American Nativity

American Nativity

Karen Loccisano and R. Michael Palan

Bridgewater, New Jersey

Polymer clay, Styrofoam, wood, cardboard, paper

2020

For the ninth year in a row, Glencairn Museum has exhibited an original, three-dimensional Nativity scene by Karen Loccisano and R. Michael Palan. The husband-and-wife artist team from Bridgewater, New Jersey, spent many years working as illustrators for Highlights magazine and other children’s publications. For the past decade they have been designing Christmas ornaments for Kurt S. Adler, Inc., and creating handmade, exquisitely detailed Nativity scenes to share with the public. Their contribution to this year’s World Nativities exhibition— which they have been creating throughout the coronavirus pandemic—has been a source of strength and inspiration to them.

According to the couple, 2020 was “a difficult year for many people around the world. We found ourselves going from researching hard times to living in them.” In American Nativity, they have reimagined what the Nativity miracle might have looked like if it had taken place in the 1930s during the Dust Bowl, with migrant American farmers making their way from the southern plains to California. “We drew comparisons between Joseph and Mary and the Three Kings [i.e. the Wise Men or magi] traveling west, and the migrant American farmers traveling west from the drought-stricken southern plains during the Dust Bowl. Joseph and Mary traveled west to Bethlehem to register for the census. The Three Kings followed the Star of Bethlehem west. The people of the southern plains followed the highway west, escaping the severe drought and dust storms for the promise of work picking fruit and vegetables and a better life in California. There was no room in the inn for Joseph and Mary, just as there was no room in California for the migrant farmers during the Dust Bowl.”

On loan from Karen Loccisano and R. Michael Palan, Bridgewater, New Jersey.