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Archive Jul 28, 2015
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If any film artfully captures the uninhibited 1960’s surf counterculture while documenting the historical revolutionary importance of the decade, it’s “The Endless Summer”.
The Surfing Heritage and Culture Center (SHACC) in company with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the Lemelson Center for Innovation and Invention is recognizing this societal impact that surfing has made on American history by accepting a representation of artifacts, and their stories, including a timeline of significant surfboards, the film “The Endless Summer” and the iconic movie poster by artist John Van Hamersveld.
Hamersveld’s 51-year-old “The Endless Summer” poster remains a pop-culture phenomenon and a celebrated Southern California lifestyle staple.
Hamersveld recently unveiled his latest piece, the “Great Wave” mural in Hermosa Beach, Calif., a pop-art piece paying tribute to the “surf city,” and the 50s and 60s surf history. Spending most of his life celebrating California surfer subculture and its surrounding social hub, now it is Hamersveld’s turn to be celebrated.
The Lemelson Center for Innovation and Invention will be hosting a “Wave of Innovation: Surfing and The Endless Summer” artifact donation ceremony at our nation’s capital at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
“Not only is it the single most recognizable image in surfing but it was also tremendously influential in its introduction of the use of day-glo, which would become the standard for a whole generation of pop art images that would soon follow,” said SHACC Curator Barry Haun.
Bringing together surf celebrators and art history enthusiasts alike, the donation ceremony will deliver a curated timeline of surfboards, an original 16mm copy of the film “The Endless Summer,” the classic poster, as well as a selection of theater handbills ticket stubs and other significant artifacts in an official Smithsonian ceremony.
The Washington, D.C. artifact donation event at the National Museum of American History will take on Saturday, August 22. Educational presentations and panels discussing the impact of surfing and “The Endless Summer” on today’s society will be held in the new “West Wing” of the NMAH Lemeslon center.
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