Conversation with the Experts

Pictures from the  April18 Conversations

“Before Elvis, there was nothing.”– John Lennon

Historians, curators, artists and entertainers guide us as we discover how Elvis forever changed our cultural landscape. Join the curious!

• Sunday, June 2 - 2:00-3:00
  Tribute Elvis: Up Close and Personal
  Oak Room West

  Join Charles Stone, former Elvis Presley tour producer, and Kraig Parker, World Famous Elvis Tribute Artist for a lively conversation highlighting Elvis’ lasting impact and legacy. Kraig will talk about his transformation into “Elvis on Stage”and his experiences trying to fill the King’s blue suede shoes.

• Sunday, June 2 - 3:30-4:30
  Touring Elvis: Close Up and Personal
  Oak Room West

  Meet Charles Stone, veteran concert manager and author of My Years With Elvis and the Colonel. Stone brings together Dan Lewis, Neal Johnson and Melvin Morgan for a look at the private and personal side of Elvis as he toured America in the 1970s. Stone and his colleagues will share their memories and amazing stories of being on tour and of life on the road with the King.

• Saturday, June 8 - 2:00-3:00
  Photographing Elvis
  Havener Gallery

  Join John Rohrbach, Senior Curator of Photography at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, as he guides us through Elvis at 21 and discusses artist Alfred Wertheimer’s photographs of Elvis Presley in 1956. This dynamic collection reflects a broad new casualness infusing documentary photography and photojournalism. This tour is limited to 30.

• Saturday, June 8  - 3:30-4:30
  Vocal Elvis: The Amazing Voice
  Oak Room West

  Join Baritone Artist Michael Mayes as he explores the vocal colors, textures, and character of Elvis’ voice. Mayes will demonstrate how Elvis was able to change his “color” to accommodate different styles of music, from ballads to hard driving rock-a-billy to big band standards. Mayes is a critically acclaimed artist known for his powerful voice and consummate portrayals of iconic characters in the operatic repertoire. A favorite of Fort Worth Opera audiences, Mayes considers Elvis the greatest performer who ever lived.

• Saturday June 15 - 2:00-3:00
  Art Elvis: Painting on Velvet
  Oak Room West

  The artist’s image of Elvis is everywhere; from postcards to posters to paintings. Of all these artistic interpretations, perhaps none are as exuberant or vibrant as Elvis on Velvet. Artist Benito Huerta, Director and Curator for The Gallery at UTA, shares his personal stories about the art of velvet painting. He explores the use a of velvet medium in his work and how the Elvis velvet painting tradition took root and thrived in the United States. Heurta is a studio artist who works in watercolor, printmaking and drawing as well as public art. He discovered velvet paintings in Juarez, Mexico, in the mid 1970s when the style was used to portray pop stars of the time. Huerta’s fascination with Elvis began during his comeback tour in 1968.

• Sunday, June 16 - 2:00-3:00
  History Elvis: A Nation All Shook Up
  Oak Room West

  In 1956, Elvis and the United States both stood at the brink of something new. Elvis was about to become the King of Rock and Roll and among “the greatest cultural forces in the twentieth century,” according to Leonard Bernstein. Join historian Todd Kerstetter for a lively discussion of Elvis’ life and music and how they reflected social and cultural revolutions sweeping the nation in the 1950s. Kerstetter has taught US history at TCU for 15 years and has worked as a disc jockey and a drummer. During his senior year in college, he made a spring break pilgrimage to Graceland and has been an Elvis fan ever since.

• Saturday, June 29 - 2:00-3:00
  Hollywood Elvis: Jailhouse and King Creole
  Oak Room West

  From his tentative beginnings in the motion picture industry with Love Me Tender and Loving You (1956-57), Elvis demonstrated a willingness to learn the screen acting craft, suggesting a raw talent in a (possible) class with Marlon Brando and James Dean. Join film critic Mike Price and explore the greater challenges that arose with Jailhouse Rock and King Creole (1957-58), both of which raised the stakes on dramatic potential with conflicted roles in keeping with the film noir style. Context is provided in comments from Presley himself, vocal contemporaries and filmmakers of the period. Michael H. Price is author of the Forgotten Horrors series of movie encyclopedias, founding president of the original Fort Worth Film Festival and curator of a new film series for the Fort Worth Library System.

Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. Guests are encouraged to arrive early.
Programs are free with exhibit admission unless otherwise noted.