2 cols.

Robert M. Kurtz, Jr, “Schoolhouse, Iowa,” photograph.

FOR 8/3

AMERICANA ROADS: PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT M. KURTZ, JR AT WASHINGTON COUNTY MUSEUM w/1 cut

ak/gs set 7/24 #707240

HAGERSTOWN, MD. — The exhibition “Americana Roads: Photographs by Robert M. Kurtz, Jr” will be on view at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts between August 4 and November 4. An opening reception and gallery talk will be held Sunday, August 5, 2:30 to 4 pm.

Photographer Kurtz began his love affair with documentary photography in the mid-1980s. Through photography he preserves a visual record of both historic and commonplace landscapes and architecture, aspiring to convey an understanding of a moment in history to future generations. His search to document the character of the nation has led Kurtz and his wife Marilyn to travel to many remote areas of the United States, always with camera in hand.

Kurtz has long been impressed by the work done in the 1930s by photographers Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Wright Morris. While these artists’ best-known photographs often depicted the lives of their fellow man, Kurtz strives to record the vanishing landmarks of the present time; he concentrates on the straightforward beauty of the uninhabited building, the expansive prairie or the open road.

Kurtz’s photographs have been widely exhibited and have won many awards. He has received acclaim for his two photographic books, Americana Roads: Wondering the Roads and Heritage of America and Future Passage: Historic Regional Photographs of Central Pennsylvania. Many of the photographs that appear in this exhibition are reproduced in Americana Roads, along with text Kurtz has written. Americana Roads will be available for purchase at the museum store.

Washington County Museum of Fine Arts is at 91 Key Street. For information, 301-739-5727 or www.wcmfa.org.