Johnny Cash 1969

Music touches us all in very different and very personal ways. What images does the name Johnny Cash evoke for you? Do you have vivid memories of the man himself or do the sounds of his music echo through your mind? Those of a certain age may hear ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ or think ’Man in Black’, while younger fans may hear the haunting lyrics of  ’Ain’t No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down.)’

‘Ain’t No Grave’ is Johnny’s posthumously released, final studio recording, the song that provides the musical background for the Johnny Cash Project—A “Living Portrait” of the Man in Black. This art project evolves and grows online each day through the participation of fans around the globe who remember the singer and want to help keep his memory alive.

The creators of the project say, “Through this website, we invite you to share your vision of Johnny Cash, as he lives on in your mind’s eye. Working with a single image as a template, and using a custom drawing tool, you’ll create a unique and personal portrait of Johnny. Your work will then be combined with art from participants around the world, and integrated into a collective whole: a music video for ‘Ain’t No Grave’, rising from a sea of one-of-a-kind portraits.”

To contribute to this amazing collaborative effort, visit The Johnny Cash project online.

Uploaded to YouTube by Chris Milk, one of its creators, this is what the video looked like on September 29, 2010 after the participation of 250,000 contributors.

Photo Credit: By Joel Baldwin (LOOK Magazine, April 29, 1969. p.74) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In recent years, David Roberts RA (1796-1864) of Scotland has been rediscovered and is counted among the greatest masters of 19th century British Romantic art. Though this self-taught artist tackled many subjects, he is best known for his lithographs of Egypt and the Holy Land. The artistic results of his epic 1838 journey to capture views of this far-off land are today considered an enduring treasure.

His detailed, almost photographic, depictions of the great monuments throughout Egypt are historically important because many of them no longer exist. For instance, the Nubian temples which he documented so meticulously were dismantled and reassembled sometimes far from their original sites in the early 1960s when the Aswan High Dam was built on the Nile. As a result of the dam Lake Nasser was formed and the temple sites were lost forever.

David Roberts left behind not only an amazing artistic heritage but an irreplaceable historic record. Please enjoy our selected images from his vast array of work:

David Roberts in Arab dress
Robert Scott Lauder 1840 (via)

Colossal figures in front of the Great Temple of Abu Simbel
David Roberts 1838 (via)

Part of the ruins of a temple on the Island of Bigge, Nubia
David Roberts 1838 (via)

The gate of the Metwalis, or Bab Zuweyleh, Cairo
David Roberts 1838 (via)

The gate of the Metwalis, or Bab Zuweyleh, Cairo
David Roberts 1838 (via)

The Hypaethral Temple of Philae
David Roberts 1838 (via)

Temple of Philae
David Roberts 1838 (via)

A colossal statue at the entrance to the Temple of Luxor
David Roberts 1838 (via)

The Simoon in the desert
David Roberts 1838 (via)

Pompey’s Column/Egypt
David Roberts 1838 (via)

Pompey’s Column/Egypt
David Roberts 1838 (via)

The Great Sphinx, Pyramids of GizehDavid Roberts 1838 (via)

Temple of Dendour, NubiaDavid Roberts 1838 (via)

Frederic Edwin Church has inspired generations of artists and art lovers around the world. A major player in the Hudson River School, a movement of landscape painters in the United States, he and his colleagues brought forward the vision of romanticism in their work. Living from May 1826 to April 1900, he left a legacy of paintings for us to enjoy. Here is our nod to Frederic Church and his beautiful art.

Storm in the Mountains, 1847 (via)

To the Memory of Cole, 1848 (via)

The Natural Bridge, Virginia, 1852 (via)

Tequendama Falls, Near Bogota, New Granada, 1854 (via)

The Cordilleras, Sunrise, 1854 (via)

La Magdalena, 1854 (via)

Cotopaxi, 1855 (via)

The Heart of the Andes (via)

Twilight Wilderness, 1860 (via)

Meteor of 1860 (via)

The Icebergs, 1861 (via)

Cotopaxi, 1862 (via)

Chimborazo, 1894 (via)

Aurora Borealis, 1865 (via)

Rainy Season in the Tropics, 1866 (via)

Niagra Falls American Side, 1867 (via)

Syria by the Sea, 1873 (via)

Autumn, 1875 (via)

Andes of Ecuador, 1876 (via)

Morning in the Tropics, 1877 (via)

Al Ayn (The Fountain), 1882 (via)

Moonrise, 1889 (via)

Mount Katahdin from Millinocket Camp, 1895 (via)