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New York Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Celebrating Centennials, Two Visionary Artists Still Hold Sway
Two groundbreaking artists of the 20th century — Robert Rauschenberg and Joan Mitchell — were born 100 years ago this year. Mitchell, one of the few women among the early Abstract Expressionist painters and a remarkable colorist, lived and worked in New York in the 1950s. Rauschenberg, too, was in New York then when he began the pioneering series of artworks he called 'Combines.' In these pieces, he conjoined painted canvases with physical objects, such as a taxidermied goat, a rubber tire or even, in a piece called 'Bed,' his own quilt and pillow. Yet Mitchell and Rauschenberg aren't typically discussed in tandem. 'They weren't in the same circles in life,' said Courtney J. Martin, executive director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. But, added Christa Blatchford, executive director of the Joan Mitchell Foundation: 'They totally knew each other and overlapped in some manner.' While the artists may not have shared a stylistic similarity or close friends, their foundations are aligned in their missions in many ways. 'I always point to the Mitchell Foundation as probably our best mate,' said Martin, who joined Blatchford at the Mitchell Foundation's New York offices with a reporter last month to discuss the field of artist-endowed foundations, opportunities presented by Rauschenberg's and Mitchell's centennials, and the ways that the foundations are working to keep their artists' legacies alive. Martin was also among the participants in the Art for Tomorrow conference in Milan last week. The event, founded in 2015, is organized by the Democracy and Culture Foundation with panels moderated by New York Times journalists and others. During the conference, speakers from the art world explored some of the most provocative subjects facing artists and institutions today. 'Every single social, cultural, political and ethical battle that has happened everywhere else is actually happening inside the museum,' Martin said, during a panel discussion on 'The Institution of the Future.' In addition to these battles, some of the biggest challenges to artists and institutions face, many at the event agreed, are financial, especially at a time of economic turmoil. Artist-endowed foundations, such as the Rauschenberg and Mitchell organizations, are created by the artists or their heirs for various purposes. Typically these foundations use an artist's assets to promote their legacy posthumously and, often, their charitable and educational aims. Both the Rauschenberg and Mitchell foundations manage substantial collections of their artists' work, along with curatorial staffs and artist residencies. (The Mitchell organization's residency is based in New Orleans and Rauschenberg's in Captiva, Fla., where he primarily lived from 1970 until his death in 2008.) And both foundations have robust programming rolling out this year to celebrate their artists' centennials. The two foundations have long been leaders in grantmaking to individual artists, according to Christine J. Vincent, managing director of the Aspen Institute's Artist-Endowed Foundations Initiative, and are among the largest of nearly 400 artist-endowed foundations in the United States that Vincent tracks. Support from this community remains vital as government funding to individual visual artists was cut entirely in the wake of the culture wars in the 1990s over so-called decency standards for grantmaking by the National Endowment for the Arts. Arts funding broadly is now being limited and scrutinized by President Trump who, on May 2, introduced a budget that would eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2023, the Rauschenberg Foundation reported an operating budget of over $14.1 million in its tax filing and, since 2012, has awarded 395 grants to individuals and organizations, emergency funding to over 1,100 creative practitioners and hosted more than 500 artists and scholars in Florida and New York residencies, according to the foundation. The Mitchell Foundation has an operating budget this year of $9.5 million, said Blatchford. Since 1993, a year after Mitchell's death in France, where she moved in 1959, her foundation has distributed grants and fellowships to more than 1,300 individual artists and 115 organizations supporting artists. Since its New Orleans campus opened in 2015, the foundation has hosted nearly 350 artists in residence, according to figures provided by the foundation. During Martin and Blatchford's discussion last month, the two longtime colleagues and friends mused over the parallels between their foundations, their purpose and their challenges. The conversation has been edited and condensed. The start of the second Trump administration has seen an upheaval in funding for many sectors of society. How does that affect your world? CHRISTA BLATCHFORD In the very short term, what we're seeing are artists losing commissions, artists losing exhibition opportunities because museums are reducing how many shows they're doing, and artists losing their jobs as professors. Do I see a crisis in sustainability for artists? A hundred percent. Do I understand what that means for us as a foundation? Not yet. COURTNEY MARTIN It is very easy to be distracted by what seems to be right in front of you. Yet my own financial and philanthropic understanding says that an artist-endowed foundation is much like the life of an artist and that it's a long game. What do you see as the role of artist-endowed foundations in the cultural ecosystem? MARTIN When I tell people what I do and the range of things we offer — and they say, 'an artist?' — why is it that we wouldn't expect an artist to be on the pulse of certain kinds of civic work both nationally and internationally? We have no problem thinking money like that could come out of banking or an industrialist like [Edsel] Ford, [the son of Henry Ford and founder of the Ford Foundation]. I'd like to see the entirety of the artist-endowed foundation field elevated to such a degree that we understand that artists serve a huge function in our society. BLATCHFORD We play a role in larger philanthropy conversations about advocating for artists. For me, there's a real hope that this field continues to think about collaboration and collective action. We saw it with the L.A. wildfires, where artist-endowed foundations stepped forward as a group participating in the Getty relief fund [which raised over $15 million for the Los Angeles arts community from foundations, museums, galleries and individuals ]. How has each of your foundations approached your artist's centennial celebration and what do you see as the opportunities around this milestone? BLATCHFORD The Mitchell retrospective that finished touring San Francisco, Baltimore and Paris two years ago was so magnificent and huge in terms of changing a narrative around the artist and broadening the understanding of her work. We are interested in deepening scholarship this year. What that looks like for us ranges from partnering with the Art Institute of Chicago for a symposium in October on Mitchell to ending the year with an exhibition in New York at David Zwirner focusing on Mitchell's work in the 1960s. MARTIN We're now at 14 shows from this spring into 2026 [including a show of Rauschenberg's rarely seen sculptures which opened this month at Gladstone Gallery in New York.] Until this fiscal year, we had never really funded Rauschenberg exhibitions or publications with institutions. The centennial provided us with this opportunity to break from that. I want more for Rauschenberg, elevating an understanding of why it was important for a painter to also be involved in dance and performance, why sculpture wasn't just this static thing and painting wasn't this static thing. One of the things that I want to come out of the centennial is this: Rauschenberg did not live in New York full time from 1970 until 2008 when he died. And yet the story in art history is he was in New York. Where else would he be? Part of the division in our country is rooted in small things like saying New York is the only place in the country that has culture. Well, one of the most important artists of the 20th century didn't live [predominantly] in New York while he made some of his most important works. BLATCHFORD And Mitchell was living in France, making her work in France most of the time. MARTIN If I come away with nothing else from the centennial but to have art students not feel that they are beholden to one place, one idea, one way of making, one way of thinking, that'd be good enough.
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Joan Mitchell And Robert Rauschenberg Centennial Celebrations
Joan Mitchell, 'Sans neige' (1969). Collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, purchased with funds provided by the Hillman Foundation; © Estate of Joan Mitchell. Two titans of modern art are being celebrated in 2025 on the occasion of what would have been their 100th birthdays. Joan Mitchell (1925–1992) was a leading Abstract Expressionist whose big, bold paintings showed off vibrant colors and vigorous brushstrokes, often executed over multiple canvases. Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) merged painting and sculpture in his 'Combines' series (1954–1964) redefining both mediums, establishing himself as one of the most innovative and revolutionary artists of the 20th century. Events and exhibitions around the world honor the duo. Robert Rauschenberg, 'Monogram,' 1955–59. Combine: oil, paper, fabric, printed paper, printed reproductions, metal, wood, rubber shoe heel, and tennis ball on canvas with oil and rubber tire on Angora goat on wood platform mounted on four casters 42 x 63 1/4 x 64 1/2 in. (106.7 x 160.7 x 163.8 cm) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Purchase 1965 with contribution from The Friends of Moderna Museet (The Museum of Our Wishes) © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation A slate of international exhibitions including seven major institutional presentations and activities exposing the breadth of Robert Rauschenberg's transdisciplinary and collaborative practice are being unveiled this year and next. The kickoff occurs at Gladstone gallery (530 West 21st Street New York, NY) with the first survey of Rauschenberg's sculptural practice in 30 years. Debuting on May 1, the presentation focuses on his production from the 1950s through the late 1990s. 'Rauschenberg, for many people, is an artist that really is inspiring,' Executive Director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Courtney J. Martin told 'As an art historian, when I taught, I would say this is the person that broke with the (Abstract Expressionism) tradition to move into installation, performance, multimedia. You'd never question that an artist now was both a painter and a dancer, whereas when he starts to mix media in the 50s, it's groundbreaking.' The original multihyphenate. Hand in hand with not limiting his production to one medium, he relished the opportunity of working with other artists. 'He talked about collaboration being his best and most productive way of working, that he liked doing things with other people. I also can say from this side of it, when you look at the work produced, I do think his best work was produced out of collaboration,' Martin said. 'Working with Tricia Brown, working with John Cage, working with Merce Cunningham, entering into the world of dance and performance, lots has been fleshed out about that kind of interaction, less so other kinds of collaborations. A long-standing relationship with the master printers and lithographers at Gemini G.E.L. and ULAE to make prints and other serially based work. Seeking out people who knew another medium, both to try out that medium, ultimately, to learn how to do it, but then to produce things that he could not have done by himself, would not have been possible.' Even later in his career when he could have done the work alone. 'By the time he gets to Captiva (Florida) and has that (litho) press there, he knows enough to do this by himself, but he doesn't want to. He wants to do it with other people,' Martin said. His interest in working with other artists evolved into helping other artists once his career took off. When Rauschenberg won the grand prize for painting at the Venice Biennale in 1964, the first American to do so, his exhibition was aided by a performance of dancers from the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio. Rauschenberg shared some of his prize money to support the travel of the dancers. He launched a non-profit foundation, Change, Inc., in 1970 to assist his peers across all disciplines in need of emergency aid. Rauschenberg was big on direct aide to artists in times of unexpected crisis. 'Change Inc. allowed for people who had these unforeseeable things happen to them–fires, medical issues, problems with their children–anything that went on, and there was so little infrastructure (to support artists), (Raushenberg) said, call with your need… and (Change Inc.) would give out small grants to people to then use immediately to help solve their problems,' Martin explained. The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation continues this tradition of emergency grants for artists and cultural workers. The Foundation has supported artists and arts workers recently impacted by the Altadena wildfires and Hurricane Helene. The artist's wide-ranging and enduring commitment to philanthropy will be mirrored in a series of Centennial grants funding conservation, exhibitions, performances, publications, and public programs across the globe throughout the year. In keeping with Rauschenberg's commitment to collaborative and international engagement, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation has invited institutions around the world with Rauschenberg holdings to honor the artist by mounting dedicated installations of his work from their permanent collections. To date, 22 institutions have received support related to exhibitions, scholarship, conservation, performances, educational programming, and more. Joan Mitchell in her Vétheuil studio, 1983. Photograph by Robert Freson, Joan Mitchell Foundation Archives, © Joan Mitchell Foundation. Fulfilling Joan Mitchell's mandate to 'aid and assist' living artists, her foundation, likewise, has supported a range of initiatives directly supporting more than 1,300 visual artists at varying stages of their careers over the past 30-plus years, providing more than $21 million in funding to artists. When the 2025 wildfires in Southern California displaced artists, the Joan Mitchell Foundation was there. When COVID made earning a living nearly impossible for artists, the Joan Mitchell Foundation was there. Additionally, the Joan Mitchell Fellowship gives annual unrestricted awards of $60,000 directly to artists working in the evolving fields of painting and sculpture, with funds distributed over a five-year period alongside learning, peer engagement, and network-building opportunities. Past recipients have included Firelei Báez, Radcliff Bailey, Chakia Booker, Mark Bradford, and Julie Buffalohead. That only gets you through the 'B's' in the alphabet as a demonstration of the profound impact of the fellowship. The New Orleans-based Joan Mitchell Center hosts residencies for national and local artists, complemented by professional development offerings, open studio events, and other public programs that encourage dialogue and exchange with the local community. The philanthropic work of Mitchell's foundation may seem at odds with her bad ass, chain smoking, athletic, wiry-thin Chicago persona. Despite a socialite's upbringing, she always had a chip on her shoulder, likely the result of an unpleasable father who wanted a boy. Mitchell's dad mistakenly wrote 'John' on Joan's birth certificate. Mitchell eventually moved to New York after study at the School of the Arts Institute of Chicago, then to Paris fulltime in 1959, and ultimately to the bucolic French countryside of Vétheuil where she'd spend the remainder of her life. 'People continue to be drawn to Mitchell's work because the physical and emotional force behind it are so present on the surface of every painting,' Sarah Roberts, Joan Mitchell Foundation, Senior Director of Curatorial Affairs, said in a video on the Joan Mitchell Foundation website announcing Mitchell 100. 'You feel the energy that she brought to bear to make the work, you feel the landscapes that she was referring to, the memories, and what they must have brought forth for her. Mitchell had a truly extraordinary sense of color, the way that she was able to orchestrate color across the surface of a painting, and that resonates both with artists, but also anyone who sees a Joan Mitchell painting.' More than 70 museums across the United States, France, and Australia will display nearly 100 works by Mitchell over the course of the year. Among the 52 museums in the U.S., presentations range from major art museums like the Art Institute of Chicago (exhibiting City Landscape, 1955), the Whitney Museum of American Art (showcasing Hemlock, 1956); the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC (exhibiting Cercando un Ago, 1959); and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (with two works on view, including Bracket, 1989); to important regional institutions such as the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama, and academic museums like the Colby College Museum of Art in Maine and the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX. To support these efforts, the Joan Mitchell Foundation has awarded conservation grants to 11 American institutions, totaling about $70,000, to address essential preservation needs that will help ensure these Mitchell works remain accessible to the public now and in the future. From August 1st through 31st, 2025, The Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans will present an alumni exhibition, reflecting on the ten-year impact of the residency program as one aspect of Mitchell's legacy. The genius of Mitchell's painting is challenged by the monumental impact of her foundation when considering the artist's legacy. In Europe, more than a dozen institutions are joining the celebration from the Centre Pompidou in Paris, to the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lisbon. Additionally, in Australia, the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria will both have Mitchell works on view. Celebrations wrap up from November 6 through December 13, 2025, with an exhibition at David Zwirner's Chelsea gallery in New York exploring Mitchell's work from the mid-1960s. A full list and interactive map of participating institutions is available on the Foundation's website and will be updated regularly. This year also sees the publication of two books on Joan Mitchell, including the first children's book focusing on the artist, 'Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony: La Grande Vallée Suite' by Lisa Rogers, with illustrations by Stacy Innerst (Astra Publishing House), and 'Joan Mitchell et ses chiens / Joan Mitchell and her dogs,' written by Laura Morris, Director of Archives and Research at the Joan Mitchell Foundation (Editions Norma), available in French and English. German shepherds appeared to be her favorite. Finally, the Foundation digitally released a documentary film on Mitchell available for free on its website that has been unviewable for many years.
New York Times
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Max Kozloff, Art Critic Who Became an Artist Himself, Dies at 91
Max Kozloff, a leading art critic who helped readers of The Nation and Artforum navigate the array of movements that followed Abstract Expressionism in the 1960s and '70s, and who later became a well-regarded photographer in his own right, died on April 6 at his home in Manhattan. He was 91. His wife, Joyce Kozloff, said the cause was Parkinson's disease. As a writer, Mr. Kozloff established himself early on. He became the art critic for The Nation in 1961, when he was a 28-year-old doctoral student at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. He became an associate editor at Artforum three years later and eventually became the editor. He wrote extensively about painting, especially those New York artists who were pushing beyond the waning dominance of Abstract Expressionism, like Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. And he tussled with older critics, especially Clement Greenberg, whose ideas he found too doctrinaire to be useful in a time of proliferating artistic movements. Though Mr. Kozloff was far from ideological, he was interested in the ways ideology and political context shaped artistic production. In perhaps his most famous essay, 'American Painting During the Cold War,' published in Artforum in 1973, he argued that Abstract Expressionism, precisely because it claimed to exist outside of politics, served as a handmaiden of postwar American dominance, showing the world that a techno-liberal powerhouse could foster great art. 'Never for one moment did American art become a conscious mouthpiece for any agency as was, say, the Voice of America,' he wrote. 'But it did lend itself to be treated as a form of benevolent propaganda for foreign intelligentsia.' By the early 1970s, Mr. Kozloff had begun to shift his focus to photography, a still-emerging field for critical assessment. He was especially interested in what he considered street photography — seemingly random, spontaneous images of anonymous people engaged in mundane activities — and he also created a large body of portraits. He valorized photographers of everyday life in early-20th-century Europe like Eugène Atget, and he highlighted postwar American artists like Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand. He particularly championed those who ventured into color photography — to him, a great frontier of contemporary art. 'Photography offered me the chance to be subversive once again because of the lack of color in photographic practice at that time,' he said in a 2023 interview for Artforum. 'My favorite photographers were those with a greater palette, ones who excited me pictorially.' Mr. Kozloff had studied art as well as art history at the University of Chicago, and while he started his career as a writer, the creative urge never left him. He began taking photographs himself in the mid-1970s, and after stepping down as editor at Artforum in 1977, he spent most of his time behind the camera. Like the photographs he wrote about, his work was defined by a wandering eye of sorts, searching streets and crowds for an indelible moment. He also created a large body of portraits. 'I could be called a street photographer,' he said in a 2014 interview with the painter and video artist Paul Tschinkel, 'someone who wanders through the streets, fishing, not shooting, fishing, waiting, loitering, looking for what I called subsequently the music of faces.' Maxwell Kozloff was born on June 21, 1933, in Chicago. His father, Joseph, was a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine who owned a leather goods factory. His mother, Rose (Hollobow) Kozloff, managed the home. His father often took him to the Art Institute of Chicago, and as a young teenager he devoured books of art history. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1953 with a degree in art history; then, after a stint in the Army, he returned to the university to get a master's degree in the same subject. He graduated in 1959. Like many artistic people at the time, Mr. Kozloff felt the gravitational pull of Manhattan, and moved there to start his doctoral studies at New York University. He left the program in 1964 without finishing his dissertation, having found a steady and rewarding career as a writer — not only for The Nation and Artforum, but also for Art International and other magazines. He married Joyce Blumberg, an artist, in 1967. Along with her, he is survived by their son, Nikolas. Mr. Kozloff wrote nine books, including slim monographs on Johannes Vermeer and Mr. Johns and sweeping histories of Cubism and modern photography. In 2002 he organized an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Manhattan, 'New York: Capital of Photography.' The show made the argument that it was on the streets of New York that art photography reached maturity. He also drew some criticism for another argument: that the Jewish identity of many of its practitioners was central to its success, their dual status as outsiders and insiders giving them a unique perspective behind the lens. 'They present the city as formed instant by instant out of their impulsive responses,' he wrote in an essay for the exhibition. 'It is their improvised exchange with their subjects, not a kit of fixed and essential attributes, that distinguishes their work.'
USA Today
28-01-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
AZ Briefing: Have ICE raids begun in Arizona? School board leader loses Bible suit; What a buyer can do when a pool needs work
AZ Briefing: Have ICE raids begun in Arizona? School board leader loses Bible suit; What a buyer can do when a pool needs work Good morning, Arizona. Here's what our reporters are working on and what you should know about what's happening across the state before you start your day. Enforcement of tougher immigration policy started in Arizona and in other parts of the country as the first week of Donald Trump's administration drew to a close. Here's what we know about the start of ICE raids in Arizona and how it may look in local communities. Other big stories ➤ The Peoria Unified School District's school board president, Heather Rooks, has lost a federal lawsuit in which she alleged the district violated her free speech rights by advising her to stop reciting Bible verses during board meetings. ➤ What can a homebuyer do when a swimming pool needs work? Find out in this week's real estate law column. ➤ Arizona schools chief Tom Horne is urging emergency legislation to ensure Isaac Elementary School District employees are paid this week amid a financial crisis that led to the district's takeover by the state. ➤ Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen filed a statement of interest to run for attorney general, the first step to making a bid for office. ➤ Some of the Valley was lucky to see some rain to begin the week. Take a look. ➤ Today, you can expect it to be partly sunny with a high near 61 degrees. Expect it to be clear at night with a low near 39 degrees. Get the full forecast here. This mom-and-pop French bakery is out-of-this-world good Family-owned Quiches and Pies cafe in Chandler is a hidden gem with a welcoming bistro vibe, French pastries and out-of-this-world quiches. If you like our work, please consider becoming a subscriber. Today in history Here are just some of the events on this date in the past. On this day in 1901 : The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League, was founded in Milwaukee to compete with the National League. Eventually, the two leagues recognized their need to coexist and each agreed to send their champion teams into the annual World Series competition. : The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League, was founded in Milwaukee to compete with the National League. Eventually, the two leagues recognized their need to coexist and each agreed to send their champion teams into the annual World Series competition. 1912 : Painter Jackson Pollock, a leader of Abstract Expressionism movement known for his 'drip' technique of splashing paint over a large canvas, was born in Cody, Wyoming. : Painter Jackson Pollock, a leader of Abstract Expressionism movement known for his 'drip' technique of splashing paint over a large canvas, was born in Cody, Wyoming. 1915 : President Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. Congress created the U.S. Coast Guard by merging the Revenue Cutter Service with the U.S. Lifesaving Service. : President Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. Congress created the U.S. Coast Guard by merging the Revenue Cutter Service with the U.S. Lifesaving Service. 1917 : Carmelita Torres, a maid from Mexico working in the U.S., refused to take the mandatory toxic de-lousing baths imposed upon all Mexicans crossing the border. Her refusal sparked what is known as the Bath Riots, in which protestors called for better treatment of workers and civilians working between the two countries. While the riots subsided days later, the dangerous delousing baths continued for decades after. One of the chemicals used in the baths was Zyklon B, which the Nazis praised for its effectiveness – and which they used for their gas chambers. : Carmelita Torres, a maid from Mexico working in the U.S., refused to take the mandatory toxic de-lousing baths imposed upon all Mexicans crossing the border. Her refusal sparked what is known as the Bath Riots, in which protestors called for better treatment of workers and civilians working between the two countries. While the riots subsided days later, the dangerous delousing baths continued for decades after. One of the chemicals used in the baths was Zyklon B, which the Nazis praised for its effectiveness – and which they used for their gas chambers. 1958 : Godtfred Kirk Christiansen filed a patent in Denmark (later granted) for a toy building block with interlocking features, the Lego. The simple inventive nature of the blocks helped propel the Lego company to become one of the largest toy manufacturers in the world. : Godtfred Kirk Christiansen filed a patent in Denmark (later granted) for a toy building block with interlocking features, the Lego. The simple inventive nature of the blocks helped propel the Lego company to become one of the largest toy manufacturers in the world. 1985 : Music icons including Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Rogers, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and others, joined together and recorded 'We Are the World,' a charity single meant to raise money for the famine ravaging Africa at the time. : Music icons including Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Rogers, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and others, joined together and recorded 'We Are the World,' a charity single meant to raise money for the famine ravaging Africa at the time. 1986 : At 11:38 a.m. EST, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida; 73 seconds later, the shuttle exploded, killing all seven onboard. Among those killed was schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who was the first U.S. civilian selected to travel into space. The tragedy was televised live to millions of screens across the world, including in school classrooms. The disaster halted the Space Shuttle program for 32 months. : At 11:38 a.m. EST, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida; 73 seconds later, the shuttle exploded, killing all seven onboard. Among those killed was schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who was the first U.S. civilian selected to travel into space. The tragedy was televised live to millions of screens across the world, including in school classrooms. The disaster halted the Space Shuttle program for 32 months. 2002 : Children's author Astrid Lindgren, who was best known creating Pippi Longstocking – a red-haired, freckle-faced, 9-year-old girl with superhuman strength – died at age 94 in Stockholm, Sweden. : Children's author Astrid Lindgren, who was best known creating Pippi Longstocking – a red-haired, freckle-faced, 9-year-old girl with superhuman strength – died at age 94 in Stockholm, Sweden. 2021: Award winning actor Cicely Tyson, known for her portrayals of strong African American women on TV and film, passed away at age 96 in New York City. – Hoang Tran, USA TODAY Network
