University of Houston Moores School of Music adds John Alden Carpenter posters to its Special Collections

The Moores School of Music at University of Houston added two posters by the artist Rex Parker of the jazz-age classical composer John Alden Carpenter. The artwork is earmarked for the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections.

“I am so pleased these posters are a part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections,” said Parker. Professor Howard Pollack’s biography of Carpenter, Skyscraper Lullaby: The Life and Music of John Alden Carpenter was an inspiration to Parker in creating these dynamic Art Deco posters.

Designed for the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra, posters celebrating composer John Alden Carpenter mirror his lofty, buoyant energy. Hailed by longtime New York Symphony Orchestra conductor Walter Damrosch as “the most American of our composers,” Carpenter was a Park Ridge native; son of the municipality’s first mayor, George Carpenter; and related to the Aldens of Early American fame.

Carpenter’s whimsical suite, Adventures in a Perambulator was on the docket for Walt Disney’s planned sequel to Fantasia. His innovative ballet, Skyscrapers, which enjoyed success in New York and Munich, was the only American work commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes.

The Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald Museum adds artist Rex Parker’s Deco-inspired “Gatsby” poster to its collection

Dr. Alaina Doten, Curator of The Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Alabama has added artist Rex Parker’s Deco-inspired “Karen Black: Gatsby” poster to its collection. The museum celebrates the lives, the legacies and glittering romance of the Roaring 1920s iconic couple F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald.

“F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is my favotie novel,” said Parker — this bold poster captures the tragic, foreshadowed destiny of Myrtle Wilson in the Jazz Age classic, The Great Gastby; a role for which Park Ridge native Karen Black won her second Golden Globe Award.

P22 Type Foundry posts the “Goudy Type A to Z” poster series on Pinterest

Checkout the P22 Type Foundry posts on Pinterest of the Goudy “Type A to Z” poster series at Rex Parker | P22 Font Specimens.

P22 Type Foundry’s “Goudy Collection” of typefaces was my primary source of type I used to design this series of posters for the 115th Anniversary of Goudy’s Village Press. Thank you, Richard Kegler and the team at P22 Type Foundry for assembling such a great collection of Frederic Goudy typefaces!

“Frederic Goudy & the Village Press” The Kalo Foundation - Sunday, March 10th, 2019

Rex’s talk drew a standing-room-only crowd at The Kalo Foundation of Park Ridge, just a few blocks away from the home where Frederic and Bertha Goudy founded the legendary Village Press. The Kalo Foundation has taken a leading role in advancing the remarkable artitic history of Frederic W. Goudy, a world-renowned member of the “Park Ridge Art Colony” through education, advocacy, and preservation.

For the 115th Anniversary of Goudy’s Village Press, Rex was delighted to have a conversation about the artistry and craftsmanship of The Village Press, founded in 1903 by Frederic W. Goudy in Park Ridge, Illinois. The Village Press was modeled on the ideals of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The first publication of The Village Press was the William Morris and Emery Walker essay, Printing; its Arts & Craft Impressions went on to win acclaim at the 1904 World Exhibition.

In 1903, Village typeface was cast - the handsome, hand-forged “Arts & Crafts” font designed by Frederic W. Goudy for the Village Press. It was Goudy’s international reputation for type design that made this private press so extraordinary.

Celebrating 25 Seasons: Park Ridge Civic Orchestra

I created a cosmic universe of dazzling colors for the poster to promote the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra’s performance of Holst’s The Planets. Holst’s orchestral suite has been a chief inspiration for much of the music heard in today’s films.

To celebrate the PRCOrchestra’s 25th Anniversary, the March 3rd performance also featured the extremely popular and devilishly difficult Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Orchestra scholarship winner Joshua Brown received glowing reviews for his performance as the evening’s soloist.