Speed of Life

by Gregg Chadwick Gregg Chadwick Road to Mandalay 40"x30" oil on linen 2011 “For decades Americans have been deeply concerned about the denial of basic human rights for the Burmese people. The persecution of democratic reformers, the brutality shown toward ethnic minorities and the concentration of power in the hands of a few military leaders has challenged our conscience and isolated Burma from the United States and much of the world. After years of darkness, we’ve seen flickers of progress in these last several weeks as the president and Parliament in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, have taken steps toward reform. Of course there’s far more to be done." -President Barack Obama, November 2011 (Statement on Burma delivered at the 2011 Pacific Rim Meeting in Bali, Indonesia) Four years after the Saffron Revolution in Burma, enough progress towards a free Burma has been made that President Barack Obama is sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on a tr...

Norman Rockwell The Problem We All Live With 36” x 58” oil on canvas 1963 Collection The Norman Rockwell Museum (Currently on loan to the White House through October 2011) Civil Rights icon Ruby Bridges visited the White House on July 15, 2011 to view Norman Rockwell's 1963 painting, The Problem We All Live With , which depicts Ruby as a young girl on her way to first grade after the school board mandated the desegregation of two New Orleans schools in 1960. Six year old Ruby Bridges was escorted by Federal Marshals to New Orleans' William Frantz Public School as its first African American student, ushering in the integration of the local public school system. President Barack Obama, Ruby Bridges, and representatives of the Norman Rockwell Museum view Rockwell’s "The Problem We All Live With,” hanging in a West Wing hallway near the Oval Office, July 15, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) Norman Rockwell's The Problem We All Live With will...

After winning Best New Artist at last night's Grammy Awards, jazz artist Esperanza Spalding's career is set to explode. Below is a beautiful clip of Esperanza performing at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word on May 12, 2009. Esperanza Spalding performs “Tell Him” on the double bass at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word on May 12, 2009.