{"id":23224,"date":"2016-05-29T23:33:27","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T03:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewestmoreland.org\/?page_id=2513"},"modified":"2016-05-29T23:33:27","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T03:33:27","slug":"the-smile-that-changed-the-world","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/thewestmoreland.org\/press-releases\/the-smile-that-changed-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"The Westmoreland Museum of American Art Invites the Public to Participate in THE SMILE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (is yours) Art Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong>
\nCONTACTS:
\nClaire Ertl, Director of Marketing & Public Relations
\n724.837.1500 x128
\ncertl@thewestmoreland.org<\/a>
\nCharlene Bidula, Manager of Communications
\n724.837.1500 x133
\ncbidula@thewestmoreland.org<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

\"DC <\/strong>Artist John Schlimm pictured with his participatory The Smile<\/em> art project in Washington, D.C.<\/h6>\n

GREENSBURG, PA, Thursday, May 26, 2016 \u2013 Artist John Schlimm will bring his participatory art project THE SMILE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD <\/em>(is yours)<\/em> to The Westmoreland Museum of American Art on Sunday, June 5 from 11 am – 5 pm, sponsored by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The event will be free and open to the public. For the day, a large canvas will be installed on the North Main Street bridge, which connects downtown Greensburg to the Museum. (Should it rain, the project will move inside to the Museum\u2019s art studio space.) The public is invited to paint their personal smile onto the canvas, and the finished canvas will then be on view from June 7 to July 3 in The Westmoreland\u2019s Robertshaw Gallery as a special exhibition that relates to the Museum\u2019s portrait collection.\u00a0Additionally, the Colonel Eagelburger\u2019s Highstepping Goodtime Band<\/em>\u00a0will be performing from 11 am – 3 pm, and the Museum will offer a variety of hands-on art projects for visitors. This date coincides with The Westmoreland\u2019s regular All About You! Free Admission Sundays, which occur on the first Sunday of every month through the generous support of the Jack Buncher Foundation.
\nOn Saturday, June 4 from 1 – 2 pm the Museum presents In Conversation with Author and Artist John Schlimm<\/em> as part of the Art Beat lecture series. The international award-winning author and artist John Schlimm will discuss his new, bestselling memoir\u00a0Five Years in Heaven: The Unlikely Friendship That Answered Life\u2019s Greatest Questions<\/em>\u00a0during an interactive question and answer session, followed by a book signing.\u00a0Five Years in Heaven<\/em>\u00a0is about John\u2019s life-changing five-year friendship with 87-year-old ceramic artist Sister Augustine, a former nun in Schlimm\u2019s hometown of St. Marys, Pennsylvania. The event will also include a pop-up exhibition of Sister Augustine\u2019s most famous series, her abstract Gussie\u2019s Special bowls with select pieces from John\u2019s personal collection, which has never been publicly seen before.
\nAbout John Schlimm
\n<\/strong>John Schlimm is a Harvard-trained educator, an artist, and an award-winning writer. He has traveled the country speaking about motivational topics, including his \u201cEmbrace Compassion, Change the World\u201d keynote address on Capitol Hill. John has appeared on such national media outlets as The Ellen DeGeneres Show<\/em>, Bravo\u2019s Watch What Happens: Live<\/em>, NPR, Martha Stewart Living\u2019s Everyday Food<\/em>, The Splendid Table<\/em>, QVC, and Fox & Friends<\/em>, and is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post<\/em> and is an \u201cArchitect of Change\u201d for MariaShriver.com. THE SMILE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (is yours)<\/em> debuted with installations in Canada and Washington, D.C. before coming to The Westmoreland.
\nAbout The Westmoreland Museum of American Art
\n<\/strong>The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, located at 221 N. Main Street in Greensburg, PA, recently completed a transformational renovation and expansion project, hosting a community grand reopening celebration in late October of 2015. A new LEED-certified addition adds over 13,000 square feet to the Museum and features a dynamic cantilevered design along with a stunning view of the City of Greensburg and the Laurel Highlands beyond. The Westmoreland\u2019s permanent collection is comprised of works by major American artists from the 18th<\/sup> century through the present, with a special emphasis on Southwestern Pennsylvania art and artists. The Museum also offers an impressive schedule of temporary exhibitions of American art \u2013 both nationally-travelling and those organized in house \u2013 as well as events and community-oriented educational programming for all ages.
\nMore information is available at thewestmoreland.org<\/a>.
\n 
\n###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS: Claire Ertl, Director of Marketing & Public Relations 724.837.1500 x128 certl@thewestmoreland.org Charlene Bidula, Manager of Communications 724.837.1500 x133 cbidula@thewestmoreland.org   Artist John Schlimm pictured with his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"templates\/wmaa-default-back-link-only.php","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewestmoreland.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/23224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewestmoreland.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewestmoreland.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewestmoreland.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}