Photo by Linda Cicero
June Leaf and Robert Frank spend time with Cantor Center director Connie Wolf before the evening's panel discussion on Frank's exhibit.Photographer Robert Frank drops in on a panel discussion of his work
The artist celebrated his 90th birthday with a visit to his exhibition at the Cantor.
The event was supposed to be an in-depth discussion of the Cantor Art Center’s special exhibition Robert Frank in America, with three panelists providing analysis of select photographs. For the lucky guests who got in, it lived up to the description, and then some. Robert Frank dropped in to participate.
Frank visited the exhibition with his wife, June Leaf, a few days before the panel discussion in part to celebrate his 90th birthday. Cantor Director Connie Wolf escorted the two through the galleries. His request to participate in the panel the next day was likely inspired by how much he enjoyed the installation of his photographs.
“When I found out that Frank was going to join the panel – just about 24 hours in advance – we decided not to announce it since we knew we could only seat a limited number and we would have had a stampede of people. However, I really wanted students to be part of the event, so we sent an email to about 40 students that have had a very close affiliation with the Cantor and let them know that Frank would be there,” Wolf said. The email yielded nearly a 100 percent positive response. “We hope it will be one of those ‘peak’ experiences that students have at Stanford,” Wolf added.
Robert Frank in America is on view through Jan. 5, 2015. The Cantor is open during the winter break; closed on Christmas Day; and open 11 a.m-5 p.m. on New Year’s Day.
