What an exciting week of fantastic Rockmore connections we have experienced.

Chris Davis & David & Gerry Lattimore

First was a road trip to Lincoln, MA to visit and interview Rockmore's life long friend, David Lattimore, since his Putney School days in Vermont. Noel's son, Chris Davis, joined us on this historic adventure and we were treated to a fascinating first hand interview of what Noel was like in High School as well as a young married right through his name change & eventual divorce. There was also a treasure trove of unseen etchings from the late 50s that we did not know existed (after 6 years documenting 6000+ images). David and his wife Gerry were so nice and accommodating and we spent the entire day together.

Next was a road trip to Brooklyn to meet again with the Award Winning Documentary Film (Mr. Okra) director and one of the producers as things seem to be ramping up to full speed on making this a GO Project! It was a great meeting and it looks like this one has the potential to fly right out of the park. We knew that the director had done commercial editing work for his day job and as we were leaving we pressed on who some of the clients were and he quietly said a few companies. Upon Google research it turned out they include Avis, Renault, Dentyne, Verizon, Miller lite (Low rider), State Farm (Lebron - rumble, Lebron - 26 seconds) and the recent Hollywood blockbuster remake of The Mechanic - with Donald Sutherland filmed in NOLA. Wow!!! The director is a ringer and he collects Rockmore and wants to do his documentary ..... now the Oscar for Best Documentary Film ... Rockmore....

Then we got an email from the curator at Tyson Foods because it turns out they have a Rockmore at their corporate Headquarters in Northern Arkansas. Their Rockmore was actually the cover for the Brochure, Rockmore at Terre Haute, sponsored by the Ford Foundation at Greer Gallery in NYC in 1964.

1964 Brochure - Terre Haute - Pg 2

We are working hard to determine how the work might have arrived at Tyson Foods so if you have any clues let us know. We will be road tripping this spring to see it in person at Tyson Corporate Headquarters and also try to reconnect with David Houston, curator of The Crystal Bridges Museum (Walton sponsored brand New Premier Museum & Collection). David was the Director of the Ogden Museum and was quite helpful to Rockmore and us in the early stages of our Project. Turns out there is another major Rockmore at the Univ. of Ft. Smith, in the same area of Arkansas that we might get to see that was discovered by a student doing a research project.

What are the chances of all these coincidences in the same geographic location? Our Rabbi says that coincidences are often "miracles in disguise." By coincidence, the Rabbi was actually the first person to tell us about The Crystal Bridges Museum when we did the Cahoon Museum Show in December.

Have a great Holiday weekend everyone,

Rich & Tee & Shirley Marvin  

The Noel Rockmore Project Team 

www.Rockmore.org  

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