Summer 2015 at the Muskegon Museum of Art
Summer opens with the 87th Regional Exhibition of works by Michigan artists and leads into Extreme Fibers that features works by artists from around the world.
Thursdays, 1:00–3:00 pm
Open Public Tours
Drop in for exhibition tours led by MMA docents. Paid general admission is required.
Saturday, June 13
Afternoon II Evening 103rd Anniversary Gala
This year’s Gala takes its inspiration from the painting Afternoon II by Manierre Dawson, a pioneer of abstract painting. The painting is a very important work of art in the MMA collection and is the cornerstone of our summer exhibition Manierre Dawson: Engineering Abstraction. Afternoon II embodies summer with golden tones that Dawson may have drawn from his life as a Michigan orchard farmer and shapes mapped by his earlier engineering training and life in Chicago. Your ticket includes pre-dinner cocktail party with open bar and appetizers and a “Tribute to Michigan” locally-sourced gourmet dinner and dessert served by Hearthstone. After the live and silent auctions, the evening will wrap up with music and dancing. Tickets: $160 per person ($140 for up to two Muskegon Museum of Art members). Call 231.720.2571 to purchase Gala tickets by May 30. Presenting sponsors are Hines Corporation and Van Kampen Molinari Boyer Foundation.
Thursday, June 25, 12:15 pm
Brown Bag Film
10 Buildings That Changed America
(60 mins.) This film tells the stories of 10 influential works of architecture, the people who imagined them, and the way these landmarks ushered innovative cultural shifts into our society. Auditorium doors open at noon. Coffee, cookies, and film admission are free. Underwritten by MMA Education Partner Alcoa Howmet.
Thursday, June 25, 5:00-7:00 pm
Meet the Artists
Meet award-winning artists from the 87th Regional Exhibition. Artists will talk about their work and answer questions during this informal gallery “walk-and-talk.” Light refreshments will be provided. Free and open to the public. Cash bar.
Thursdays in July & August, 5:30-7:30 pm
Art and a Glass
Happy Hour at the MMA
Bring your friends to a museum-style happy hour! Take a break and enjoy the art with a glass of wine or a great craft brew. General admission is free Thursday evenings from 4:00 to 8:00 pm, so take advantage of the opportunity to discover your Museum at no cost. Cash bar. Must be 21 or older to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages.
Thursday, July 9, 12:15 pm
Brown Bag Film
Magic of the White City Expo: Part I
(68 mins.) Explore the world of 1893 via a visit to Chicago’s Columbian Exposition guided by narrator Gene Wilder. Many of the world’s greatest achievements in art, architecture, science, technology and culture were unveiled there. Auditorium doors open at noon. Coffee, cookies, and film admission are free. Underwritten by MMA Education Partner Alcoa Howmet.
July 11, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Potato Head Super Saturday
Free Family Fun Day
It’s a spuddy kind of Saturday at the MMA. Admission and activities are free, compliments of MMA Education Partner Alcoa Howmet.
10:00 am & 1:00 pm
Film: Toy Story
(81 mins.) Join Woody and Buzz Lightyear on their adventure of finding their way home. (And don’t forget the famous Mr. Potato Head is looking for love…Mrs. Potato Head!)
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Guided Exhibition Tours
Explore the 87th Regional Exhibition with a museum docent.
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Make & Take
Create your own unique potato head with a funny face and crazy accessories.
Thursday, July 16, 6:00-8:00 pm
Happy Hour Painting
Bonnard’s Bountiful Garden
Instructor: Marlan Cotner
$30/$25 member (includes materials and your first beverage)
Ages: 21 & up/ All skill levels
Join us for another round of painting and spirits. This time we will focus on one of the MMA’s favorite permanent collection works, La Porte de la Villa du Bosquet au Cannet by Pierre Bonnard. This painting of a lush green garden, full of warm sunshine and great light, is a visitor favorite and a perfect work to recreate with step-by-step assistance from one of West Michigan’s best known artists. Call 231.720.2571 by July 9 to register.
Thursday, July 23, 12:15 pm
Brown Bag Film
Magic of the White City Expo: Part II
(68 mins.) Explore the world of 1893 via a visit to Chicago’s Columbian Exposition guided by narrator Gene Wilder. Many of the world’s greatest achievements in art, architecture, science, technology and culture were unveiled there. Auditorium doors open at noon. Coffee, cookies, and film admission are free. Underwritten by MMA Education Partner Alcoa Howmet.
August 8, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Paris Super Saturday
Free Family Fun Day
Grab your best beret and join us for a Saturday of great French art, a feisty French girl—Madeline, and fine Paris landscapes. Admission and activities are free, compliments of MMA Education Partner Alcoa Howmet.
10:00 am & 1:00 pm
Film: Madeline
(90 mins.) A mischievous French girl named Madeline tries to save her boarding school from closing. When that fails, she uses her wits to solve the school’s problem.
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Guided Exhibition Tours
Tour the permanent collection with a museum docent. Find your favorite French artist!
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Make & Take
Make your own Parisian cityscape, complete with the Eiffel tower.
Thursday, August 13, 12:15 pm
Brown Bag Film
Building Big: Skyscrapers
(65 mins.) This documentary showcases the amazing stories behind some of the world’s most impressive skyscrapers. The program examines the history, building techniques, builders, and little-known facts about many of the world’s most famous towers, cathedrals, and buildings. Auditorium doors open at noon. Coffee, cookies, and film admission are free. Underwritten by MMA Education Partner Alcoa Howmet.
Thursday, August 20, 5:30 pm
Opening Reception & Lecture
Extreme Fibers: Textile Icons and the New Edge
Celebrate the opening of this comprehensive exhibition of cutting edge textile and fiber art by established visionaries and up-and-coming artists from around the world. Enjoy refreshments while mingling with the artists and stay for a special lecture, which begins at 7:00 pm.
Thursday, August 27, 12:15 pm
Brown Bag Film
Chicago’s Lakefront
(90 mins.) It’s been called “Chicago’s front yard” and the “jewel in our crown.” Its Chicago’s lakefront and it stretches for 29 miles. Join Geoffrey Baer, host of WTTW’s acclaimed architectural shows and docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation, as he follows the coast of Lake Michigan from the Indiana Dunes to Chicago’s north suburbs. Auditorium doors open at noon. Coffee, cookies, and film admission are free. Underwritten by MMA Education Partner Alcoa Howmet.
Thursday August 20 through Saturday, August 22
Workshop: Painting with Needles
Instructor: C. Pazia Mannella
9:00 am – 4:00 pm (hour lunch)
Adults (ages 16 and up)
Cost: $300/$260 MMA member ($150 non-refundable)
Materials are included in workshop cost.
Learn to create textile paintings with embroidery, applique, and needle felting. Traditional and alternative needle technique will be explored on fabric, canvas, and paper. Images, textures, and patterns will be rendered in colored fiber. Ideal for all skill levels—adults, teens, and children. We will examine and discuss work exhibited in Extreme Fibers: Textile Icons and the New Edge for inspiration. Call 231.720.2571 by June 26 to register.
Saturday, August 22
Workshop: Jewelry in Paper
Instructor: Luis Acosta
9:00 am-5:00 pm (one-hour lunch)
Adults (ages 16 and up)
Cost: $240/$200 MMA member ($120 non-refundable)
Materials are included in workshop cost.
Create cut-paper jewelry based upon a single, repeating form. You will begin by designing a basic shape inspired by a familiar form such as a letter, symbol, or natural pattern. The shape is then repeated and all of the pieces are assembled into a single object of art, such as a necklace, bracelet, brooch, or tie. The workshop is accessible to students, artists, designers, teachers, and artisans. Students will draw, cut, tape, and paste. Jewelry making and design experience are not required. Call 231.720.2571 by June 26 to register.
EXHIBITIONS
Through August 9, 2015
Manierre Dawson: Engineering Abstraction
Manierre Dawson (1887-1969) was a pioneer in abstract art, creating paintings that rivaled the most innovative of his contemporaries. His visionary works, inspired by his early training and career as a civil engineer, speak to the development of Cubism and Abstract Expressionism. He moved from Chicago to Ludington, Michigan to help run his family’s fruit farm early in his artistic career. In 1969, Dawson gifted his painting Afternoon II to the MMA and it is one of the most significant works in the collection. This exhibition presents a broader sample of his paintings and a special opportunity to see more of his historic art assembled all in a single place. Lenders to the show include the Illinois State Museum system and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, as well as other private and institutional lenders from around the region. Dawson moved to Ludington in May 1914 to run the family orchard, but continued to paint and sculpt as time allowed. After its premiere at the MMA, the show will appear at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. The exhibition is underwritten by the Consumers Energy Foundation.
Through August 30, 2015
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
This exhibition features artworks inspired by sports and leisure. Anchored by two paintings by Kadir Nelson that chronicle the history of Negro League Baseball, Take Me Out to the Ballgame reveals the ways artists seek to capture the athleticism and popularity of sporting activities and events. In addition to the Nelson paintings, other highlights include Counted Out and The Baseball Game by George Bellows, Le Jockey by Toulouse Lautrec, and vintage photographs. Underwritten by Swanson Pickle Co., with additional support from Thomas and Elizabeth Tuttle and Hooker DeJong Architects & Engineers.
Through April 2016
Avian Avatars
The Muskegon Museum of Art presents Avian Avatars, a public art installation designed by The Myth Makers, artists Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein. The project consists of five bird sculptures, 18 to 26 feet tall, which are crafted from maple saplings, wire ties, and found objects. Each of the sculptures has been installed in a different downtown Muskegon location and will be on display through April 2016. The Avatars can be seen at the Muskegon Museum of Art, the Lakeshore Museum Center, the Muskegon Convention and Visitors Center, the Hines/Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce Building, and the Muskegon Farmers’ Market.
June 4 through August 5, 2015
87th Regional Exhibition
All-Michigan Edition
The Muskegon Museum of Art’s juried Regional Exhibition was one of the very first regional art shows established in Michigan and holds a respected position among the state’s regional art exhibitions. The annual show includes hundreds of two-and three-dimensional works in a wide variety of media created over the past two years by professional and amateur artists from throughout Michigan. Artists selected for the show competed for over $5,000 in cash awards, plus purchase awards. The 87th Regional Exhibition opens on June 4 with a public reception and awards ceremony.
June 23 through August 9, 2015
Tiffany Traditions
This group of works from the MMA’s collection includes some of the finest pieces from the Tiffany Studios era, including lamps, glasses, and fine functional objects.
August 6 through October 11, 2015
Doorways: A Passage through the Permanent Collection
As openings through which we enter and exit from one place to another, doorways are common thresholds. In the hands of artists, however, doors, gates, portals, arches, and other passageways are often valuable assets around which artworks are conceived. Doorways serve as carriers of narrative themes, compositional structure, and even psychological intrigue. Through a select group of paintings, sculpture, and works on paper, Doorways provides one means to enter the MMA’s expanding permanent collection. Underwritten by Rehmann.
August 20 through October 25, 2015
Challenging Tradition: Fine Craft from the Permanent Collection
In the mid-twentieth century, as part of the advent of modernism in the United States, artists became interested in using traditional craft materials and techniques to create fine art works that, while they might reference function, could exist purely as art objects, as paintings or sculpture do. This new direction quickly overlapped multiple art disciplines, as artists incorporated fiber and textile into sculpture, drawing, painting, printmaking, and even electronic media. The experimentation with craft has led to innovative and exciting works of contemporary art, and blurred the line between craft and fine art forever. Challenging Tradition: Fine Craft from the Permanent Collection showcases some of the best contemporary craft works in the MMA collections.
August 20 through November 1, 2015
Extreme Fibers: Textile Icons and the New Edge
This exhibition examines the state of fibers and textiles in the fine art world today. The artworks on display reveal the diversity of the fine art textile and fiber movement, and its transformation into a multi-media and discipline-spanning phenomenon. Participating artists come from around the world, including an invited group of 27 artists that are visionaries in the field. Additionally, a slate of artists selected from juried submissions received from countries around the world will join these masters. These juried pieces join those by invited artists for a showing of over 120 fiber and textile based artworks. Viewers will find tapestries, quilts, weavings, sculpture, basketry, and a host of other forms on display, from functional works to fully abstracted shapes. This is a remarkable opportunity for West Michigan to see truly contemporary, international artwork by artists that defined and continue to transform a major art movement. The exhibition has been developed in coordination with Guest Curator Geary Jones of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
VISITOR INFORMATION
The Muskegon Museum of Art is located in downtown Muskegon at 296 W. Webster Ave. Visit www.muskegonartmuseum.org or call 231.720.2570 for visitor information.