There hasn’t been a brokered convention — the kind unhappy Republicans, independents and media elites are dreaming about this year — since the Republicans had their last one in 1948 and the Democrats in 1952.The candidates nominated then, Tom Dewey and Adlai Stevenson, lost the presidency — twice, as it turned out. A brokered convention hasn’t produced a winner since Franklin Roosevelt 80 years ago.A convention becomes brokered if no candidate can be nominated on the first ballot. Thereafter, deals are made and broken and ballots are conducted until someone emerges as the nominee. Sometimes, that someone is a surprise.Brokered conventions were all the rage until primaries came along and spoiled the fun. Although they placed the nominating process in the hands of the party bosses, brokered conventions produced many excellent candidates, along with some real duds.In the latter category, we have the 1920 Republican Convention in which the party bosses assembled in that fabled smoke-filled room in Chicago’s Blackstone Hotel and picked Sen. Warren G. Harding as the most malleable of the candidates in a field of not terribly impressive contenders. We know how that worked out. Four years later, the Democrats had their own farce at Madison Square Garden in New York where the party was bitterly divided by Prohibition, with the Wets championing New York Gov. Al Smith and the Drys favoring William Gibbs McAdoo, son-in-law of the late Woodrow Wilson. The convention was also influenced by the revived Ku Klux Klan, which vehemently opposed the Catholic Smith. It took 15 days and 104 ballots before a compromise candidate, lawyer and diplomat John W. Davis, won the by then worthless nomination.Discussing that convention years later, John Kennedy joked that a Massachusetts delegate said they’d either have to find a candidate or a cheaper hotel if the convention lasted much longer.The demise of the brokered convention in the early 1950s coincided not only with the rise of state primaries but also the coming of television. The 1948 conventions in Philadelphia were the first to be televised, reaching 13 states and not many more TV sets on the East Coast. The 1952 conventions were the first to be seen nationwide.These conventions offered their parties a good selection of worthy candidates, far different from the Republican dilemma this year.In 1948, the Republican front runner was the eventual winner Dewey, who arrived in Philadelphia short of delegates but with a formidable group of challengers, Sens. Robert Taft and Arthur Vandenberg, Govs. Earl Warren and Harold Stassen and a dark horse, Gen. Douglas MacArthur. After Dewey led on the first two ballots, his opponents called for a recess to organize a stop Dewey movement but they failed, and Dewey emerged as the nominee and the prohibitive favorite to win the 1948 election. We know how that worked out, too.Four years later, Sen. Estes Kefauver, who had defeated President Truman in the New Hampshire Primary and prompted his retirement, went to the convention with a dozen wins in 15 primaries. But the Democratic establishment saw him as weak and wasn’t enamored with two other challengers, Averell Harriman and segregationist Richard Russell, either.Stevenson, the governor of Illinois, had refused to seek the nomination but did agree to deliver the keynote address and his witty and stirring speech turned a lot of delegate heads. Truman intervened, convinced Harriman to withdraw and Stevenson to run. He was nominated on the third ballot and lost to war hero Dwight Eisenhower twice.Since then, we have come close to brokered conventions from time to time. The assassination of Robert Kennedy the night he won the California Primary in 1968 eliminated what surely would have been a convention showdown between him and Hubert Humphrey, President Lyndon Johnson’s choice. Sitting presidents haven’t been immune from challenges at conventions either. Ronald Reagan came close to unseating the unelected President Gerald Ford in 1976, and Ted Kennedy tried and failed to do the same to Jimmy Carter in 1980.What was most striking in researching these last brokered conventions was how the Republican Party has changed since the days of Dewey and Eisenhower. While today’s final four of Romney, Santorum, Gingrich and Paul squabble over earmarks and contraceptives, the 1948 Republican Party platform was recommending federal aid to the states for slum clearance and low cost housing, an anti-lynching law and the abolition of the poll tax, international arms control and — get this — “extended Social Security benefits.” A few years later, the party moved south and lost its soul.Simsbury resident Dick Ahles is a retired journalist. Email him at dahles@hotmail.com.
Latest News
Textile designer Justine Valla sits in her father’s chair, which she painted, alongside her husband, illustrator and muralist Victor Valla, in their Atelier Valla studio.
“I was always drawing as a child,” Justine recalled. Victor dreamed of illustrating magazine covers like those of the “Saturday Evening Post.”
Victor studied design and illustration at Rochester Institute of Technology, then received a fellowship to study painting and printmaking at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne. He graduated in 1967. The following year, he received a grant from the Tiffany Foundation to study printmaking in Paris at Atelier 17, an experimental graphic arts workshop founded in 1927.
“What a great experience that was!” he recalled.
Returning home after the Paris uprisings of 1968, he discovered that the magazine covers he’d hoped to paint had largely given way to photography. His agent suggested trying record covers, which he pursued along with illustration and graphic design.
He also began teaching at Kean University in New Jersey.
“Kean had a wonderful graphic design and illustration department. I loved teaching Graphic Design, even though I never thought I would.”
He later taught at Syracuse University and Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
In the late 1980s, he decided to stop teaching and concentrate on his own art. He moved to Falls Village, to a house on the corner of Minor and Prospect Streets.
“I used to call the studio ‘Minor Prospects Atelier,’” he said.
He continued working in illustration and graphic design, creating book covers for stories by H.P. Lovecraft and other authors, along with magazine covers, logos, advertising and murals.
Justine and Victor Valla in their studio with a painting of Victor’s,”Jonah and the Whale.” Robin Roraback
His local commissions include the green and gold Noble Horizons signage and wall murals for the Stockbridge Inn, the Spa at Norwich Inn, Orchards Hotel in Williamstown and the David M. Hunt Library’s children’s section.
Justine grew up in the Bronx and studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After graduating, she took on whatever work she could find, including designing toys and novelty items for Russ Berrie. But her true calling was textile design.
She moved to Los Angeles to pursue that calling, where she learned silkscreen printing from 1960s design icon Corita Kent.
“I was in her program at Immaculate Heart College. All fabric design at that time was silk screen. My first job in textile design was in L.A., creating wallpaper for Bob Mitchell Design.”
Justine returned to New York City, where the advent of computers required her to learn new design techniques. She enrolled at Parsons School of Design, studying Photoshop, Illustrator, Lectra U4ia and Kaledo.
Around this time, she met Victor online and moved to Falls Village.
A recruiter found her a job in Arkansas at Dillard’s, a department store chain operating in 30 states and known for its exclusive designer collections.
“They had the best equipment I’d ever seen,” she said.
She became a senior computer-aided design designer there, designing fabric and preparing purchased designs for production.
The Vallas left Falls Village for Little Rock.
“It was a big move,” she said. “It was a different culture, but Little Rock was very progressive.”
The originally planned to stay in Arkansas for five years but ended up remaining for nearly 10.
Then Justine was hit by a car. She suffered injuries to her leg and head and required four years of rehabilitation.
“I lost the ability to paint after the accident. I struggled to paint again.”
The Vallas returned to Connecticut, this time settling in Salisbury, where they’ve lived since 2013.
After leaving Dillard’s, Justine had planned to sell her work through Printsource in New York City, an international showcase for surface and textile design. But after the accident, she no longer had the mobility or energy to travel back and forth to the city.
Instead, she began selling her work locally at craft shows, including clothing, hand-printed tea towels and floorcloths.
She is currently working on selling her collection of textile designs.
In December, Justine will have a show of her tea-themed watercolors at the NorthEast-Millerton Library.
Victor recently exhibited “The American West: A Pictural History” at the NorthEast-Millerton Library. The series, created in the early 1990s, was part of a commission from the Postal Commemorative Society for which he completed 100 paintings in two years.
He hopes to place the series in a museum and has created books from its images, complete with text. Over the years, he has designed many other books that are ready for publication, including “Looking In, Looking Out,” a cosmic view of the universe.
Reflecting on his career, Victor said, “It’s about doing what you love”.
Justine agreed.
To see, purchase or commission work, contact Justine at justinevalla@gmail.com or Victor at victorvalla@comcast.net, or call 860-596-4282.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
Jane Herold’s beautifully simple dinnerware.
Cornwall ceramicist Jane Herold explained that there’s quite a lot of enthusiasm for Clay Way among the region’s ceramic artists.
“We all need work space, which is hard to find or afford in urban areas. The wood-fire crowd needs lots of wood and outdoor space. This area is great because it’s rural enough for us, but has a wonderfully enthusiastic and supportive population of pottery [patrons].”
While many of the artists are returning from previous years, the loose collection of unofficial organizers likes to keep the event manageable for the public, limiting the number of artists and studios each year. A direct drive from the southernmost point at Ann Heywood’s studio in Wingdale to Herold’s big barn in Cornwall is under 40 minutes. But if you want to catch it all, plan for a full day’s worth of art exploration along some of the most beautiful roads in New England.
Starting at its northernmost point, Herold’s studio will host Matin Malikzada of Afghanistan, whose polished, modern interpretations of traditional forms are instantly recognizable. They’ll be joined by wood-fired ceramicists Steve Johnson, with his raw, organic forms, and Harry Levenstein, whose works relate closely to Johnson’s while making even more direct references to nature.
Herold herself creates work that is both beautiful and utilitarian. Her prolific output of objects is intended to be used by everyday people as part of their daily lives.
Moving south is Todd Piker of Cornwall Bridge Pottery. Piker has been making pots in his giant wood-fired kiln since 1971. The kiln looks more like an ancient blast furnace than something designed to transform clay into ceramics, but over the years, he’s mastered its intricacies and produces an impressive amount of fine work.
A ceramic vase by Kathleen Heidemann.Provided
Piker will host Sanah Peterson, who works at Cornwall Bridge Pottery and draws inspiration from both her time with Piker and her time traveling the globe as a child. They’ll be joined by Stephanie Haines, whose vibrant, eye-catching work features underglaze illustrations of birds, fruit and the bounty of nature.
Further along in Warren, Jessica Dubin’s pieces will be on display at the studio of Christine Owen. Both artists seem to appreciate the chaos and unpredictable nature of clay but find ways to refine it all using their own unique methods.
Heading east to Washington, Conn., Will Talbot’s creates intricate work while allowing for the unpredictable nature of clay to play a role. His studio will house Tom Knox and his wide variety of textures and forms, as well as New York City-based Alex Lebedev, who lets music and the nature of improvisation guide his work.
There will be two studios participating in South Kent. Alison Palmner, whose page on the Clay Way website states she “strives to achieve a lighthearted meld of human forms, animals and the vessel.” Her studio will host Ben Eberle, who trained under the guidance of legendary potter Toshiko Takaezu; James Guggina, whose intricate work can appear both deliberate and whimsical; and Paula Shalan, who blends rough, unrefined surfaces with polished precision in individual pieces.
Joy Brown’s delightful ceramic sculptures.Provided
Nearby is Joy Brown, whose work have become a staple of the area, with her figurative sculptures dotting the Northwest Corner. Brown’s studio will also feature Bonnie Levine, who taps into the beauty of chaos and destruction in her work, and Brendan Moore, whose more utilitarian forms are perfect for everyday use.
Finally, the tour crosses the border into Wingdale, New York, where the studios of Drew Montgomery, Ann Heywood and Amy Brenner will host Jackie Sedlock, Lynn Behrendt,and Kathleen Heidemann.
Brenner creates some of the most colorful and vibrant pieces on the tour, while Behrendt’s work is among the most studied and precise. Heywood creates carefully considered, intuitive forms, while Heidemann moves from simple minimalism to intricate textures. Montgomery and Sedlock both find new ways of playing with traditional forms, producing delightfully distinctive pieces.
To learn more about the artists and download a map of participating studios, visit clayway.net
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
