Karen Blessen Oral History
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Karen Blessen Oral History
Videotaped oral history interview with Karen Blessen. A Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and artist, Blessen in 2013 organized the Dallas LOVE project, the largest public art project in Dallas history, to present 10,000 pieces as a tribute to the memory and legacy of President Kennedy. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on February 12, 2015 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is forty-nine minutes long.
Karen Blessen Oral History
02/12/2015
Oral histories
50th anniversary
Artist
Artwork
Awards
Anniversary
Peace
Dallas LOVE Project
The Dallas Morning News
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Dallas
Authors, Filmmakers, and Researchers (OHC)
Childhood Recollections (OHC)
Dallas and 1960s History and Culture (OHC)
Artists (OHC)
Popular Culture (OHC)
News Media (OHC)
History of 411 Elm Street and The Sixth Floor Museum (OHC)
Born digital (.m2ts file)
Duration: 49 Minutes
Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2015.001.0034
Karen Blessen was the first graphic artist to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. While employed at The Dallas Morning News in 1989, she won in the category of Explanatory Reporting alongside colleagues David Hanners and William Snyder for the story, "Anatomy of an Air Crash: The Final Flight of 50 Sierra Kilo," which was published in the Morning News on February 7, 1988. In 2005, Blessen founded the Dallas non-profit arts organization 29 Pieces, with the mandate "to break through boundaries to incorporate art in new, thought provoking ways." The "Dallas LOVE Project," to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, featured thousands of original artworks, "inspired by quotes from great peacemakers, poets, artists, and musicians," along the Kennedy motorcade route and across the city of Dallas. The installation began on September 21, 2013, the International Day of Peace, and ran through the anniversary on November 22, 2013. It is considered the largest public art project in Dallas history. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
In addition to this oral history, Karen Blessen co-presented and moderated a Pulitzer Prize centennial program, "Illusion and Disillusion," which featured several Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalists. The full Museum program, which took place at the Texas Theatre on September 21, 2016, may be found here: Illusion & Disillusion: A Panel Conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning Photographers (youtube.com). Ms. Blessen also took part in Museum public and educational programming recorded in 2014 and 2015. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
Karen Blessen Oral History
Videotaped oral history interview with Karen Blessen. A Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and artist, Blessen in 2013 organized the Dallas LOVE project, the largest public art project in Dallas history, to present 10,000 pieces as a tribute to the memory and legacy of President Kennedy. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on February 12, 2015 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is forty-nine minutes long.
Karen Blessen Oral History
02/12/2015
Oral histories
50th anniversary
Artist
Artwork
Awards
Anniversary
Peace
Dallas LOVE Project
The Dallas Morning News
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Dallas
Authors, Filmmakers, and Researchers (OHC)
Childhood Recollections (OHC)
Dallas and 1960s History and Culture (OHC)
Artists (OHC)
Popular Culture (OHC)
News Media (OHC)
History of 411 Elm Street and The Sixth Floor Museum (OHC)
Born digital (.m2ts file)
Duration: 49 Minutes
Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2015.001.0034
Karen Blessen was the first graphic artist to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. While employed at The Dallas Morning News in 1989, she won in the category of Explanatory Reporting alongside colleagues David Hanners and William Snyder for the story, "Anatomy of an Air Crash: The Final Flight of 50 Sierra Kilo," which was published in the Morning News on February 7, 1988. In 2005, Blessen founded the Dallas non-profit arts organization 29 Pieces, with the mandate "to break through boundaries to incorporate art in new, thought provoking ways." The "Dallas LOVE Project," to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, featured thousands of original artworks, "inspired by quotes from great peacemakers, poets, artists, and musicians," along the Kennedy motorcade route and across the city of Dallas. The installation began on September 21, 2013, the International Day of Peace, and ran through the anniversary on November 22, 2013. It is considered the largest public art project in Dallas history. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
In addition to this oral history, Karen Blessen co-presented and moderated a Pulitzer Prize centennial program, "Illusion and Disillusion," which featured several Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalists. The full Museum program, which took place at the Texas Theatre on September 21, 2016, may be found here: Illusion & Disillusion: A Panel Conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning Photographers (youtube.com). Ms. Blessen also took part in Museum public and educational programming recorded in 2014 and 2015. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
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