Dallas, TX -- (SBWire) -- 10/22/2013 --El Centro College presents "Jackie and Main Street," a gallery art show examining the influence of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy on fashion retail during the early 1960s, opening Monday, November 11, through Friday, December 13, 2013, in the H. Paxton Moore Fine Art Gallery:
WHO: El Centro College, Vintage Martini and the Dallas Municipal Archives, City of Dallas
WHAT: Jackie and Main Street: a retrospective on the influence of fashion by Jacqueline Kennedy during the 1960s
WHEN: Monday - Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.; Thursday, 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.; Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., November 11 through December 13, 2013.
WHERE: H. Paxton Moore Fine Art Gallery, El Centro College, B Building, 801 Main Street (@ Lamar), Dallas, Texas 75202 (214) 860-2115
HOW MUCH: Admission is free and open to the public
Ken Weber and Greg Kelly, owners of Vintage Martini, are supplying all the historically accurate clothing for the exhibit. Recently featured in Vogue magazine as one of Dallas' finest boutiques, Vintage Martini has provided vintage clothing to many movies and television shows, including AMC's Emmy award-winning "Mad Men," a comedy-drama set in the 1960s about the advertising industry, which has received acclaim for both its historical authenticity and costume design.
"This unique exhibition of historic fashion and iconic photography from Dallas at the time of the assassination highlights just one small aspect of what we, as a city and as a nation, both gained and lost from this enormously influential First Lady," said Weber. "While we all must collectively take time to remember those terrible events that happened just a few blocks from El Centro some 50 years ago, I also hope we can celebrate the tremendous legacy Jackie Kennedy left us and the entire fashion industry with her truly unique design and style during her all-too-brief time in the White House."
The exhibition will also feature several unique articles from Weber's private family collection. At the time of the assassination, Weber's grandmother, Violet Weber of Missouri, was very involved in the re-election campaign of President Kennedy.
Founded in 1966, El Centro College's main campus in downtown was the previous home of the historic Sanger-Harris Department Store on Main Street, located two blocks from the School Book Depository Building. Several witnesses to the Kennedy assassination were either en route to Sanger-Harris or had just left the store to see the President's motorcade. The newly discovered George Jefferies 40-second Super 8 color film shows a smiling Jackie Kennedy waiving to the crowd as the motorcade passed directly in front of Sanger-Harris on Main Street (http://youtu.be/JY384ITlbTw).
Within a few years following the Kennedy assassination, Sanger-Harris moved from their location on Main Street and subsequently opened a new flagship store a few blocks away on Akard Street (which now now is the location of the headquarters of Dallas Area Rapid Transit). El Centro College acquired the old building and opened its doors to students in 1966.
In juxtaposition to the fashion display will be iconic images featuring ephemera, mug shots, fingerprints, and documentation of crime scene locations from the Dallas Police Department investigation into both the assassination of President Kennedy and the subsequent arrest and murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.
"We have omitted the more well-known images of the Texas Schoolbook Depository, Dealey Plaza, and the assassination itself, in order to focus on lesser known photographs that communicate in a fresh way the period style, so as to bring the viewer into the lens of early 1960s fashion," said El Centro College gallery director Randall Garrett. Garrett added that Dallas City Archivist John Slate had been instrumental in providing access to the historic images used in the exhibition.
El Centro College is located adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Memorial as well as the newly renovated Founders Plaza.
About Vintage Martini
Vintage Martini (http://www.VintageMartini.com) provides the best in fashion from yesterday and today. Located on Main Street in Carrollton, Vintage Martini, is a consignment store specializing in historic clothing that sells hundreds of dresses, shoes, jewelry, and other accessories to fashion enthusiasts around the world.
About the Dallas Municipal Archives
Established in 1985, the Dallas Municipal Archives (http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/cso/archives.html) is a division of the City Secretary´s Office and contains over 2,000 cubic feet of departmental records in a variety of forms and formats, including ledgers, manuscripts and typescripts, maps, photographs, microforms, and printed materials. The mission of the Dallas Municipal Archives is to document and preserve the permanently valuable and historical records of the government of the City of Dallas, and to effectively provide access to information to citizens and city employees.
About El Centro College
Located in the heart of downtown Dallas, Texas, El Centro College (http://www.elcentrocollege.edu) is a vibrant, urban community college that is fully committed to a seamless educational process and life-long learning.
The H. Paxton Moore Fine Art Gallery (http://www.elcentrocollege.edu/artgallery) seeks to showcase local, regional and national artists working in a variety of media as well as host exhibits traveling nationally.
The El Centro Fashion Design and Marketing programs are both recognized as leading educational programs throughout the fashion world. The Fashion Design (http://www.elcentrocollege.edu/programs/fashion-design) program at El Centro is a dynamic, hands-on series of academic coursework that stresses the essential skills every fashion designer needs: sewing, pattern-making and designing. The Fashion Marketing program at El Centro College (http://www.elcentrocollege.edu/programs/fashion-marketing) is a nationally renowned vocational education curriculum that specializes in the business side of fashion – combining modern business principles with ambition, creativity, and enthusiasm.
