N
r e t t e l e ws ING
2 012
SPENCER SPR
MUSEUM OF ART
Scenes from the Friends of the Art Museum Fall Opening and the Student Advisory Board’s Fall Student Night, both of which centered on the exhibitions Heartland Reverberations and Passages: Persistent Visions of a Native Place.
C O N T EN T S
02
Dialogue
04
Calendar of Events
12
Exhibitions
22
Upcoming Exhibitions
26
The Spencer in Brief
34
Friends & Contributors
On the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2011, an audience of more than 170 enjoyed a Central Court concert of classical music featuring accompanist Robert Hiller (left) and vocalist Genaro Mendez. Donations benefited the KU Voice Department and the Spencer.
DIALOGUE
A Higher Standard: Far Above The Spencer Museum of Art has again earned accreditation from the American Association of Museums. I can report with pride that the AAM Accreditation Commission noted the Spencer’s distinctive status as a leader of academic museums in promoting teaching and scholarship. Accreditation for the Spencer Museum of Art means the museum meets national standards and best practices for U.S. museums. As a member of a large community of institutions, accreditation also means the Spencer has chosen to hold itself publicly accountable to excellence. AAM accreditation is achieved through a rigorous process of self-assessment and review by peers. Reaccreditation confirms the Spencer as a responsible and thoughtful steward of resources held in the public trust. We are on record as committing to a philosophy of continual institutional growth. Every day, each year, through decades, we commit to looking toward the future, to envisioning how we can best contribute and lead. As we enter the new capital campaign for the University of Kansas, entitled Far Above, the ambitions for the Spencer Museum of Art must continue to exceed best practices. We expect to excel, to set pace, and to gain distinction for the University and for Kansas. We renew our pledge to serve our many communities near and far, and we look far above art museum field standards. As we extend our reach for artists and the realization of their thoughts, we understand that the creation and presentation of art are the stars that guide and illuminate our work. It is our charge to take risks with ideas and artists that lift our programs and stretch our capacities. In doing so, we encourage and defend freedom of expression, expect scholarly rigor, and cultivate artistic engagement. Through these kinds of undertakings, we continue to build the Spencer as a vibrant and adaptive intersection for art, ideas, and experience. With our eyes fixed ahead, we dare to have aspirations for the ways in which art transforms lives.
4
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
Here are a few quotes from the report submitted by the visiting peer review committee: “…the Museum’s vision and risk taking is to be admired.” “Without question, the Spencer Museum at KU is considered essential to the academic mission of the university.” “…(The Spencer has) a staff who see the museum as a conduit of ideas, as a crucible for life-changing and affirming experiences, and a place where objects make connections to and between people. At another museum, these could be classified as exalted ideas; at the Spencer they are attainable ideals.” Accolades aside, we have a challenge. To be Far Above we must expand our facility to match our programs. Our challenge is to build a space for innovation and creativity to help the University of Kansas further contribute to answering great questions and greater challenges. Such an expansion will give room to grow expansive ideas for connecting art to the world through dialogue, debate, and display. Shifting the idea of art from a passive experience to one that is active in the world requires different kinds of spaces. We need educational space, research space, intimate space, inspiring space, community space. To accomplish this, we need you, and I welcome your thoughts as we approach this pivotal moment in the life of the Spencer Museum and KU.
— Saralyn Reece Hardy
5
CALENDAR OF EVENTS for SPRING 2012
JANUARY
1.25 WED
2012
S
M
T
W
TH
F
S
1 8 15 22 29
2 9 16 23 30
3 10 17 24 31
4 11 18 25
5 12 19 26
6 13 20 27
7 14 21 28
Gallery Talk: SMA intern Megan Young on What is Your Pain Compared to This? Trauma and Catharsis in Pre-Modern Art / 6 PM / Medieval & Northern Renaissance Gallery
1.26 Activity: Craftsy Meet-up Party / THU 5:30–7:30 PM / Central Court & 20/21 Gallery / Share a current project over coffee, form a craft stash swap, or demonstrate a crafting technique. Offered in conjunction with Conversation XII: Crafting Continuities.
6
1.29 SUN
Film: Germany Year Zero / 3 PM / The Commons at Spooner Hall / Sponsored by The Commons / Partially filmed amid the rubble of post-World War II Berlin, Germany Year Zero (1948, Dir. Roberto Rosselini) follows the life of 13-yearold Edmund Kohler (Moeschke) and his destitute family as they struggle with life in the aftermath of the war.
1.29 SUN
Film: Dark City / 4:30 PM / The Commons at Spooner Hall / Sponsored by The Commons / Dark City (1998, Dir. Alex Proyas) is set in a futuristic urban environment that never emerges from the darkness of night, and tells the story of a man suffering from amnesia who finds himself accused of murder.
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
1.29 Presentation: Carl Deal, Filmmaker / SUN 6:15 PM / The Commons at Spooner Hall / Sponsored by The Commons and the University Honors Program / Carl Deal, co-director and co-producer of the 2008 Oscarnominated documentary Trouble the Water, will speak about his experience making the film and take questions before the film screening at 7 PM. Deal is a 1988 graduate of the University of Kansas, and holds a MS in journalism from Columbia University, where he earned its Social Justice Prize. 1.29 Film: Trouble the Water / 7 PM / SUN The Commons at Spooner Hall / Sponsored by The Commons and the University Honors Program / Trouble the Water (2008, Dir. Carl Deal & Tia Lessin) follows the story of residents of the Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the district. Trouble the Water famously draws attention to issues of race, class, and the relationship of a government to its citizens as they presented themselves in the weeks, months, and years post-Katrina.
FEBRUARY S
5 12 19 26
M
6 13 20 27
2012
T
W
TH
F
S
7 14 21 28
1 8 15 22 29
2 9 16 23
3 10 17 24
4 11 18 25
2.1 WED
Reception: February Sisters Speak Out: 2.12 SUN 40 Years after the Occupation / 4:30 PM / Central Court / Sponsored by the Spencer and the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
2.4 SAT
Presentation: February Sisters Speak Out: 40 Years after the Occupation / 7 PM / SMA Auditorium / Sponsored by the Spencer and the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies / Oral historians Sherrie Tucker and Tami Albin will interview women who were inside and outside the occupied building on the KU campus on February 4, 1972. 2.14 TUE Visiting Artist Series: Karen McCoy / 6 PM / SMA Auditorium / Sponsored by the Spencer and the Department of Visual Art / Karen McCoy’s primary work for the last two decades has been largescale, sited environmental sculpture. McCoy focuses on the relationship 2.14 between nature and culture, creating TUE work based on extensive research into the geological, cultural, and social histories of each site. She also works in video and photography, and makes drawings and prints.
2.9 THU
2.9 THU
2.15 Lecture: Dr. Yomi Braester, on WED The Architecture of Utopia: From Rem Koolhaas’s Scale Models to RMB City / 7:30 PM / 2012 University Lecture Series 3 at The Commons at Spooner Hall / Sponsored by The Commons and the University Honors Program / Dr. Braester’s talk will dovetail with a 2.15 Commons course designed for Honors Program students; Braester is Professor WED of Comparative Literature and Cinema Studies at the University of Washington.
Performance: Chamber Ensemble of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra / 2 PM / Central Court / Sponsored by the Spencer, the Lied Center of Kansas, and the Center for East Asian Studies / The Chamber Ensemble of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra will present a sampler of their work followed by reception in honor of the Lantern Festival. The Ensemble is in residency at the Lied Center of Kansas February 12 & 13 as part of the China Festival. Film: Paris Je T’aime / 5 PM / The Commons at Spooner Hall / Sponsored by The Commons / Composed of 18 episodic stories with an ensemble cast, Paris Je T’aime (2006) is set in multiple neighborhoods of Paris and explores different types of relationships in a cosmopolitan environment. Film: Cairo Time / 7 PM / The Commons at Spooner Hall / Sponsored by The Commons / Cairo Time (2009, Dir. Ruba Nadda) is a love letter to a city intertwined with a love story. Gallery Talk: SMA intern Annie Kroshus on Year of the Dragon: A Selection of Chinese Objects from the Spencer Collection / 5:30 PM / Raymond White Teaching Gallery / Offered in conjunction with the China Festival. Artist Talk: Helen Shirk / 6:30 PM / SMA Auditorium / Sponsored by the Spencer and the Department of Visual Art / Helen Shirk is an internationally recognized metalsmith and jeweler 7
CALENDAR OF EVENTS whose work recently has been featured on the cover of Metalsmith magazine. She is Professor of Art Emerita at San Diego State University, and her work can be found in many public collections. 2.16 Gallery Talk: Prof. Marie-Alice L’Heureux THU on Socialist Imagery: USSR / US (1935) / 1 PM / Art in a Global Context: The Museum Collection Across the Curriculum 5 / Sponsored by Center for Global and International Studies and Spencer Museum of Art / Professor Marie-Alice L’Heureux from the Department of Architecture and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies will speak on works by Boris Ignatovich and Osvaldo Louis Gugliemi. 2.16 Film & Panel Discussion: Pearls on the THU Ocean Floor / 6 PM / SMA Auditorium / Sponsored by the Spencer, the Center for Global and International Studies, and the Kress Foundation Department of Art History / Presented as part of the International Focus Series 4, Robert Adanto’s Pearls on the Ocean Floor is a thought-provoking, feature-length documentary examining the lives and works of Iranian female artists living and working in and outside the Islamic Republic. (2010, 77 minutes) A panel discussion will follow the screening with Director Robert Adanto; SMA Curator of Global Contemporary & Asian Art Kris Ercums; KU Assistant Professor of Installation Art Maria Velasco; and Pooya Naderi , an Iran native and doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology.
8
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
2.20 Lecture: Max Grinnell, on What We MON Talk About When We Talk About Art in Cities / 7 PM / Lawrence Public Library / Sponsored by Lawrence Public Library and The Commons / Author and urbanologist Max Grinnell will talk about the role of public art in American cities, using illustrative materials from his travels. 2.25 SAT
It Starts With Art! Family Activities at the Spencer 1 / 10:30 AM–12:30 PM / Strike a Pose: Figurative Sculpture in the SMA / Join us for a tour of sculpture depicting the human body and then try your hand at creating a sculpture of your own with air-dry clay. Led by SMA staff member Scott Barber.
2.29 WED
Lecture: Rebecca Solnit, on Civil Society, the Phoenix in the Ruins: Disaster, Carnival, Revolution, and Public Joy / 7:30 PM / The Commons at Spooner Hall / Sponsored by The Commons / Rebecca Solnit has studied and written about major disasters and reached conclusions that are relevant not only to emergencies but to larger questions about our deepest desires and greatest possibilities. She is the author of thirteen books about art, landscape, public and collective life, ecology, politics, hope, meandering, reverie, and memory.
MARCH
3.1 THU
3.4 SUN
3.5 MON
2012
S
M
T
W
TH
F
S
4 11 18 25
5 12 19 26
6 13 20 27
7 14 21 28
1 8 15 22 29
2 9 16 23 30
3 10 17 24 31
Presentation: Idea Café 6 with Rebecca Solnit on Do We Need Crisis to Have Citizenship? / 10:30 AM / The Commons / Sponsored by The Commons / Coffee is provided, and RSVP is required by February 22. Limit 40 guests. RSVP to Emily Ryan at thecommons@ku.edu Artist Talk: Artist Karen LaMonte / 4 PM / SMA Auditorium / Sponsored by Spencer Museum of Art / Karen LaMonte has earned international acclaim for her striking cast-glass sculptures. Through the generosity of Hope Talbot, the Spencer recently acquired a monumental glass sculpture by LaMonte called Chado, now on view in the 20/21 Gallery.
of Academic Affairs in the School of Liberal Arts, Tulane University. 3.8 THU
Gallery Talk: Senior Session 2 : SMA intern Megan Young on Design, Production, and Material Culture in the 1950s, Selections of Jewelry and Culinary Material Culture on Loan from Robert A. Hiller / 10 AM / 19th Century Gallery
3.14 WED
Performance: The Goldenburg Duo / 12 PM / Central Court / Sponsored by the Spencer and the Kansas City Symphony / Susan Goldenburg is a violinist with the Kansas City Symphony. William Goldenburg, her brother, is Distinguished Professor of Piano at Northern Illinois University. This concert will include works by Handel, Rachmaninoff, Oscar Peterson, George Gershwin, and Edvard Grieg.
3.22 THU
Gallery Talk: Senior Session 2 : SMA docent Georgiana Torres on Clementine Hunter’s untitled (scenes of life) / 10 AM / 20 /21 Gallery
Lecture: Dr. Kevin Gotham on A Repertoire of Authenticity: Tourism 3.29 Gentrification and the Transformation THU of the French Quarter / 7:30 PM / The Commons at Spooner Hall / Sponsored by The Commons, University Honors Program / 2012 University Lecture Series 3 / Dr. Gotham’s talk will dovetail with the Commons course designed for Honors Program students, co-taught in Spring 2012 by Dr. Catherine Preston, Associate 3.31 Professor of Film and Media Studies SAT and Dr. Anton Rosenthal, Associate Professor of History. Gotham is Professor of Sociology / Associate Dean
Visiting Artist Series: Chris Duncan / 6 PM / SMA Auditorium / Sponsored by the Spencer and the Department of Visual Art / Duncan is an Oakland, California-based artist whose diverse array of work includes paintings, drawings, sculpture and site-specific installation. It Starts With Art! Family Activities at the Spencer 1 / 10:30 AM–12 PM / Not So Fast! Not So Slow! / Kids, pull your parents into the real and virtual 9
CALENDAR OF EVENTS worlds of the Spencer Museum. Learn how you can innovatively engage with both experiences, followed by a creative activity. Led by SMA Director Saralyn Reece Hardy.
APRIL
10
Lecture & Reception: Jessica Winegar, Asst. Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University on Creativity and Revolution: Egypt at a Crossroads / 5 PM / SMA Auditorium / Winegar is the author of the book Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt (Stanford University Press, 2006) and a founding member of the Task Force on Middle East Anthropology. This talk is part of the University Honors Program’s series on the Arab Spring and is sponsored by the Spencer, the University Honors Program, and the Department of Anthropology.
4.5 THU
Gallery Talk: Professor Peter Haney on Carlos Mérida’s prints “Trajes Regionales Mexicanos” / 1 PM / Raymond White Teaching Gallery / Art in a Global Context: The Museum Collection Across the Curriculum 5 / Sponsored by Center for Global and International Studies, Spencer Museum of Art / For this session, Dr. Peter Haney, Asst. Director of Latin American Studies will speak on Carlos Mérida’s prints “Trajes Regionales Mexicanos” (1945).
4.5 THU
Reception: SMA Student Night / 5:30 PM / Central Court / Sponsored by the Spencer Student Advisory Board
4.6 FRI
Gallery Talk: SMA intern Lindsey Waugh on The Elegant Equation: Intersections of Art and Mathematics in Works from the Cryptograph Exhibition Honoring Alan Turing / 12 PM / Gallery 318
2012
S
M
T
W
TH
F
S
1 8 15 22 29
2 9 16 23 30
3 10 17 24
4 11 18 25
5 12 19 26
6 13 20 27
7 14 21 28
4.2 Adult Class: KU Osher Lifelong Learning MON Institute / 2 PM / Sponsored by the Spencer and KU Continuing Education / Join Curator of Global Contemporary and Asian Art Kris Ercums to learn about Prepared: Strategies for Activists, a new project from Chen Shaoxiong, this spring’s Freeman Foundation International Artist-in-Residence at the Spencer. Enrollment required. /$/ Contact Continuing Education, 785-864-KUCE(5823), or kuce@ku.edu 4.3 TUE
4.4 WED
Lecture: Dr. Janet Ward on The Limits of Urban (Trans)Nationalism: Air War, Shelter, and the Dispossessed / 7:30 PM / The Commons at Spooner Hall / 2012 University Lecture Series 3 / Sponsored by the Commons and the University Honors Program / Dr. Gotham’s talk will dovetail with a Commons course designed for Honors Program. Gotham is Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the School of Liberal Arts, Tulane University.
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
4.11 WED
Reception: Spring at the Spencer / 5:30 PM / Central Court & Galleries / Sponsored by the Friends of the Art Museum
4.12 THU
Gallery Talk: Senior Session 2 : SMA Curator Susan Earle on artists Petah Coyne and Karen LaMonte / 10 AM / 20/21 Gallery
4.12 THU
4.19 THU
4.22 SUN
4.22 SUN
Lecture: 2012 Franklin D. Murphy Lecturer, Michael Brenson / 2 PM / Sponsored by the Spencer and the Kress Foundation Department of Art History / This lecture will be presented at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO.
4.25 WED
Gallery Talk: SMA intern Megan Young on Roads to Understanding and Catharsis: Trauma as Subject and or Content in Modern and Contemporary Art / 5:30 PM / 20/21 Gallery
Visiting Artist Series: Brad Kahlhamer / 6 PM / SMA Auditorium / Sponsored by the Spencer and the Department of Visual Art / Internationally recognized Native American painter, sculptor, and 4.26 installation artist Brad Kahlhamer fuses THU an exuberant embrace of Expressionist painting with the visionary tradition of Native American art. Lecture and Reception: 2012 Franklin D. Murphy Lecturer, Michael Brenson / 5 PM / SMA Auditorium & Central Court / Sponsored by the Spencer and the Kress 4.28 Foundation Department of Art History SAT / Michael Brenson is a critic, curator, scholar, and teacher. He received an MA in Creative Writing and a Ph.D in art history from Johns Hopkins University, and was an art critic for The New York Times from 1982 to 1991. A reception follows in the Central Court. It Starts With Art! Family Activities at the Spencer 1 / 1–3 PM / Art and Ecology / Celebrate Earth Day at the Spencer by 5.5 exploring work by contemporary artists in the collection as well as the exhibition SAT 39 Trails: Research in the Peruvian Amazon, followed by a creative activity. Led by SMA staff member Kristina Walker.
Gallery Talk: Senior Session 2 : Professor John Kennedy on Irving Norman’s The Race / 10 AM / 20/21 Gallery / John Kennedy from the Department of Political Science and the Center for East Asian Studies will speak on The Race, a 1962 oil painting by Polish American artist Irving Norman (1906–1989). Activity: Slow Art Day / 11–1 PM / Sponsored by Spencer Museum of Art
MAY S
6 13 20 27
2012
M
T
W
TH
F
S
7 14 21 28
1 8 15 22 29
2 9 16 23 30
3 10 17 24 31
4 11 18 25
5 12 19 26
It Starts With Art! Family Activities at the Spencer 1 / 1–3 PM / Spring Arts & Cultures Festival / Co-sponsored by the SMA Student Advisory Board. Explore the current SMA exhibitions and enjoy live 11
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
JUNE
music and performances, artists’ demonstrations, and a variety of family activities. No registration necessary. 5.8 Activity: Midnight at the Museum TUE Student Study Night / 4 PM–Midnight / Central Court / Sponsored by the Spencer Student Advisory Board / Prep for finals, gaze at art, and enjoy free refreshments and Wi-Fi! 5.10 THU
Gallery Talk: Senior Session 2 : SMA docent Jane Kuwana on Nature / Natural / 10 AM / South Balcony Gallery
5.13 It Starts With Art! Family Activities at the SUN Spencer 1 / 1–3 PM / You Lead the Tour! / Tour the Spencer galleries, then create your own “gallery guide” for a highlightsof-the-collection tour featuring your personal favorite works in the Spencer. Led by SMA staff member Megan Young.
S
3 10 17 24
6.17 SUN
M
4 11 18 25
2012 T
5 12 19 26
W
6 13 20 27
TH
F
S
7 14 21 28
1 8 15 22 29
2 9 16 23 30
It Starts With Art! Family Activities at the Spencer 1 / 1–3 PM / Family Day: Cryptographs! / Discover a world of hidden secrets, puzzles, and cryptographs in the Museum’s collection. Inspired by the Spencer’s exhibition honoring Alan Turing (1912–1954), the brilliant British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and pioneering computer scientist. No registration necessary.
5.18 Activity: International Museum Day / FRI 10 AM – 4 PM / Central Court & Galleries 5.24 THU
Gallery Talk: Senior Session 2 : Denise Giannino, PhD candidate in art history, on Best Face Forward: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Portraits in the Spencer Museum of Art / 10 AM
Please visit www.spencerart.ku.edu for a complete & updated Calendar of Events 12
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
E XT E ND E D I NFO RM AT I ON
and Sciences. This is an ongoing series It Starts with Art: of arts-related events—from the visual Family Activities at the Spencer to performing arts and literature—with This spring, while our regular It Starts global and international scope. The with Art program is on hiatus, the Spencer theme for this Academic Year is “Nations Museum of Art invites you to join us for & Identities.” The 2011–2012 series is some new family programs. We will exploring the idea of Art & Artists as an experiment with new formats for extension or expression of this theme. multigenerational youth and family { FEB 16 } activities that include a variety of interactive, object-based explorations. These programs are free and open to 5 Art in a Global Context: The Museum the public, but unless otherwise noted, Collection Across the Curriculum. we encourage advance registration. Come view works for the first time, To register, please visit http://www. through a new lens, or in a deeper way, spencerart.ku.edu/programs/kids.shtml. in the new gallery talk series Art in a { FEB 25, MAR 31, APR 22, MAY 5 & 13, Global Context: The Museum Collection JUN 17 } Across the Curriculum. In the program, KU faculty members from the University’s 2 international studies centers are invited Senior Sessions to discuss a work of art from the Spencer This popular series of informal gallery Museum’s collection. Speakers relate discussions is designed for senior citizens themes and ideas to various disciplines but open to everyone. { MAR 8 & 22, APR across campus. { FEB 16, APR 5 } 12 & 26, MAY 10 & 24 } 1
3
2012 University Lecture Series The topic for the 2012 University Lecture Series at The Commons at Spooner Hall is The Visual City: The Intersection of History, Memory, Space and Image. { FEB 19, MAR 5, APR 3 }
4
The International Focus Series is presented by the KU Center for Global & International Studies in collaboration with various KU Departments and Area Studies Centers within the College of Liberal Arts
6
Idea Café The Idea Café consists of a 15-minute introduction to a provocative topic by an expert in the field, followed by a dinnertable-style discussion among members of the audience. It is intended to serve as an alternative model of engagement among scholars, and among scholars and the broader community, with the goal of eliciting energetic exchanges between attendees in response to the speaker’s introduction. { MAR 1 }
13
EXHIBITIONS
Glorious to View: The KU Campus Heritage Project July 12 – February 19, 2012 | Lobby Gallery
I
nspired by the Getty Foundation-funded Campus Heritage Project and the collective legacy of the KU community, the Spencer Museum of Art is celebrating Mount Oread’s history and traditions by highlighting connections among the many memories that are spread across the KU landscape. Glorious to View — a name culled from the beloved KU Alma Mater song — presents an array of artworks and archival photographs to share the history of the KU campus, focusing on four historic sites: Spooner Hall, Fraser Hall, Old North College, and Potter Lake. The exhibition is installed in the third floor hallway of the Spencer Museum and all objects, which are drawn from the collections of both the Museum and the Spencer Research Library, are on display as reproductions so that they may be accessible to a variety of audiences outside of formal Museum hours. Glorious to View represents an innovative collaboration between Spencer Museum of Art staff and advanced KU graphic design students enrolled in a course taught in Spring 2011 by Professor Patrick Dooley. The Museum plans to tour the exhibition to other locations on campus and venues across the state; this project is intended to build knowledge of the history of these fascinating locations and buildings that are an essential part of KU’s past and present. The Spencer Museum of Art would like to acknowledge and thank the Historic Mount Oread Friends for their generous support of this exhibition. The goal of this important group is “to ensure that KU’s past is always part of its future.” Learn more about the Historical Mount Oread Friends here: http://union.ku.edu/hmof/
Demolition of Fraser Hall, 1965, University Archives, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas
14
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
Conversation XII: Crafting Continuities October 1 – June 17, 2012 | 20 /21 Gallery & Process Space
to the past, while the creative process itself looks to the expressive potential of those materials. The installation juxtaposes contemporary objects from the collection with their historic counterparts and with remnants of the process, such as preparatory drawings. In this way, Crafting Continuities seeks to engage deeper content found in the Spencer’s contemporary artworks in hile the word “craft” is a loaded term textile, blown-glass, metalwork, wood, and that may imply hierarchical notions of ceramic, while highlighting the depth of the artistic validity and cultural importance, so- Museum’s collection of historic artworks in called craft media have played an integral these media. The exhibition will incorporate role in the trajectory of 20th-century art. a broad range of artworks, underscoring These materials, such as glass, metal, fiber, the legacies of these materials and and ceramic, are themselves steeped in revealing some of the cultural tides that histories of labor, class, and gender, as have transmitted media and techniques well as regional and familial identity. Craft across both time and space. Due to popular media therefore can embody layered content demand, Crafting Continuities has been that conveys both the meaning of the extended. The exhibition will undergo specific piece and the deeper implications transformation in late January, when of the material. Crafting Continuities, which new textiles, drawings, and prints will inhabits three distinct spaces within the be installed, and will be on view through 20/21 Gallery, aims to inspire conversations June, 2012. about materiality, process, and their implications, exploring the ways that contemporary artworks made from Mary A. Kretsinger, 1915–2001, container, 1980s venerable media can forge connections sterling silver, Gift of the artist, 1998.0704
W
Lino Tagliapietra, born 1934, Dinosaur (5), 2002, blown glass, Gift of Ross and Marianna Beach, 20/21 Gallery, South Wall, 2003.0074
15
EXHIBITIONS
Then & Now: Women Artists at the Spencer Museum of Art January 31–February 8, 2012 | Raymond White Teaching Gallery Spencer Museum has made a point of acquiring works by women in a variety of media. The results of these efforts have been evident in a variety of exhibitions and collection displays.
Curated by Susan Earle, SMA Curator of European & American Art, in conjunction with the 40th Anniversary of KU’s “February Sisters” demonstrations and the subsequent February 1972 founding of the Women’s Studies Program.
T
his short-term exhibition in the Raymond White Teaching Gallery highlights works made by women that were acquired by the Spencer Museum of Art around the time of the founding of the KU women’s studies program in February 1972, in dialogue with more recent acquisitions of works by women. The early 1970s was a rich and fascinating time in the history of contemporary art, as is today. For the past 15 or more years, the
A major recent acquisition that seems to sum up where we are today is by Mary Sibande (born 1982, South Africa). Sibande’s 2010 sculpture Sophie Ntombikayise will be available for a special viewing at the opening reception for this exhibition, from 4:30–6 PM on Wednesday, February 1. This important sculpture will be featured in a prominent public display at the Spencer later this year (Central Court, August 11– November 11). The exhibition opening will also serve as the launch of the official 40-year commemoration of the activism of the “February Sisters” and the founding of KU’s Women’s Studies Program. Please join us for this exciting event, and look out for student re-enactments of these activities on campus in early February. The opening is sponsored by the Spencer and the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Dan Wynn, 1920 –1995, active United States, Body and Soul: Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, circa 1971, gelatin silver print, Gift of Esquire, Inc., 1980.0862
16
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
Prepared: Strategies for Activists Residency: March 1 – March 31, 2012 / Exhibition: April – June 2012
T
his spring Beijing-based artist Chen Shaoxiong will spend three weeks (March 1, 2012– April 5, 2012) working with university students, faculty, staff and a broad cross section of Lawrence and the greater Kansas City community to create art works designed to impart a better understanding of effective protest strategies. Since his early involvement with the “urban guerrilla” group Big Tale Elephant in Guangzhou, China to more recent collaborations with the Xijing Men’s Collective, Chen has developed an artistic practice that deploys strategies of social action to uncover and understand the mechanisms of contemporary global political culture. In light of the recent political movements around the world from the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street encampments around this country, this project will attempt to bring a broader contextualization to the history and various cultural iterations of demonstration strategies and tactics.
As part of this project, a core group of 30 to 40 students will work closely with Chen Shaoxiong to create new, collaborative artworks in a wide range of media from photography and video to posters and social media. The general public can participate by attending and contributing to weekly seminars, lectures, and workshops. These workshops will include a roster of experienced activists, academic experts, and artists from around the world who will be “Skyped” into the Central Court via a large projection. This grassroots, organic process will be the impetus for collaborative artworks that will eventually form the core of the exhibition. Workshop topics are still being planned; however, participants will be invited to create and perform a “briefing” that will encapsulate the results of the three-week technical training camp for the exhibition opening. For the latest developments, please check to the exhibition website: http://www.spencerart.ku.edu/exhibitions/protest-training-camp.shtml Chen Shaoxiong, Ink history, 2008–2009, Courtesy of the artist
17
EXHIBITIONS
Cryptograph: An Exhibition for Alan Turing March 24 – July 20, 2012 | Gallery 318
C
ryptograph is organized in conjunction with the many celebrations taking place around the world in honor of the centenary of Alan Turing (1912–1954), the brilliant British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and pioneering computer scientist. Turing’s world-changing innovations include the Turing Machine, a conceptual machine that builds on the notion of the algorithm and laid the foundation of modern computing. As a cryptanalyst during World War II, Turing’s breakthroughs in
18
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
logic allowed him to decipher the German encrypting device known as the Enigma Machine which was used extensively in communication between German U-boats. Turing was also deeply involved in the idea of “Machine Intelligence,” and he developed a test for artificial intelligence that is still in use today. Late in his career Turing became fascinated with the field of mathematical biology, a field that explores the mathematical underpinnings of morphogenesis, the origins and evolution of biological form.
Cryptograph draws from the Spencer’s diverse permanent collections to highlight works that resonate with the kinds of questions that drove Turing’s research: how can we find meaning in patterns? What connections exist between mathematics and computing, intelligence and natural form? These works include renaissance prints, Nigerian food covers, algorithmic computer art, and contemporary art that explores language.
Saul Chernick, born 1975, Panagea, 2011, relief print, screen print, 2011.0074
Like Turing’s astonishingly diverse body of work, this exhibition will consider the intersections between a number of disciplines and ideas in the hope of eliciting deeper questions from viewers. The exhibition was conceived in consultation and collaboration with KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center and the Biodiversity Institute.
Paul Noble, artist, born 1963, Dilston, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom, Mike Ward, printer, I.C. Editions, a division of Susan Inglett Gallery, publisher, Hugh Stoneman, plates made at Stoneman Graphics, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, etched by, Paul’s Place, 2002, 2009.0174
19
EXHIBITIONS
39 Trails: Research in the Peruvian Amazon March 24 – July 22, 2012 | Gallery 318
T
his exhibition will be the platform for sharing the creative projects made by a group of KU researchers who travelled to the Peruvian Amazon in June 2011. The team included seven undergraduate students and two graduate students under the direction of KU curator/professors Caroline Chaboo (Entomology) and Steve Goddard (Spencer Museum of Art). Everyone involved relied heavily on a small map of the base of their activity, the Los Amigos Biological Field Station. The map detailed 39 trails, underscoring the human presence in the rain forest, as well as the difficulty of navigating it.
Photos: Courtesy of Steve Goddard at www.flickr.com
20
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
Three of the undergraduate students were part of a pilot program: The Rudkin Undergraduate Scholarships for International Interdisciplinary Research Experiences. This new scholarship strives to give the students an arena for integrating disciplines and synthesizing knowledge across the sciences, arts and humanities in a global setting. In addition to sharing the creative work by the three Rudkin Scholars, the goal of the exhibition is to include contributions from all members of the cohesive research team to give a fuller account of the different ways the rain forest experience touched everyone involved.
Each member of the team will curate a small plexiglass case that will contain objects that help to visualize their research, experiences and insights. These will include: insect collecting gear, art-making tools, orchid bee traps, mosquitoes, photography and note-taking gear, wasps and their mimics, seeds and beads made from them, and a visualization of the magnitude of insect populations. In addition to the items in these cases and the written, pictorial and sculptural creative work of the Rudkin Scholars, the exhibition will include printed leaves, cyanotype “sun prints,� and a flat panel display of photographs taken by members of the group in the rain forest. Thus, 39 Trails will underscore how the processes of discovery can be manifested through an array of visual, written, and recorded forms. 21
EXHIBITIONS
Corpus Project Redefine: Phase 2 | Opening in Spring 2012
What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me — nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Act II, Scene ii, 285 –300) William Shakespeare
D
rawing on the multiple implications of the Latin word corpus or “body,” this latest reinstallation of the SMA collections explores ways in which art and visual imagery reflect and shape our understanding of the life process. Divided into five distinct sections, Corpus begins with the questions of “where do we come from?” This celebration of youthful exuberance is followed by an examination of the ways in which we are socialized. Pictorial strategies like portraiture and adornment are discussed in this section.
Outer panel doors of the triptych.
22
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
The heart of the exhibition centers on the Master of Frankfurt triptych, which depicts the crucifixion of Jesus. In this section, notions of faith and devotion, perseverance and crisis form the central thematic elements. The fourth section of the exhibition looks at the body as a site of communication through gesture and dramatic depictions of the human form. The final section concludes the installation through a cross cultural exploration of death and memory from Neolithic mortuary culture to more recent depictions of aging, sickness and grieving. The exhibition will also feature a section devoted the SMA extensive collection of works on paper which will be featured in thrice yearly rotations. Drawing on several years of collaboration, a team of experts including SMA curators, KU faculty, and graduate student interns conducted extensive research on this latest iteration of Project Redefine, which will be presented in new labels and a variety of publications.
Master of Frankfurt Workshop, 1460–circa 1533, Descent from the Cross with Scenes from the Passion, circa 1515–1518, oil on oak panel,1984.0196.a–e
23
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Politics as Symbol / Symbol as Politics July 16 – January 27, 2013 | 20 /21 Gallery Conversation Wall
“That art is always a social product, never an individual fabrication, also means that it can both buttress democratic institutions and serve as a potent weapon for elites.”— Murray Edelman, From Art to Politics: How Artistic Creations Shape Political Conceptions (1995)
P
olitics is simultaneously about substance and symbol. An announced budget cut of $38 billion becomes, in actuality, a realized reduction of just $352 million. Or a narrow election victory becomes a Rorschach test that generates various claimed “mandates.” If art is in part spectacle, there is no political spectacle to match an American presidential election. Each such context produces thousands of images and scenes, almost every one planned and executed like a work of art, be it a poster, portrait, or performance. Juan Genovese, born 1930, born: Valencia, Spain Ida y Vuelta (Going and Returning), 1971, EL Lugar Y El Tiempo (The Place and the Time), aquatint, paper type: Arches wove, Gift of Mr. James W. Dye through the Martin S. Ackerman Foundation, 1979.0119.04
24
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
The works selected for the exhibition range from buttons to historic photographs to highly politicized prints to abstract art. They are not, for the most part, directly about presidential elections; rather, they explore the relationship between politics and image, emphasizing more the symbol than the substance. But perhaps that captures one essence of politics in general, and U.S. politics in particular. This exhibition is curated by Burdett Loomis, professor of political science at the University of Kansas, and has been organized with the Andrew W. Mellon Department of Academic Programs at the Spencer Museum of Art.
Mary Sibande’s Sophie-Ntombikayise August 11–November 11 | Central Court
I
n August 2012 the Spencer Museum will debut its recent acquisition of Sophie-Ntombikayise, by South African artist Mary Sibande. This is the first of her work to enter a museum collection in the United States.
transcend and interrogate constructions of domestic servitude and expectations of simplicity and submission based on race and gender. As a self-portrait, Sophie-Ntombikayise interjects the artist into the guise of domestic worker. Sibande states, “Adopting
a new position as artist, yet celebrating the women in my family, this figure represents my appreciation and acknowledgement of the hardships borne by my family and countless others in South Africa.”
Sophie-Ntombikayise culminates Sibande’s series of sculptural installations featuring four generations of women in her family, all of whom worked as domestic servants. These women represent Sibande’s impetus to
Sibande’s interest in fantasy and identity, articulated in this autobiographical sculpture, is a brilliant conception of a contemporary “Lives of the Artist.” Furthermore, Sibande brings the “Lives of the Artist,” into the twenty-first century Sibande explores constructions of gender, class, and race while enriching the Spencer’s growing collection of contemporary African art. Sibande was been highlighted in the South African pavilion of the 2011 Venice Biennale and has also been awarded a 2011 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship.
Mary Sibande, born South Africa, 1982; active Johannesburg, Sophie-Ntombikayise, 2009, cast resin, fiberglass, cotton, tulle, 2011.0007 Image courtesy Mary Sibande and Gallery MOMO, Johannesburg
25
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Giorgio Vasari & Court Culture in Late Renaissance Italy September 15 – December 9, 2012 | Gallery 318
T
he focus of this exhibition is the Spencer’s small but important Giorgio Vasari painting on panel depicting Christ Carrying the Cross (circa 1554 – 64). Best known as the author of the Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550, 1568) — a compilation of artist biographies that was among the first of its kind — Vasari was also a successful painter and architect. The exhibition will celebrate and investigate the place the Christ Carrying the Cross occupies within his career and sixteenthcentury Florentine and Roman court culture. Additionally, it will bring together the painted and printed images that inspired the panel, while also exploring Vasari’s relationship with Michelangelo. Capitalizing on the Spencer Museum’s rich collection of early modern religious art, the exhibition will place that Christ Carrying the Cross within its visual context by featuring works in a variety of media that depict Christ carrying the cross and his crucifixion. In addition to those objects and images, a number of rare, printed books from the University of Kansas’ Spencer Research Library—including a copy of the first edition of Vasari’s Lives — and loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery will underscore the significance of a local treasure for the first time since it entered the University of Kansas’ art collection in 1953. Giorgio Vasari & Court Culture in Late Renaissance Italy is made possible by the generous support of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, and is curated by Sally J. Cornelison, Associate Professor of Italian Renaissance Art in KU’s Kress Foundation Department of Art History, with assistance from Susan Earle, Spencer Museum of Art Curator of European & American Art.
Giorgio Vasari II, 1511–1574, Christ Carrying the Cross, circa 1562–1565, oil on panel, 1953.0015
26
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
‹ Scott Heffley, senior conservator of paintings at Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, examines the Spencer Museum’s painting by Giorgio Vasari. Heffley is cleaning the work as part of the preparation for the Spencer’s fall 2012 Vasari exhibition.
While Vasari painting is cleaned, the saints march in… The Spencer’s celebrated Giorgio Vasari painting Christ Carrying the Cross currently is being cleaned, but taking its place in the Renaissance Gallery are two rarely seen paintings by Giovanni Martini da Udine. Each work portrays a saint, and the two paintings were originally united and flanked a central scene of a Madonna and Child in a “sacred conversation” before being cut down into three parts for an unknown reason.
The two saints replace Christ Carrying the Cross while it is cleaned by Scott Heffley, Senior Conservator of Paintings at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The cleaning is in preparation for the September exhibition Giorgio Vasari and Court Culture in Renaissance Italy, organized by guest curator Sally J. Cornelison, Associate Professor in the Kress Foundation Department of Art History. But before it comes home following its cleaning, the Nelson-Atkins will display it briefly, sometime during the time period from January – March, 2012.
27
28
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
Foundation & granting agency support The Spencer is pleased to announce several important grants supporting Museum initiatives. A $25,000 grant from the Art Mentor Lucerne Foundation, based in Lucerne, Switzerland, will provide support for the Spencer’s fall 2012 exhibition Giorgio Vasari & Court Culture in Late Renaissance Italy. A $34,000 award from the National Endowment for the Arts will support a collaborative exhibition by artists Ann Hamilton and Cynthia Schira slated for spring 2013. A $7,500 award from the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center’s Multicultural Education Fund provided exhibition and programming support for fall 2011 exhibitions Passages: Persistent Visions of a Native Place and Heartland Reverberations. A $5,000 grant from the Ethel and Raymond F. Rice Foundation will support the enhancement of the Spencer’s longstanding Museum / Schools Program.
On loan from the SMA Collection Italy, School of Sassetta, likely Master of the Osservanza Triptych active circa 1430 –1435, Italy Head of an Angel, circa 1400–1450, tempera and gold leaf on panel Samuel H. Kress Study Collection, 1960.0044 ( featured on facing page )
Featured in the exhibition:
Shared Treasure: T he Legacy of Samuel Kress Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA / October 14, 2011 – January 15, 2012
SPENCER iN BRIEF
20/21 Gallery News The five flat-file exhibition drawers located in the 20/21 gallery recently have been updated, so on your next visit, be sure to see what now resides in this 21st Century Cabinet of Curiosities. Treasures include a tribute to the material culture of the 1950s in one drawer and a celebration of the Kansas landscape in yet another. Almost every drawer now combines twoand three-dimensional works in a thematic manner, bringing more of the Spencer’s collection of small and delicate works out into the open for study and enjoyment. Also on display in 20/21 is a new contemporary quilt by Japanese fiber artist Jinzenji Yoshiko, and the small, illuminated wall niches between the Conversation Spaces currently
30
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
feature tiny treasures created by late nineteenth-century French artist ThĂŠophile Alexandre Steinlen, American modernist sculptor/ceramicist Ruth Duckworth, and contemporary French jewelry artist Costanza.
News from Spooner Hall As of December 7, 2011, more than 5,200 objects (out of approximately 9,500 items) in the former Museum of Anthropology have been accessioned into the SMA collections, and more than 1,700 of those items have also been photographed. The Spencer Museum became the stewards of this collection after its transfer from the Anthropological Research and Cultural Collections in 2007. Museum staff members continue to work diligently to catalogue and research these
collections, their origins, and their multi-faceted meanings in an effort to make them available to researchers, visitors, and members of descendant communities who have an interest in learning more about these wonderful objects of significance and wonder.
Elevator Poetry returns A selection of five poems by Cherokee, English, and German poet Diane Glancy recently went on display in the Spencer Museum elevator and the response has been fabulous: some patrons actually ride up and down enough times that they can read all the works. The poems selected for display appear in Glancy’s recent book Stories of the Driven World (2010), a collection of prose/poems and poems about the process of Native peoples being treated as artifacts.
Glancy’s poems represent the first installment of a renewed and reenergized series of Elevator Poetry, and are presented in conjunction with the exhibitions Passages and Heartland Reverberations. More poems are in the cue. Keep checking our website for updates on this unique installation space.
SMA now open late Wednesdays Put a little art in your “hump” day: The Spencer has long kept its doors open late on Thursdays, but now, to better serve our teaching and research mission, and to increase programs and gallery access for all our patrons, the Museum is also open until 8 PM on Wednesdays. We hope to see you soon!
Ruth Duckworth, born 1919, Untitled 31587, 1987, porcelain, Bequest of Judith M. Cooke, 2001.0190.a,b
31
SPENCER iN BRIEF
Spencer earns AAM re-accreditation The Spencer has again achieved accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public. The Spencer was initially accredited in 1978, the year the museum opened, and has maintained accreditation ever since. All museums must undergo a reaccreditation review at least every 10 years to maintain accredited status. AAM Accreditation brings national recognition to a museum for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for 35 years, AAM’s museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. It strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and remain financially and ethically accountable—all in order to provide the best possible service to the public. Accreditation is a rigorous but highly rewarding process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of selfstudy, then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. AAM’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and
32
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
autonomous body of museum professionals, considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation. While the time to complete the process varies by museum, it generally requires as long as three years.
“Accreditation is emblematic of an institution’s commitment to public service and to overall excellence,” said Ford W. Bell, AAM president.
“Attaining accreditation involves taking a hard look at yourself, allowing your peers in the field to do the same, and being judged to be superior in all areas. The people of Lawrence and the University of Kansas can take great pride in the fact that their institution is one of America’s premier museums.” Of the nation’s estimated 17,500 museums, 776 are currently accredited. The Spencer is one of 78 accredited university art museums nationally. Near to Lawrence, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City also received reaccreditation this year.
33
SPENCER iN BRIEF
The Jack and Lavon Brosseau Creativity Awards The Spencer again is soliciting submissions for The Jack and Lavon Brosseau Creativity Awards, which recognize outstanding creativity and originality by University of Kansas undergraduate students. Established in 2011 by Lavon Brosseau of Concordia, Kansas, these awards celebrate undergraduate students at the University of Kansas who engage in creative scholarly work in any discipline. Collaborative work is especially encouraged, in line with the Museum’s commitment to bring together diverse people and ideas around a central topic or object. These awards form part of the SMA mission to strengthen, support, and contribute to the academic research and teaching at KU, as well as to foster interdisciplinary exploration at the intersection of art, ideas, and ex¬perience. The Spencer’s contemporary vision is to present its collection as a living archive that motivates creative work, object-centered research and teaching, and transformative public dialogue. Brosseau believes in education and in the profound importance of teaching. The generosity of others made a college education a reality for her, and she wants to return the favor through the establishment of this award.
“There is a deep and almost sacred beauty in literature and in art. Each may deal with the abstract and each may involve interpretation, but each has its own reality that permits the mind to explore and to soar.” Brosseau states,
Two Brosseau Creativity Awards will be given, one each in the categories of writing and diverse media. The categories have deliberately been defined in very broad terms, in order to encourage a wide range of submissions from the full spectrum of academic pursuits. The best creative work in any field evidences risk-taking and reflection, provides new insights, forms a part of critical thinking, and generates new ways of understanding.
34
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
Submissions to both categories are due Friday, March 16, 2012 at 4 PM. The awardees for each category will receive a cash prize of approximately $500. The selected projects may be considered for publication in The Register, the Museum’s scholarly journal. For more information and to submit work for consideration, please visit our website: http://www.spencerart.ku.edu/education /university/awards /brosseau.shtml
“The Spencer provides a quiet, relaxing atmosphere for study” (Mid)Night at the Museum provides finals study site The paintings and sculptures didn’t magically spring to life, but the Spencer Museum’s Central Court surely buzzed with brainpower during “(Mid)Night at the Museum” on Tuesday, Dec. 13, when for the third consecutive semester the SMA Student Advisory Board (SSAB) hosted a finals study night for KU students. From 4 PM to midnight, approximately 30 students crammed for tests and cranked out papers amid the contemporary Native American art exhibition Heartland Reverberations. At 4 p.m. the Museum opened its Central Court to students, where extra tables and chairs provided study centers. Though the space was enforced as a quiet study zone, students enjoyed access to Wi-Fi and could recharge their focus with complimentary refreshments, including soft drinks from Coca Cola and bagels from Einstein’s. “During finals week there aren’t enough places for all the students to go and study, so we believe that having this space available for even one night will make a huge difference,” says Kristina Walker, the Spencer’s Director of Education and SSAB staff adviser. “‘The Heartland Reverberations exhibition is really inspiring in terms of creativity, and we think a different sort of environment is beneficial as students prepare for tests and write papers.” Sean Kramer, Hutchinson senior in art history and SSAB vice president, agrees. “The Spencer provides a quiet, relaxing atmosphere for study,” he says. “And for some students, it could be their initial introduction to the art museum and all that it has to offer students.”
35
FRIENDS & CONTRIBUTORS
THE 2011 – 2012 EXHIBITIONS & PROGRAMS ARE SUPPORTED IN PART BY: AAMD Educational Foundation
Lavon Brosseau Creativity Award Fund
Anonymous
Kansas Humanities Council
Adair/Dyer Fund
Kress Foundation Conservation Fund
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
KU Coca Cola Program Fund
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
KU Student Senate
The Anschutz Foundation
KU Multicultural Resource Center
Art Mentor Lucerne Foundation
Mary Margaret Brett Fund
Breidenthal-Snyder Foundation
Mary P. Lipman Children’s Education Fund
Brooking Fund for Interdisciplinary Research
Mary Ruth Petefish Charitable Lead Trust
Daura Foundation
Mitchell Art Museum Education Fund
Docent Scholarship Fund
National Endowment for the Arts
Donald E. Sloan Intern Fund
National Endowment for the Humanities
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation
National Museum of the American Indian
Enid & Crosby Kemper Foundation
O’Connor Company – Piller Foundation
Ethel & Raymond F. Rice Foundation
Olin K. and Mary Ruth Petefish Charitable Trust
ExxonMobil Foundation
Piersol Foundation
Esquire Collection Fund
Price R. and Flora A. Reid Foundation
Estelle S. and Robert A. Long Ellis Foundation
Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts
Freeman Foundation
Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Historic Mount Oread Friends
Shumaker Family Foundation
International Artist-in-Residence Fund
Stokstad Student Award Fund
Joseph D. and Ester G. Berkley Fund
Target Foundation
Judith M. Cook Native American Art Fund
William T. Kemper Foundation
Audience view of the Sept. 11, 2011, Central Court concert of classical music featuring accompanist Robert Hiller and vocalist Genaro Mendez.
36
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
* updated January 12, 2012
AMBASSADOR
CORNERSTONE
Phyllis and Ronald Nolan
The Anschutz Foundation
Estate of Gladys and Frank Burge
Mary Ruth Petefish Charitable
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Reed and Stacey Dillon
M. Lavon Brosseau
Carolyn Dillon
Dolph Simons, Jr. Family
Tom and Jill Docking
John T. and Linda Stewart
Barbara M. Duke
John and Deanell Reece Tacha
Lead Trust Price R. and Flora A. Reid Foundation
Charles and Jane Eldredge
Mrs. Georgiana H. Torres
SPONSOR
Don and Jene Herron
A. Bret and Mary Lou Waller
Estelle S. and Robert A.
Emily Hill and Burke Griggs
Rob and Betsy Weaver
The Estate of Alice E. and
Jeff and Mary Weinberg
Long Ellis Foundation Arthur V. Neis
Jim Gerstner Kansas Humanities Council
PATRON
Michael and Dee Michaelis
Ray and Nancy Smith Allen
PILLARS
Scott J. Jones and Mary Lou Reece
Ken and Katie Armitage
Art Mentor Lucerne Foundation
Pete Rowland
Michael L. Aurbach
E. Rhodes and Leona B.
Alicia and John Salisbury
Jane Barber
Hope A. Talbot
John Poertner and Edith Black
Carpenter Foundation David and Gunda Hiebert
FELLOW
Joyce Castle
The Enid & Crosby Kemper
Linda Bailey
Marilyn Dowell
Colette and Jeff Bangert
Steve and Diane Goddard
William T. Kemper Foundation
Jean K. Francisco
Ric and Ellen Goheen
The Samuel H. Kress Foundation
David C. Henry and Matt Taylor
Lewis and Laura Gregory
Marynell Dyatt Reece
Carolie and Bill Hougland
Leo P. Hallak
A. Scott and Carol Ritchie
Patrick and Mary Beth Musick
Nancy Lindsey Helmstadter
Elizabeth Schultz
Barbara Nordling
Marcia and Stephen Hill
Foundation
Robert Hiller
Marilyn Stokstad The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Lee F. Young
BENEFACTOR
Raymond and Mary Lee Hummert
Linda and Jim Ballinger
Donald and Alice Ann Johnston
The Breidenthal-Snyder Foundation
Nora Kaschube
Carol Ann and Clifton Brown
David M. and Sharyn Brooks
KEYSTONE
Rose Bryant
Anonymous
Brad and Bev Burnside
Sacie and David Lambertson
Margaret M. Daicoff
Kay ,Tom, Tyler, and Jeff Carmody
Chuck and Mary Loveland
Kathleen M. Hall
Bill and Barbara Carswell
Gerry Miller
Saralyn Reece Hardy
Brad and Ellen Chindamo
Jean and Bill Mitchell
Burdett and Michel Loomis
Joe and Vicki Douglas
James and Virginia Moffett
Larry and Barbara Marshall
Anne Foresman
Charlotte Mueller
Brent and Melissa Padgett
Chuck and Sandy Garrett
Richard S. Paegelow
Marlene and Lee E. Phillips III
Randy Gordon and Lori Shannon
Margaret Perkins-McGuinness
Valentino and Elizabeth Stella
Dean and Ginny Graves
Richard J. Stern Foundation for
Nancy Jackson
Charles Edward Persinger
Katzman
and Nathan Benjamin
Brian and Linda Johnson
Piersol Foundation
Richard and Stephanie Surface
Gaye and John Leonard
W. Propst and Carol Schmitt
Susan and Brad Tate
Richard and Laura Klocke
Mabel Rice
Mike and Cindy Maude
Frank and Judith Sabatini
Virginia Nadeau
Mr. and Mrs. Dolph C. Simons III
the Arts
37
FRIENDS & CONTRIBUTORS
Rick and Betsey Solberg
Reginald and Jane Robinson
Dr. and Mrs. Henry W. Buck
Roger B. Ward
Patricia Cain Rodewald
Tim and Rachel Epp Buller
Sue Grosjean Wilcox
Mrs. L.J. Rose
Cord Burk
Nicole and Dan Sabatini
George W. Byers
Gladys N. and Robert B.
Kit Carlsen
DONOR Leonard and Deborah Alfano
Sanders Dick and Barbara Schowen
Catherine Crice Carter
Sally Ashbacher and Deborah
Bryan Scrivner
Peter and Rosalea Carttar
Todd and Jeannot Seymour
Lois Clark
Ellen B. Avril
Tim and Julie Shaftel
Bob and Janice Cobb
Barbara and Frank J. Becker
Roger Y. Shimomura
Ardis J. Comfort
Beverly Smith Billings, in
The Hon. Fred and Lilian Six
Fred P. Conboy
Morton I. and Estelle Sosland
Warren and Mary Corman
Robert Bowline
Edith L. Taylor
Sally Cornelison and Dan
Ralph and Alta Brock
Judith and Peter Thompson
Paul A. Coker, Jr. and Rosemary
Tim and Jerrye Van Leer
Jane A. Cotitta
Steven F. Warren and Eva Horn
Alex T. Cox
Jack and Judy Wright
Susan V. Craig
Sheridan
memory of Bob Billings
Smithson John and Jan Conard Richard Crank
DePardo
William J. Crowe
Eileen Drape
FRIEND
Ann Cudd and Neal Becker
Tyrone Duncan and Bozenna
Conrad Altenbernd
Peter and Virginia Curran
Deena Amont
Stanley and Alice Jo DeFries
Jerry and Mary Dusenbury
Tom and Francie Arnold
Richard and Fern DeGeorge
Megan and Michael Grossman
Janet Perkins and Jeff Aube
Bill Dentler and Kathy
Giles and Mary-Elizabeth
Victor and Kathryn Bailey
Pazik-Duncan
Guinness
Suprenant
Peg Baradi
Dorothy Devlin
Donald and Carol Hatton
Richard Barohn
John and Debbie Divine
W. Dean Henrichs M.D.
Martha B. Barr
Patrick and Mary Dooley
Richard and Nancy Hernandez
David Bergeron and
John and Mary Doveton
Stephen and Cara Ingalls
38
Adam Carr
Dave and Mary Kate Ambler
Geraldo Sousa
Patricia Dubose Duncan
Louise M. Jarvis
Dan Bernstein
James and Nancy Dunn
Jessica Lea Johnson
Carolyn Berry
Susan Elkins and Jack Winerock
John and Sangeetha Kelly
Marlene and Greg Bien
Hilda Enoch
Ted and Jane Kuwana
Judy Billings
Kris Ercums
Carol and Dave Kyner
Nancy and Gary Bjorge
Stephen Fawcett and Kathleen
Mark and Jill Lapoint
Lee Blackledge
Susan and Stuart Levine
Chuck and Dee Blaser
Sherry Fowler and Dale Slusser
Dr. Janey Levy
Rolf and Laura Borchert
Marci Francisco
Dee Anne and Forest Link
David Brackett and David Quinn
Hank and Paula Frankel
John and Linda Lungstrum
Lynn M. Bretz
Dr. William Freeman
Jane W. Malin
Dr. Mark J. Brodkey
Robert J. Friauf
Eli and Mary Lou Michaelis
Mark and Susie Brooks
Charles and Diane Frickey
Lori Norwood
Patricia M. Brooks
Larry and Jacqueline Gadt
Dr. James F. and Vickie Otten
Elizabeth Broun
Ligia Galarza
Judy and George Paley
Robert and Sharon Brown
Norman and Helen Gee
John and Ardith Pierce
James A. Brundage
George E. and Ruth B. Gibbs
Letha Robertson
Rex Buchanan and Mindy James
Dr. Helen Gilles
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
McCluskey-Fawcett
* updated January 12, 2012
Web and Joan Golden
Josephine A. Lutz
Brad Pohl and Kate Harding Pohl
Marrillie C. Good
Robert and Anita Markley
Austin and Karley Ast Porter
Lynne Green
Mrs. Robert Marshall
Riz Preena
George and Susan Gurley
Rob and Nancy Marshall
Vickie Randel
Ted and Nancy Haggart
Alan Martin
Tom and Ann Raney
Kay and Gary Hale
Norman L. and Shirley J. Martin
Richard and Joan Ring
Cathy and Rex Hamilton
Cyd Matthey
W. Stitt and Connie Robinson
Tom Harper
Stephen Mazza
Beverly and Howard Rosenfeld
John and Nancy Hiebert
George and Marilyn McCleary
Jean Rosenthal and Dave
Charles and Laurie McLane
Barbara B. McCorkle
Higginson
Kingsley
B. Kent and Janette McCullough
Rosalee Roth
Dick and Sue Himes
Michael W. McEvoy
Tom and Janette Rudkin
Ronald L. and Barbara J. Hinton
Sally McGee
Neil and Leni Salkind
Nancy Hope
Mary and William McGuinness
Janet M. Satz
Matt and Heather Hoy
Ross and Margaret McKinney
Catherine Schwoerer
John and Janet Huchingson
Dr. and Mrs. Sidney A McKnight Jr.
Virginia Seaver
Harry and Mary Lou Hughes
Genevieve T. McMahon
Will and Margaret Severson
David Hughes
Rosalie McMaster
Del and Carol Shankel
Kenneth Irby
Vicki Meadows
Larry E. Shankles
Wes and Joan Jackson
Ed and Marie Meyen
Carolyn and Bob Shelton
Dan and Jeannette Johnson
Susan C. Meyer
Mary-Margaret and Greg Simpson
Ted and Mary Johnson
Allan and Sandi Miller
Geraldine Slater and James A.
Linda and Topper Johntz
Elizabeth Miller and
Nancy Jorn
William L. Eakin
Maurice and Betsy Joy
Mary Miller Ross
Megan Kaminski
Nancy S. Mitchell
Mike and Elaine Kautsch
Melinda Morris-Black
W. Bradley M. Kemp J. Patrick and Jean
and David Logeman
Slater, II Boyd and Heather Smith Eric N. Smith and Patricia Roach Smith Glee and Jerry Smith Mrs. Margery W. Smith
Mary Mortensen
Terry and George Smith
Mrs. H. Tully Moss
Mary Smith
Lesley T. Ketzel
Herman and Phyllis Munczek
Karen Smoot
Karen L. Koehler
Bridget E. Murphy
Bill and Dona Snead
Karen and Ed Komp
JoAnn Myers
Paul and Debbie Sokoloff
John and Margie Kuhn
John and Carol Nalbandian
Gary and Constance Sollars
Betty A. Laird
Marge Newmark
Tammy and Don Steeples
Tom and Jennifer Laming
Virginia Ann Nichols
Denise L. Stone
Alice Leonard
Jerry and Judy Niebaum
Patrick Suzeau and Muriel Cohan
Alice A. Lieberman
Robert and Lisa O’Connor
Marjorie Swann and
Richard and Karen Lind
Dr. & Mrs. W. Ronald Olin
Loraine H. Lindenbaum
Dick and Georgia Orchard
Evelyn Swartz
Dr. Loretta Loftus
Dean and Doris Owens
Jennifer and Ryan Talbott
Stan Lombardo and Judy Roitman
Sharon Graves Pace
Deborah and Ron Teeter
Jim and Larissa Long
Dalton Paley
Tom and Dixie Telander
Allison Lopez
Stephen and Marie-Luce Parker
Lawrence Tenopir
Juliette Loring
Pamela and John Peck
Sarah Chappell Trulove and
Lila Borgman Lothson
Mr. William E. Pfeiffer Jr.
R.W. and Cathy Lucas
Carolyn and Lew Phillips
Grosjean Kerich
William Tsutsui
James Woelfel Ann and Rud Turnbull
39
FRIENDS & CONTRIBUTORS
Mrs. Ruth A. Turney
Betty Austin Hensley
Vicky Stadler
Kathryn and Bill Tuttle
Anita Herzfeld
Christine Thrall
Lorie Vanchena
Richard C. Hite and Edith Olsen
Sandy Tickles
Mary Ventura
David and Diana Ice
Bailey Wells
Graham and Anne Walker
Dr. Howard and Shirley Joseph
Marion Warriner
Don James Kallos
CORPORATE CORNERSTONE
Deborah West
Edie Kelly
Emprise Financial Corporation
Robert Hickerson and
R. Keith and Phyllis Lawton
O’Connor Company-Piller
Gina Westergard
Paula and Rusty Leffel Pamela Loewenstein
Ann and Pete Wiklund
Ruth Matthey
CORPORATE ASSOCIATE
Teresa Wilke
Bill and Beverly Mayer
Black Hills Energy
Betty Wilkin
Paul J. and L. Jean McCarthy
Kizer-Cummings Jewelers, Inc.
Sheila Wilkins and Kim Kern
Linda and Doug McKay
Target Foundation
Tom and Jan Wilson
Marcus and Jeannie Merritt
US Bank
William I. Woods
C. M. S. and Janet Mody
Judy Wright
Mary Alice Pacey
CORPORATE FRIEND
Norm and Anne Yetman
Mary Lou Penny
Bartlett & West
Ken and Rowena Pine
Cottonwood Point Elementary
SENIOR
Mel Riggs
First State Bank and Trust
Betty W. Alderson
Pat Roth
Golf Course Superintendents
Marnie Argersinger
James K. Rowland
Robert and Jean Ayers
Dr. Rosemary Schrepfer
Intrust Bank
Patricia M. Balsamo
Brilla Scott
Landmark National Bank
Lillian M. Barker
Al and Jane Sellen
Peoples Financial Center
Frank and Betty Baron
Ted L. Sexton Jr.
St. John’s Catholic Church
Susan Barr
Luella G. Vaccaro
Maynard and Virginia Bauleke
George and Carol Worth
Weaver’s, Inc.
Grace H. Beam
Morgan Wright
Wilkerson, Saunders &
Lynne C. Bodle
Association
and School
Anderson DDS, LLC
Jean-Pierre Boon
STUDENT
Ann Church
Deneige Barr
DONORS OF ART
Judy Greer Davis
Patricia Baudino
Anonymous
Hal M. Davison
Matt Hobart
Bill Barr
Douglas H. Dean
Katie Jones
James A. Bergquist
Leola R. Doyen
Sean Kramer
Rebecca Blunk
Clark and Helen Fisher
Kirsten Marples
Ellen Burd
Jane Fortun
Ellen McGivern
William P. Carl
Drs. Brenda and Mark Frei
Johanna Beth McSweeney
Eric G. Carlson
Dorothy H. Fritzel
Melissa Melling
W. S. Cheng
Katherine Carr Giele
Lauren Miller
Ted (T. L.) Childers
Mrs. Howard Gilpin
Colleen Murbach
Harvey Dinnerstein
Rich and Sue Givens
Lauren Nelson
Stuart P. Feld
Leo R. Goertz
Eric Ray-Snyder
Sherry Fowler
Margaret S. Gordon
Chloe Seim
James Frink
Susan Haley and Jason
Richard Shie
Suzanne and Verlin Gilbert
May Simpson
Dean and Ginny Graves
Franchuk
40
Foundation
Darin and Shannon White
SPRING NEWSLETTER 2012 SMA
* updated January 12, 2012
Dr. Gunther and Lyhn Haller
Marilyn Murphy
Philip M. Smith
Robert Alexander Hiller
Arthur V. Neis
Haskell Springer
Terrell James
Jon T. O’Neal
Barb and Russ Swenson
Harrison Jedel
H. C. Palmer
Stephanie Teasley
H. G. Jones
Dan and Lia Perjovschi
Lilly Tsubaki
Luke Jordan
Valentin Popov
J. Patrick Whaley
Pamela D. Kingsbury
John M. and Dr. Ann C. Prosser
Lucinda Foster c /o Helen and
Ruth Lawson
Saralyn Reece Hardy
Cary Leibowitz
Jim Sleeper
Larry Williamson
Friends of the Art Museum Board Burdett Loomis, President Brad Burnside Paul Davis Cathy Hamilton Emily Hill Laura Gregory Nancy Jackson
Stephen Johnson Linda Lungstrum Tim Metz Vickie Otten Reggie Robinson Josh Shelton Vicky Stadler, Student Rep.
SMA Advisory Board Mike Michaelis, Chair Linda Bailey James K. Ballinger Carol Ann Brown Rose Bryant Randy Gordon David Hiebert Larry Marshall Virginia Nadeau
Arthur Neis Phyllis Nolan Melissa Padgett A.Scott Ritchie Beth Schultz Linda B. Stewart Marilyn Stokstad Jeff Weinberg
41
Newsletter SPRING 2012 vol. XXXII, no. 9 Cover image:
Newsletter is published by the Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas.
Paul Noble, artist, born 1963, Dilston, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom, Mike Ward, printer, I.C. Editions, a division of Susan Inglett Gallery, publisher, Hugh Stoneman, plates made at Stoneman Graphics, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, etched by, Paul’s Place, 2002, 2009.0174
www.spencerart.ku.edu spencerart@ ku.edu The Spencer Museum of Art is located
Paul’s Place is part of the Cryptograph exhibition (see page 16).
at 1301 Mississippi St., on the northeast corner of The University of Kansas campus, just west of the Kansas Union. From I-70, take the West Lawrence exit and proceed south on Iowa St. to Ninth St., then east to Mississippi, and south four blocks. From K-10, go west on 23rd St. to Massachusetts St., proceed north to Ninth, then west to Mississippi, and south four blocks.
Gallery & Museum
HOURS Office
Please visit our website for the latest information on the Museum’s open hours.
Mon–Fri / 8:30 AM – 5 PM ph. 785.864.4710 fx. 785.864.3112
Scenes from the Oct. 11 Material Madness and Process Pandemonium Family Fun Day, which was inspired by the Crafting Continuities installation in the 20/21 Gallery.
SPENCER
MUSEUM OF ART 1301 Mississippi Street Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7595 Address service requested
Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Lawrence, Kansas Permit # 229