Akron Art Museum

Programs: Exhibitionsthe museum promotes an awareness and interest in modern and contemporary art by displaying, for the benefit of the community, significant objects of high artistic merit. The past year's major exhibits included: serial intent; alchemy: transformations in gold; and jun kaneko: blurred lines. The serial intent exhibition opened in june 2017 and ran through september 2017. This exhibition drew upon the depth of the akron art museum's collection of photography and prints to highlight the serial format as an artist's tool, both as a practical method of production and as a way to affect viewers' understanding. Artists sometimes create works of art that are meant to be viewed as isolated, individual masterpieces. They also make artwork with serial intent. Similar to the way we experience the world in motion and over time, serial artworks encourage viewing one after another. While they stand alone as works of art, individuals within a series also consciously relate to one another. Together they express additional meaning or concepts that are not apparent in any single component this exhibition included works by karl blossfeldt, lorna simpson, eadweard muybridge, richard misrach, jacob lawrence and many others. Serial intent featured installations of major series in the museum's collection that are rarely displayed in full view serial intent was organized by the akron art museum and supported by the ohio arts council. Alchemy: transformations in gold brings together a group of international artists whose work incorporates gold (or another metal disguised as gold). In each case, this precious material not only imparts a sense of luxury but also calls to mind the historic and cultural value various societies have placed upon the rare element. As glamorous and sought after as gold may be, it suggests complicated politics and potent symbolism. The works in alchemy embraced both dark and light readings of this glittering metal. This exhibition included works by luis gisbert who combines gold chains and glittering stone to make sparkling abstractions, zarina, who constructs paper works and prayer bead sculptures in gold leaf, suggesting architecture and contemplative spirituality, and lalla essaydi who uses glittering gold-toned bullet casings to create garments and backdrops that refer to islamic visual culture, which she then works into large=scale-staged photographs. Other artists showcased in this exhibition were teresa margolles, danh vo, rachel sussman, charles lindsay, james lee byars, los carpinteros, cahaterine chalmers, dorothy cross, olga de armarai, don and era farnsworth, laurent grasso, hank willis thomas and shinji turner-yamamoto. Brooklyn based artist rachel sussman draws inspiration from the japanese tradition of kintsukuroi, in which broken ceramics are mended with gold. Rather than disguise cracks and breakage, kintsukuroi honors the repair as part of an object's history. Ms. Sussman created a site specific project for the museum by "fixing" several cracks in a square of the museum's concrete lobby floor with a mixture of bronze, 23. 5 carat gold dust, and a tree sap-based resin. The alchemy exhibition was organized by the des moines art center and was sponsored in akron by the john s. Knight foundation, the ohio arts council and the hilton garden inn. Media sponsorship by ideastream. Jun kaneko: blurred lines displays the groundbreaking, monumental works of internationally renowned artist june kaneko. Chosen for their powerful yet contemplative presence, many works featured in blurred lines are drawn from the artist's private collection and represent transformational moments in his career. This exhibition allows visitors to see how kaneko pushes the boundaries of ceramics, sculpture and painting, all the while melding influences from the east and west and is meant to create an experiential journey. Each object was carefully curated for its significance and relevance in telling jun's story and sharing his creative process. This exhibition was organized by the akron art museum and is sponsored by funding from the james l. And john s. Knight foundation and the ohio arts council. Other exhibitions continuing on view from the previous year include the following:micro/macro: views of earth by marilyn bridges and jeanette klute brings together the work of two photographers who chose earth's terrain as their subject matter. In juxtaposing intimate views of marine and woodland habitats with aierial views of sprawling landscapes, the exhibition highlighted the relative nature of scale, its effect on our perception of familiar places, and the power of photography to shape our understanding of the world. Find a face invited visitors to find friendly faces in photographs, drawings, prints and paintings from the collection. Visitors could also try their hand at making their own found-object face on the giant magnetic head using supplies like teaspoons, tools and toys. Heavy metal the artists in this exhibition addressed topics including environmental concerns, race and gender, personal narrative and warfare. Some artists made statements about value by disguising cast-off or common everyday items, such as cardboard or clothing, to resemble precious metals. Other artists focused on the physical qualities of metal, such as strength and plasticity, to develop innovative abstract forms. Other new exhibitions this past year include the following:frameworks: paintings by local artists dragana crnjak, andrea joki and matthew kolodzie: each of these artists' approach painting as a process of inquiry into the way we understand time and space although they each deploy different processes to conduct their explorations. Dragana crnjak believes paintings are an important foil against our addiction moving images. Andrea joki shifts from painting in loose, spontaneous brushstrokes to applying precise hard-edge lines, often combining both in one composition. Matthew kolodzie photographs construction and demolition sites, which he digitally collages and then translates into line drawings that form the basis of his paintings. Ed emberley: better you than me: award winning picture book illustrator and author, ed emberley is living proof that anyone can live a creative life. Emberley's iconic learning-to-draw books show would-be artists how to create everything from airplanes and anteaters to submarines and kangaroos. This exhibition included an array of inventive artwork from the artist's personal archive of hand-drawn sketches, woodblock prints, final proofs and first edition books. This exhibition was comprised of a specialty curated selection from the first retrospective of emberley's work that was presented by the worcester art museum in 2016. Jerry birchfield: asleep in the dust known primarily for his work as a photographer, jerry birchfield is deeply engaged in sculptural media. This exhibition highlights the three-dimensional aspects of the artist's multifaceted art practice. A cleveland native, birchfield incorporated cross-disciplinary study and theory into his formal training in photography. As a result, his work eludes simple classification and challenges us to reconsider the relationships between images and objects.

educationthe museum has an active and engaged education department that offers activities throughout the year for children, families, and fellow educators. Kids studio classes, creative playdates, family events and story time in the galleries encourage children and teens to join the museum's educators and explore artworks and ideas in the galleries and art-making in the classroom. Fy18 presented a host of offerings designed to creative fun for all ages. Listed below are some of the offerings this past year:creative playdates - children learn best through inventive, open-ended play and in every adult there's a kid-at-heart, and these activities were designed to stretch your imagination, feed your senses, create opportunities to make new friends and create a masterpiece to carry home. Art moves this series allowed participants to take a journey through the galleries and discover the inspiration behind great art as the educators brought it to life through storytelling, dance, dramatic play and taught how to interpret what we see. Art babes - this is a continuation of the new program created in fy15 to engage infants up to 18 months by introducing them to works of art which in turn promotes early neuron connections in the brain this series encourages little ones to explore blobs of color, fuzzy edges, shapes and shadows, scents and touch. Tots create this series is for children ages 3-5 and allows participants to wander with the educators in the galleries for fun looking and listening games, songs and rainbow play. It also includes some inventing time together, using familiar, everyday materials to nurture the young artist's self-expressions, imagination and creativity. Kids studio classes - students get creative with unique materials, outlandish techniques and imaginative ideas as they create project. Museum educators and local teaching artists team up to build meaningful connections with contemporary art followed by offbeat art "experiments" in the museum's non-traditional classroom. The education department also provides school teachers of all subjects and grades an exciting and unique professional development opportunity through teacher workshops. Teachers gain a preview of upcoming exhibitions while learning how to collaborate with the museum to enhance their classroom curriculum. These workshops are free and usually feature a guest speaker as part of the event. In addition, the education department partners with local schools to provide tours to thousands of students each year. The education department programming is made possible through the generous donations of our major sponsors, the dominion foundation, the r. C. Musson & katharine m. Musson charitable foundation, george and susan klein, robert o. And annamae orr family foundation, charles e. & mabel m. Ritchie foundation the mary and dr. George l. Demetros charitable trust, the sandra l. And dennis b. Haslinger family foundation, the sisler mcfawn foundation, the welty foundation and the lloyd l. & louise k. Smith memorial foundation in addition to other smaller donations from various individuals and foundations. The education department also hosts the following:night at the museum program that invites schools and community organizations to hold one-night-only art shows at the akron art museum, featuring the work of their students or clients. Family days:live creative summer studio introduced new in fy18, the education team created an area within the museum's main lobby where families could unplug and make lasting memories together without worrying about the calendar. This studio area was open to all tuesday through friday from 11 am 4 pm from june 5th august 24th. Martin luther king, jr. Day each year the museum helps celebrate dr. Martin king's legacy which inspires transformation through creativity. The museum opens its doors to the public to encourage all to celebrate king's vision by recharging their imagination through hands-on art activities, games, and storytelling paired with artists from the museum's contemporary collection

community outreachfrom mid-june until mid-august the museum sponsors a downtown at dusk concert series in the beautiful new akron art museum's bud and susie rogers garden. These occurred on eight consecutive thursday evenings and are free to the public. Films can also be viewed at the museum throughout the year and the museum also partners with akron film and pixel to provide a variety of film offerings a sampling of fy18 films is listed below: burden explores the life of the always provocative artist chris burden, whose work consistently challenged ideas about the limits and nature of modern art, from his notorious performances in the 1970s to his later assemblages, installations, kinetic and static sculptures and scientific models. In addition, throughout the year the museum offers numerous gallery and art talks with museum staff including but not limited to our chief curator, janice driesbach, associate curator, theresa bembnister, assistant curator, liz carney, and collections manager, arnie tunstall as well as well-known artists and / or historians. The museum also offers a variety of special performances, workshops, and art demonstrations on an ongoing basis. A small sampling of some of these offerings from fy18 is listed below:artist's / staff talks lori kella provided a gallery talk on the details of her seven summits series alongside the artwork. Bruce checefsky spoke about the unique process behind his garden series, and the provided a demonstration in the bud and susie rogers garden. Michael loderstedt talked about bestiary, the portfolio he created in collaboration with fellow northeast ohio artist, craig lucas, alongside the artworks in the gallery. Charles lindsay, a multidisciplinary artist, discussed his evolving hybrid installation field station, which was on view during the alchemy exhibition. A series of gallery talks were held by the following artists whose work was shown in the heavy metal exhibition: mahwish chishty, corrie slawson, kathy buszkiewicz, sherry simms, and sarah paul. From art objects to art subjects a lecture by lane relyea, professor and chair, department of art theory & practice, northwestern university. Tours of the heavy metal and micro/macro exhibitions led by associate curator, theresa bembnister and assistant curator, liz carney. Rachel sussman spoke about her series sidewalk kintsukuroi which expanded the traditional japanese art of kintsukuroi the practice of repairing cracks in ceramics by filling them with gold-by taking it, literally, out into the streets. This artist also created a unique installation for the akron art museum by using this technique to fill cracks in the museum's beatrice knapp mcdowell grand lobby. John brown tour: explored akron's role in the life of abolitionist john brown by combining a tour by assistant curator liz carney of jacob lawrence's screenprint series the legend of john brown shown in the exhibition serial intent followed by a visit to the john brown house, the small cottage brown once called home which is located at 550 copley rd. , akron oh. Special performances:rubber city jazz festival free jazz music performances held at the museum during two saturdays in august. Music: apollo's fire a performance of handel's israel in egypt with a celebration of jewish and arabic folk music and cultural traditions - as well as a few highlights from handel's masterpiece. An irish-appalachian christmas soprano amanda powell reminisced about childhood christmases in rural west virginia, along with apollo's fire folk players on flute, fiddle, lute, banjo, cello and hammered dulcimer. Missile toe this festive rock band filled the museum lobby with fun, upbeat versions of classic holiday tunes. Book club offerings in 2017:the trip: andy warhol's plastic fantastic cross-country adventure by deborah davis. This book chronicles a little-known road trip andy warhol took from new york to la in 1963, and how that journeyand the numerous artists and celebrities he encounteredprofoundly influenced his life and art. The lady in gold: the extraordinary tale of gustav klimt's masterpiece, portrait of adele block-bauer by anne-marie o'connor. This book brilliantly tells the galvanizing story of gustav klimt's 1907 masterpiecethe breathtaking portrait of a viennese jewish socialite, adele block-bauer. The flamethrowers by rachel kushner tells the tale of reno who ventures to new york in 1975 intent on turning her fascination with motorcycles and speed into art. Her arrival coincides with an explosion of activity in the art world artists have colonized a deserted and industrial soho, are staging actions in the east village, and are blurring the line between life and art. Yoga in the galleries/garden: yoga classes held in the akron art museum's galleries and / or new bud and susie rogers garden combine breath, flow, and art in a beginner friendly series taught by a certified nirvana yoga instructor. New year's first night: first night akron is a new year's eve celebration for everyone, from families to retirees and millennials. The celebration of the arts brings the community together to create lasting memories. The galleries are opened to the public and a community activity is planned in the lobby. For the seventh consecutive summer, the akron art museum proudly participated in the blue star museum initiative. This is a collaboration among the national endowment for the arts, blue star families, the department of defense, and more than 2,000 museums across america which offers free admission to the nation's active duty military personnel including national guard and reserve and their families from memorial day, may 29, through labor day, september 4, 2017. The museum is free to the public on thursdays thanks to the generosity of a grant from the j. M. Smucker's company. The akron art museum believes strongly that "art is for everyone and to that end, on november 28, 2018, the museum launched a "giving back tuesday" campaign offering "free" memberships at the $50 level to anyone who signed up either online or in person on this day. This initiative was hugely successful as the museum added more than 16,000 new members.