was two at the time that we spoke.
And I just love the thinking about
that precious interaction.
Simonetti's service in the Navy,
both before in Helicopter Search and Rescue
and later as a part of the USS Monitor recovery team
of divers is a part of his story, his legacy,
but it's also so much bigger than that,
because he and the role that he played in his two weeks
on this mission affected not just his own personal history,
but also became entwined
with USS Monitor's 160-year history.
On this mission too, he told me about "The conga line
of divers from all over the world," as he described them,
and how they became close.
They became joined together through their shared dedication
and commitment to this incredible feat.
The service of all of the expedition participants
over the years, NOAA, the US Navy,
the archeologists, engineers, the divers,
our own museum team and so many more
made this incredible mission possible.
Together, they realized the amazing feat
of finding USS Monitor and recovering its turret
as well as countless other artifacts.
And they laid the foundation for the preservation,
conservation and stewardship of these objects
so that we can better understand them
and share their story with the world.
And that, for Simo and so many others,
is something to be proud of.
That is a story to pass on.
That is something to remember.
And the story of USS Monitor is something to pass on,
something to remember,
something that has influenced for so many years
and will continue to influence further.
And I look forward to seeing the works that come from that.
So thank you all so much for your time.
I do hope you enjoyed our journey together today,
despite our technical difficulties.
I do apologize again,
but like I said, it was about the art.
And I do hope that through experiencing works like this,
you've maybe found or deepened connections to USS Monitor
that may have existed
or maybe even you became connected to today.
[Shannon] All right, thank you, Kyra.
That's awesome.
I am going to take my screen back.
And Mark, if you wanna go ahead and turn on,
since Kyra's not gonna be on screen,
if you wanna turn on your webcam as well.
I'll turn on mine.
All right, this is the time that we have
for the questions and answers.
So if you've not put your question
into the question box yet,
we definitely encourage you to do so
so Kyra can answer your questions.
I do have one question for you, Kyra,
to start out with. -: Yes.
-: How many paintings does the museum have
that actually relate to the Monitor?
Do you have a a number?
[Kyra] I would have to check on that, because,
so our painting collection alone is over 1200 works of art.
I know that we do have quite a number of paintings
in our painting storage,
but if we were to actually count all of the watercolors,
the lithographs, the prints
that we do have in the collection,
I'm sure it adds up quite a bit.
So I would be interested to get a number to you,
but it's probably a lot. (laughs)
-: Okay, perfect.
Not a problem.
Mark, do you have a question that you would like to ask
that somebody's asked?
[Mark] I'm sorry, I have myself on mute.
We do have a question in the audience.
"For the, I think, for the newer paintings,
how long did it take them to paint them?"
The last two, I believe.
Kyra: The last two.
You know, I actually don't have a timeframe on those.
Mr. Simonetti was painting his Monitor work here,
as I mentioned, about for a part of his art school work,
so I'm sure that was a shorter timeframe.
As for Ewell, I'm not entirely sure,
but those outlines are actually, and I'll go way back,
sorry, if I'm making people dizzy, (laughs)
there we go,
those outlines, very interestingly,
I believe they're actually done with paint pen
if we look closely at that piece.
And so even just outlining those waves
would take a very long time
because this piece is actually larger than you would expect.
And it is worth mentioning that there will be more details
of this piece because y'all got a little bit
of a sneak preview today.
This episode or this painting is featured
in January's episode of "Beyond the Frame,"
and so there will be some more detail shots
that can show that closer up.
But really just seeing how thickly the paint was applied
and then how meticulously that he went around
with probably the paint pen.
I mean, I can imagine that this piece would've taken,
you know, several days or,
you know, possibly even a couple of weeks to do.
-: Wow, thank you. -: Okay.
-: Yeah.
Now, to go with that, in the Civil War time,
do you know about how long it took
before those news illustrations that you showed,
the "Harper's Weekly" and I forget what the other one was,
how long it took for those to actually be done?
Were they fairly quickly after the battle
or after the sinking?
Did they get published?
Or were they many years later?
Kyra: So those were actually printed fairly quickly
after the event.
What's really interesting
with some of those historic woodblock prints, like the,
oh goodness,
like the "Frank Leslie's" and the "Harper's Weekly,"
those, let me get back to it,
so when they were done in woodblock prints,
because they wanted illustrated magazines
and illustrated newspapers wanted visual depictions
to go out as quickly as possible,
sometimes there would be multiple artists
that would actually take a quarter of the scene
that was depicted.
So somebody would sketch up a design
of what the print block was going to look like,
and then they divided it into four pieces.
And so then there would be four print makers
who were all carving the wood blocks very quickly
and simultaneously, and that made it
so that they could be produced a little bit more quickly.
And there were even portable lithography stones
that were used to depict battle scenes and things like that.
So some of these could actually be turned around
in a matter of days.
So we do have depictions of the sinking.
These are from January 24th, 1862,
so, you know, less than a month after the sinking.
And, you know, for a woodblock carved print,
you know, that's pretty impressive,
the speed that they would do that with.
-: Okay. Mark?
-: So we have a couple of questions mentioning
that the Rhode Island looked different in each picture.
And so I guess the question is how accessible were,
like, pictures or photographs or representations
of the USS Rhode Island to these artists
when they were making their artwork?
Kyra: So that, I'm not entirely sure,
but that was actually something that,
you know, I asked myself, you know,
even in this print here,
we can see that things don't look exactly
how we thought they might look.
And I had a lot of questions for our conservation staff
who have worked with some of the technical depictions,
both of Monitor and, you know,
as I was going back through some historical documents.
I think there comes a point where we do have
to accept that, you know,
yes, there was photography at the time,
but it was very limited
and so the depictions would have likely come from retellings
of this story mixed sort of with people
who might have seen these ships before,
you know, they're in a situation like this.
So somebody might have seen the Rhode Island at one point
in time or seen the Monitor at one point in time
and so they're just depicting it how they saw it
or how somebody told them that they saw it.
So sometimes it becomes a little bit of a game of telephone.
But, you know, yeah,
mostly historic accounts can sort of warp
how these ships are actually depicted.
And there does, like I mentioned,
we do have to take it with a grain of salt,
the sort of artistic license that comes in there.
-: Okay.
One other question, Kyra, is in the Ewell's painting,
the one that looked very different,
there was a little spot of coral color in the center.
Did that represent anything?
Kyra: That is actually the moon.
And one of the things that I really,
really love about the moon there
is kind of like with the William Richardson Tyler piece,
we've just got this one teeny speck of red,
but in looking at complimentary colors
or contrasting colors,
blues and reds or like blue and orange
are going to be compliments across the color wheel
from each other.
And so in using those compliments,
it really like allows that color to pop
and become brighter on the canvas
just from simply being placed next to each other.
So, you know, if we had a lot of, you know,
rosy reds or purples that were included in those clouds,
then that moon that is just really barely peeking out
from behind those clouds would be so much less visible.
But in Ewell's use of the blues,
and the greens and the grays
and then utilizing this high contrast
corally orange color,
it allows that moon to just kind of punch through
so that we understand that it's there in the background.
You know, and that's one of the things
that I do love about the color choice in this piece,
is like I said, he could have treated the clouds differently
or he could've depicted the moon as being white,
and it would've totally changed the effect
of the moon in this piece.
So those little ticky things like composition, color choice,
line choice, they really do have such an incredible effect
on these works of art.
-: Okay. Mark?
-: Yes, you said that-
-: Sorry.
-: You were talking about one of the photos
of the sinking was in the Monitor Center.
Kyra: Yes.
-: If I wanted to see all four of these paintings,
where would I go to see them?
Kyra: Well, so this work by William Richardson Tyler
is actually the only one of these four works
that is actually on display in our galleries.
But this one, if you come to the museum
for just $1 admission
and you head into our USS Monitor Center
and you kind of follow it back and in,
you'll pass through the crew quarter type area
and pass to the, what we call the Battle Theater.
It's a video showing the Battle of Hampton Roads,
and then off to the left or as you exit the doors
of the Battle Theater,
this piece is gonna be right in front of you.
And it's kind of in a little hallway-type area,
and it's got a glass vitrine around it.
But it is stunning.
And let me tell you, it is far more stunning in person,
so I do highly recommend anybody who's local
or planning a trip to Newport News,
please do come and see it.
Now, these other three works are actually in our storage.
So the Ewell piece, as I mentioned,
will be featured in "Beyond the Frame's,"
in the episode of "Beyond the Frame"
that airs Friday, January 5th, I believe.
It's the first Friday in January.
And then the Michael Simonetti work
of USS Monitor on the sea floor is actually our episode
from August that we featured.
And really cool, it just so happened that it fell
on the anniversary of the turret recovery.
So that was a really, really special anniversary
to get to celebrate with this piece.
So you can find those two online.
You can also head to the museum's catalogs
at catalogs.marinersmuseum.org
to find more works in our collection.
You can filter down and search further from there.
And some of them do have images associated with them
as well as information about the artists,
about the work, about the sinking
and about some of the vessels depicted.
So for any of these pieces that aren't accessible
either through "Beyond the Frame" episodes
or through coming and visiting them in our galleries,
I do highly recommend y'all go online and check them out.
-: Okay, and with that I'll just go ahead
and remind everybody to download Kyra's bio in the chat box
because in that bio we put most of those links
that she just mentioned.
We put those in that bio
so you can get all that information there.
Any last minute questions?
I think we have time for maybe one more.
-: Let's see.
Can you tell me in the photo of the first photo you showed
with the sinking of the Monitor,
and I think you did talk about this,
but could you explain a little bit more about what
that bright light is on the Rhode Island
and the shadowy area of the photo?
-: Yes, absolutely.
So that red lantern
on the Rhode Island is Rhode Island's signal lantern.
And I believe just as Monitor would've had,
you know, the red signal lantern as well.
But I just think stylistically
it's so poignant and so beautiful
that we see it on USS Rhode Island
and in the same way that the orange of the moon
in Ewell's depiction of the sinking really stood out.
The red here creates a contrast that allows
that teensy, teensy, tiny little dab of red to stick out
even more so that, you know,
those of us who do know about the sinking,
who do know about the red lantern,
you know, can kind of get that immediately.
But this work is in our galleries
right near the lantern from USS Monitor.
And so I do hope that for those who come and see the work
in the galleries, they can sort of make that connection.
-: Okay, well, thank you, Kyra.
This was most fascinating.
Now, if we did not get to your question
or if you have additional ones,
you can all always send them to Kyra.
And her email address is listed here on the screen.
We also invite you to learn more
about visiting The Mariners Museum's website,
which is also listed here on the screen.
A video recording of this presentation will be available
on the sanctuary's webinar archives page,
and that's going to be found at that long URL
that's listed at the top of the page.
But don't worry, we're going to send it to you.
In addition, the webinar will be archived
on Monitor National Marine Sanctuary's website.
You'll just click on the multimedia tab section
in the toolbar to access the webinar box.
You'll also find future webinars in that same section.
And as I said, don't worry,
all of this information is gonna be sent to you
in a follow up email once the recording is ready to view,
and that usually takes about a week
before we get this up online.
So it will be up probably within a week or so.
But we do also host,
I'm sorry, we do also encourage you to join us back
in January, January 31st at 1:00 PM,
Captain Bobbie Scholley, US Navy retired,
who led the 2002 expedition to recover the Monitor's turret,
will be joining us.
And so come hear about the challenges the expedition faced,
and the triumphs and more
as she tells us the story of her leading the expedition.
And of course we invite you to follow us on social media.
So just stay in touch
and see what's happening within the Sanctuary.
We're on both Facebook and Twitter.
And lastly, as you exit the webinar,
there is a short survey for formal and informal educators.
So if you are an educator, NOAA would really appreciate it,
If you just take a minute or two to complete the survey.
I think there's like five or six questions.
Your answers will help NOAA develop future webinars
to meet your needs.
And your participation is voluntary
and your answers are completely anonymous.
So once again, we want to thank Kyra
for a great presentation.
And thank you for taking the time to join us today.
Have a wonderful day.
And this concludes the broadcast.