In the beginning of the 1970s, Portland philanthropist Jordan D. Schnitzer began collecting what grew into an extraordinary trove of contemporary art, some of which will be on display in SVMOA’s summer exhibition. His varied and often adventurous choices invite the question of whether art, in all its forms, impacted and influenced American culture or reflected it. In the case of TV at the dawn of the ‘70s, the answer would be both. But television’s post-midcentury transformation took a while. The TV programs broadcast in the ‘60s and most of the early ‘70s lacked the revolutionary spirit of America’s turbulent ‘60s. Popular shows like ““Bonanza,” “Marcus Welby, M.D” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” depicted wholesome families living in idyllic worlds. On TV, it seemed the ‘60s had never happened. But then came a sea change, spawned by the situation comedies of risk-taking creators like Norman Lear. “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “MASH” entwined themes of racism, generational conflict, marital discord and class struggles into comedies viewers loved. How and why did that happen? Stay tuned…..
Mimi Avins grew up in New York and graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She began her career at 20 as a staff feature writer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, then contributed arts criticism to the New York Times and wrote for a number of national magazines including Vogue, Premiere, Rolling Stone, InStyle, Gentleman’s Quarterly, and Elle. She was chosen as Fashion Editor of the Los Angeles Times, then broadened the scope of her work at the Times to include personality profiles, criticism, and feature stories on movies, television, architecture, interior design, publishing, lifestyle trends, marketing, advertising, technology, real estate, luxury travel, psychology, demography, and wealth. Mimi has lived in Ketchum for 15 years and launched a television seminar at the Community Library a decade ago, which continues today.
Part of SVMoA’s exhibition Circa 1971: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation
