The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity has announced that Chuck Amuck: A Legacy Of Laughter, a retrospective exhibition of art and artifacts, will open with a free-to-the-public opening night reception on Friday, February 26, 2010 at Tempe Center for the Arts in Arizona, and remain on display through June 18th. Full details follow:
Chuck Amuck: A Legacy Of Laughter
A Retrospective Exhibition of Art and Artifacts from the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity
Opens February 26, 2010 at Tempe Center for the Arts
A free-to-the-public opening night reception will be held from 7pm to 9:30pm in the TCA Gallery, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, Arizona, to inaugurate the exhibition which will be on display through June 18th.
“The city of Tempe and the Tempe Center for the Arts are thrilled to play host to this marvelous exhibition. Children and adults of all ages will enjoy and learn about Jones, whose work and legacy continues to fill us with laughter and inspiration,” enthused Michelle Nichols Dock, Gallery Coordinator for TCA.
This exhibition of original sketches, paintings and animation production art highlights the life and art of legendary artist, animator and director Chuck Jones who not only helped bring to life famous cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, but also created the iconic Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, along with many more. This exhibit will be the largest and most comprehensive exhibit of art by Jones since his retrospective held at the Capitol Children’s Museum, Washington, D.C. in 1988.
The opening night festivities will also include a Chuck Jones Cartoons and Short Films Screening beginning at 7:30pm in the theater of TCA. The film festival, hosted by Jones’ grandson Craig Kausen, will be free – tickets are required and will be available at the door that evening, but note that seating is limited.
“It has been wonderful working with everyone at TCA on this exhibition and all of us at Chuck Jones Center for Creativity are looking forward to sharing the creative genius of Chuck Jones with the citizens of Tempe and environs. As Chuck Jones famously said, ‘any project is 99% hard work and 1% love and only the love should show.’ We know that, with the help of TCA, CJCC and its volunteers, only the love will show when this exhibit opens on the 26th,” said Craig Kausen, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Chuck Jones Center for Creativity.
A free-to-the-public Family Creativity Festival will be hosted Saturday, February 27th from 10am to 2pm. Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, the Gallery at TCA and the theater troupe, Childsplay will host three free hands-on art booths that day. There will be TCA volunteer-led tours of the Chuck Jones exhibit as well. Childsplay, the local children’s theater troupe will also present a performance of Peter and the Wolf.
About Chuck Jones: In a career that spanned almost seventy years, Jones made over 250 films, won four Academy Awards, and was nominated for six others. Jones’ razor-sharp eye for character movement, his legendary sense of timing, and his beguilingly irreverent wit have combined to create some of the classic cartoons of all time, including these classic films released by Warner Bros: Bully for Bugs, Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century, Duck Amuck, Rabbit Seasoning, The Scarlet Pumpernickel, Robin Hood Daffy, A Scent of the Matterhorn, and Feed The Kitty.
Jones also created and directed some of the most popular and critically-acclaimed animated television specials in the history of the medium, including Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Horton Hears A Who, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Mowgli’s Brothers, and The White Seal.
On March 25, 1996, Jones’ work was celebrated with a special Lifetime Achievement Oscar, presented to him at the Academy Awards by Robin Williams. In addition, Chuck Jones has been honored with three other Oscars, nine Academy Award nominations, a Museum of Modern Art retrospective, two honorary degrees and countless honors including France’s greatest creative honor—Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Chuck Jones died at the age of 89 in February 2002, but he leaves a legacy of brilliance, comedy, joy, color, and laughter that will live on forever.
About TCA: Tempe Center for the Arts stages innovative programming that enriches, enlightens, inspires and expands the artistic horizons of the Tempe community. The TCA is a unique visual and performing arts experience built by the community for the community. The Center offers a unique blending of arts and culture at a distinctive destination designed by Tempe-based Architekton and award-winning Barton Myers Associates of Los Angeles and houses a state-of-the-art, 600-seat proscenium theater, a 200-seat studio theater and a 3,500 square-foot gallery.
About CJCC: The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity is dedicated to fostering and encouraging creativity, especially in young people, using the drawings, films, and writings of legendary animation director, Chuck Jones, as inspiration. It encourages the expression of artistic creativity and promotes an environment where that spirit can flourish. Jones’ art and ideas continue to influence contemporary artists, filmmakers, and writers through the vast resource of his work accessible through the Center for Creativity’s online archive.
