UNC-CH Student
Press Releases:
• June 12
• June 13
• June 13

These press releases were written by UNC students enrolled in news writing classes taught by Barbara Barnett and Jan Yopp at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Eric Jones
JOMC 53
June 13, 2001

Jimi Hendrix. The Grateful Dead. The Beatles. Revisit the decade of the '60s this summer through the lens of Linda McCartney whose photographs are on display at the Ackland Art Museum.

More than 50 photographs of famous rock stars from the 1960s have invaded the Ackland Art Museum in an exhibit entitled "Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era." The exhibit spans the entire decade-and a bit beyond-and features some of rock 'n' roll's greatest icons in their most candid form. The exhibit features a listening station where you can hear the likes of Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and The Who. The exhibit also features a documentary video on McCartney's career.

The world-renowned exhibit has been on the road for the past two years, touring throughout the United States and Canada. It is scheduled to run at the museum until Aug. 19. The museum's hours are Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Everyone is welcome. The exhibit is free, but the museum suggests a $3 donation.

The museum will remain open until 9 p.m. every other Thursday throughout the summer beginning today, to coincide with the Town of Chapel Hill's Thursday's Rock outdoor movie celebration. Movies from the Beatles and other films portraying the 1960s lifestyle will be included. The movies will be shown downtown at the James C. Wallace Plaza (top of downtown parking deck) at 9 p.m.

The exhibit opened Sunday on the front steps of the museum, to a crowd of more than 1,000 people, said Carolyn Allmendinger, educator for University audiences at the museum. "We were delighted," she said. "Normally we would expect only a few hundred."

The event featured food from Linda McCartney's cookbook along with live music on the front steps. One of the band members, John Covach, an associate professor in the music department, will be back at the museum at 7:30 p.m. today to talk about the Beatles and the influence they and Linda McCartney had on popular culture.

Linda McCartney's photography career took off in 1966 after a session with the Rolling Stones. Her career spanned more than three decades. McCartney was Rolling Stone magazine's first photographer, and it was there that she captured some of rock's most intimate images.

She was married to famous Beatle Paul McCartney in 1969. Linda McCartney died in 1998 of breast cancer. Paul McCartney said of his late wife, "She achieved that intimacy partly because, like all great photographers, Linda was there, at the heart of it, and also because she had an eye for honesty; she saw the truth."

For more information on the Ackland Art Museum, visit www.ackland.org.