Delaware Art Museum revives the roaring ‘20s with public murals for its Jazz Age Illustration exhibition

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The Jazz Age is coming to life in Wilmington thanks to the Delaware Art Museum’s new exhibit celebrating a golden era of American culture from 1919 to 1942.

The Jazz Age Illustration exhibition celebrates the creative spirit and dynamic energy of that time period with bold illustrations, from eye-catching magazine covers to book designs and iconic album art.

The museum’s executive director Molly Giordano said jazz music set the rhythm for a changing nation and added that the exhibit explores a theme not many have tackled before.

“We try to highlight unique exhibitions that focus on Illustrated arts and no one had ever really tackled the Jazz Age before,” she said. “We were just really excited to have an opportunity to look at this unique aspect of American history through illustrated art forms.”

In addition to more than 200 pieces of art on display inside the museum’s facility on Kentmere Parkway, the Delaware Art Museum is also taking a unique approach by bringing the artwork directly into the public eye, aiming to make the Jazz Age more accessible to everyone.

“The museum’s mission is to educate and inspire and provide diverse experiences to our community. We’re always trying to make the museum welcoming, inclusive, [and] have fun unexpected experiences,” Giordano said. “If you live or work in the city of Wilmington and see this giant mural of this amazing work of art from our Jazz Age show, that will really make you feel like the museum is part of the community.”

“Public art is a great way to build strong and resilient communities, and neighborhoods and it’s been proven again and again,” she added.

Heather Campbell Coyle, the museum’s curator of American art, is the driving force behind the exhibition, which explores social change, diversity and the wide-reaching appeal of Jazz Age illustrations.

“I was interested in the idea of the 20s and 30s in part because illustration is just a burgeoning field and it’s even starting to open up to more artists and more audiences. So you have more women artists and you have more artists of color,” she said. “There’s lots of images that reflect particularly the new positions of women in society, the new fashions that women were wearing … and young people hanging out together instead of with their families was another big thing. Young people who were going to jazz clubs, young people who were going to work.”

This made selecting pieces for the exhibition a challenge for Campbell Coyle as the styles ranged widely, from depictions of social change and music to hyper-realism, Art Deco, cartoons and painterly techniques.

Another challenge was narrowing down eight pieces from the exhibition to be reproduced in large vinyl form, displayed across Wilmington’s 8th District. Each piece was thoughtfully paired with literary quotes from the Jazz Age, enhancing the connection to the era.

“This includes the two wonderful images of Etta Moten Barnett and they are all paired with quotations,” she said. “I picked quotations from literature from the period, from people like F. Scott Fitzgerald or Hemingway.”

One of Campbell Coyle’s favorite pieces is a poster featuring Etta Moten Barnett, paired with a quote from Langston Hughes’ poem “Dreams.” This striking image can be found at the Lincoln Towers.

Additional murals are displayed at various locations around Wilmington, including Brew HaHa in Trolley Square, Luther Towers and Southeast Kitchen.

The exhibition, which opened in early October, will remain on display until Jan. 26th.