For many, Dr. Seuss is an icon of clever rhymes and fantastical children's book characters. But few people know he also created elaborate paintings and sculptures. Or that he had a room filled from floor to ceiling with hats. Curator Bill Dreyer describes one use Seuss had for the hats:
If a party was lagging a little bit, he would go into the hat closet, bring out hats, put them on people's heads and ask them to spend the rest of the evening in the persona they might expect the person wearing that hat would have.
The touring "Hats Off to Dr. Seuss" exhibit includes paintings, sculptures and hats from Seuss' personal collection. The collection is on display at The Art Shop in Greensboro through April 19th. Dreyer believes Dr. Seuss is just beginning to receive the recognition he deserves as a fine artist:
Here we are, 23 years after Ted Geisel passed away and he's now really being considered a significant 20th century American artist because people are viewing his art as separate from... his most important legacy, children's literature.
Host Frank Stasio talks with the exhibit's curator, Bill Dreyer.
