Co-presented by the ArtiFactory and FilmScene, post-film dialogue with artists Vero Rose Smith and Jillian Moore.

“Pollock reminds us that great art isn't about creating beauty out of misty-eyed Hallmark moments but about discovering and communicating messy truths that spill all over the place, just like the lives of the artists driven to uncover them."
- New York Times

“One of the year's best films." - Roger Ebert

In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock - is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" The film is a look back into the life of an extraordinary man, a man who has fittingly been called "an artist dedicated to concealment, a celebrity who nobody knew." As he struggled with self-doubt, engaging in a lonely tug-of-war between needing to express himself and wanting to shut the world out, Pollock (Ed Harris) began a downward spiral.

About Vero Rose Smith, artist, educator, and Associate Curator of the Legacies for Iowa Project at the UI Stanley Museum of Art
Vero Rose Smith is a graduate from Harvard Graduate School of Design's Master of Design Studies program in Art, Design, and the Public Domain. Her work centers on collective memory and the intersection of culture and environment. She is also fascinated by the role of visual imagery in scientific literacy, and the potential of tactile data. Building on a master's in architectural history and a triple undergraduate degree in studio art, art history, and environmental studies, she brings to her current position of Associate Curator at the University of Iowa Museum of Art a passion for visual arts education, environmental stewardship, and social justice.

About Jillian Moore, artist and writer
Jillian Moore is based in Iowa City, Iowa, working primarily in the field of contemporary jewelry and small sculpture using alternative materials. She received her BFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry Making from Western Illinois University in 2004, and her MFA in Jewelry and Metal Arts from the University of Iowa in 2009. Her work has been exhibited internationally, most recently in Athens, Greece during Athens Jewelry Week; as part of a group exhibition titled "Colourful PLay" at Galerie Beyond in Antwerp, Belgium; and in Valencia, Spain during the "Melting Pot" symposium. She is also the director of Bluestockings, a feminist art collective based in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area.