UIMA Magazine Fall 2016 by University of Iowa Stanley Musuem of Art

UIMA

University of Iowa Museum of Art

Fall 2016

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Locations & Hours

Lectures

Fall 2016 Calendar of Events

Education

From the Director

UIMA@IMU Visual Classroom

Fall Exhibition

Museum Party

New to the Collection

Staff Changes

Legacies

From the University of Iowa Foundation

UIMA Abroad

Future Site

Cover: Betty Woodman (American, 1930– ) Pillow Pitcher, 1989 Porcelain, 22 x 20 1/2 x 18 in. Gift of Joan E. Mannheimer, 1991.223 ©Betty Woodman

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temporary offices OLD MUSEUM OF ART BUILDING

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150 North Riverside Drive / OMA 100 Iowa City, IA 52242 319-335-1727

temporary locations IOWA MEMORIAL UNION UIMA@IMU VISUAL CLASSROOM BLACK BOX THEATER 125 North Madison Street Iowa City, IA 52242 319-335-1742 Free admission Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 12–5 p.m.

FIGGE ART MUSEUM 225 West Second Street Davenport, IA 52801 563-326-7804 Free admission for University of Iowa students faculty, and staff with UI ID cards and UIMA members with membership cards. Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Sunday, 12–5 p.m.

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY STAND BY YOUR MUSEUM!

JOIN ONLINE

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FALL 2016 CALENDAR

E X H I B IT I O N S P U B LI C P R O G R A M S 4

Through September 30, 2016

Silver Linings: The UIMA in Iowa’s Classrooms Graphic Novels and Comic Art

US Bank Iowa City

Through October 30, 2016

Clay: Traditions in Shards Legacies for Iowa Collections-Sharing Project

Figge Art Museum Davenport, IA

August 8, 2016– January 16, 2017

Political Prints and Silver Linings: The UIMA in Iowa’s Classrooms, American Indian and First Peoples Art

UIMA@IMU, 3rd floor Iowa Memorial Union

August 22– October 15

Nocturnes

University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art, Cedar Falls, IA

August 29– September 16

Silver Linings: The UIMA in Iowa’s Classrooms Art of India

Hands Jewelers Iowa City

September 10– November 27

Material Translations

Figge Art Museum Davenport, IA

October 8– December 11

Clay Revisited: Traditions in Shards and the continuation of Silver Linings: The UIMA in Iowa’s Classrooms American Indian and First Peoples Art

Black Box Theater 3rd floor Iowa Memorial Union

August 30 6:00–7:00 p.m.

CURATOR’S TOUR of Nocturnes with Alice Phillips

University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art, Cedar Falls, IA

September 2 5:00–7:00 p.m.

FIRST FRIDAY

FilmScene 118 E. College St., Iowa City

September 14 7:30–8:30 p.m.

LECTURE Grant Wood Fellow, Tameka Jenean Norris (painting and drawing)

116 Art Building West 141 N. Riverside Dr., Iowa City

September 21 7:30–8:30 p.m.

LECTURE Grant Wood Fellow, Colin Lyons (printmaking)

116 Art Building West 141 N. Riverside Dr., Iowa City

September 27 7:30–8:30 p.m.

LECTURE Grant Wood Fellow, Christopher-Rasheem McMillan (dance)

116 Art Building West 141 N. Riverside Dr., Iowa City

September 29 6:00–7:00 p.m.

LECTURE/RECITAL Nocturnes and Chopin by Eunkyung Son & Shinhyung Kim

University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art, Cedar Falls, IA

October 7 5:00–7:00 p.m.

FIRST FRIDAY

FilmScene 118 E. College St., Iowa City

October 18 7:00–9:00 p.m.

THE BETTE SPRIESTERSBACH DISTINGUISHED LECTURE Faith Ringgold: More than 60 Years by Faith Ringgold

240 Art Building West 141 N. Riverside Dr., Iowa City

November 4 5:00–7:00 p.m.

FIRST FRIDAY

Film Scene 118 E. College St., Iowa City

November 10 7:30–8:30 p.m.

EXHIBITION LECTURE/DEMONSTRATION by Benj Upchurch

Ceramics Studio UI Visual Arts Building

December 2 5:00–7:00 p.m.

FIRST FRIDAY

Film Scene 118 E. College St., Iowa City

October 25

FOR MEMBERS DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE RECEPTION

The University Club 1360 Melrose Ave., Iowa City

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FROM THE DIRECTOR

From the Director

Marsden Hartley (American, 1877–1943) E, 1915 (detail) Oil on canvas 47 1/2 x 47 1/4 in. Purchase, Mark Ranney Memorial Fund, 1958.1 Photo by Heather Aaronson

Dear Museum Supporter, What a year it has been so far! In June, the Iowa Board of Regents (the university’s governing body) approved the planning and design phase of the new UIMA facility. We are grateful to the regents, president, provost, and administration for their support in helping to make this happen. On Burlington Street, the new museum will be located next to Gibson Square and over the current parking area south of the UI Main Library. This is a gateway location for the campus and downtown Iowa City, and the hope is to retain Gibson Square as a park, perhaps with outdoor art placed there. In many ways, we could not have hoped for a better location. The site is in the area I originally wanted just after the 2008 flood, because I believe academic museums and libraries have similar campus-wide missions. However, for many reasons the move was not possible until now. The Israeli diplomat Abba Eban once famously remarked that people “do behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.” At least we got there in the end! Although we are in the earliest of stages, please allow me to mention some aspects of the new plan and proposed partnerships: the UI Main Library, hosting over a million visits per year, is our key partner, and the plan is to connect the UIMA facility to the southwestern part of the library building. We are excited to expand our work with Special Collections, the Iowa Women’s Archive, and other library units and services, including the library’s conservation department. We would like to thank the library for its kind and generous partnership with the UIMA.

It is also important to note that the UIMA currently has two curators with appointments in the College of Education, across Madison Street from Gibson Square, so the new location will help our partnership in statewide art education initiatives and other teaching programs through the college. We are also grateful to our colleagues in Education for their collaboration and support. Of course, much more is going on with the UIMA than our new building. One major project to mention is our million-visitor global Pollock tour, which is continuing on to London this fall from the Museo Picasso in Málaga, Spain, where it is currently. There is a presidential alumni event planned for Saturday, October 29, 2016, in London, around our loan of Jackson Pollock’s Mural and other works by Pollock, Motherwell, Mili, Siskind, and Morgan to the blockbuster exhibition Abstract Expressionism at the Royal Academy of Arts. If you would like to join us, please contact Dana Simcox at the UI Foundation at dana-simcox@uiowa.edu. So with that good news, I would like to welcome you back this semester, and we look forward to seeing you at the next museum event. Onwards and upwards!

Sean O’Harrow, PhD Director

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CLAY REVISITED Traditions in Shards

October 8–December 11  Black Box Theater  Iowa Memorial Union, 3rd floor For much of the history of ceramics, the primary use of the clay medium was in functional ware, usually classified as pottery. While sculptural forms made of clay were plentiful, such works were thought of as sculpture, and not as ceramic art, as it is now defined. Once industrialization made mass production of functional ware possible and common, ceramic artists were free to explore the expressive potential of their medium. This new latitude created a dialogue on the categorization of craft versus fine art; ceramic artists could choose a traditional route and produce forms for everyday use, or they could stretch the possibilities of work with clay as an artistic and academic discipline. The objects in Clay Revisited: Traditions in Shards demonstrate a wide variety of forms and techniques by artists who work in ceramic media, as they move with ease throughout the broad range of traditional, painterly, and sculptural aspects afforded by the materials and methods at hand. Suzanne Stephenson (American, 1935– ) Black Cliff, undated (detail) Stoneware 17 x 17 x 2 1/2 in. UIMA School Programs Collections, CCC.17

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FALL EXHIBITION

Eliza Au (Canadian, 1982– ) Criss Cross, 2015 Slipcast ceramic 12 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. Gift of the artist UIMA School Programs Collections CCC.67

Clay Revisited: Traditions in Shards spans two and a half millennia, three continents, three ancient cultures, and several media, and includes the works of many modern and contemporary artists. The works are not organized chronologically or by geographic locations. Rather, the thematic layout of the exhibition considers how each work can be categorized according to the degree to which it arguably fits into the objectives of the artist—traditional, sculptural, or painterly; these categories are by no means mutually exclusive. The formal qualities of the works in the exhibition exist in liminal states; while categorization may seem evident or Toshiko Takaezu (American, 1922–2011) Moon, 1950 Stoneware 20 x 19 x 19 in. Gift of the artist, 2016.19 ©Toshiko Takaezu Trust

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Robert Arneson (American, 1930–1992) Me and Jackson, 1987 Lithograph 41 1/2 x 30 1/2 in. Courtesy of Magnolia Editions and Brian Gross Fine Art, ©Estate of Robert Arneson licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. (at bottom) Kurt Weiser (American, 1950– ) Yunomi, undated China-painted porcelain 3 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. UIMA School Programs Collections, CCC.10

blatantly obvious, closer inquiry reveals deceptively complex layers of interpretive possibilities. Lidded vessels that suggest functionality take on a sculptural aura simply by being executed on a monumental scale. Both minimalist and elaborate forms provide surfaces for artists to make inquiries into line, shape, color, and texture—without sacrificing the three-dimensional premise of ceramics. Works by giants in the field of ceramics, such as Robert Arneson, Peter Voulkos, Toshiko Takaezu, and Jun Kaneko, are quintessential exemplars of sculptural forms made of clay. Artists not usually associated with ceramics, such as Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall, decorate the surface of forms with their personal styles. Unknown craftsmen from earlier societies created works that evoke the values and traditions of their culture. Interspersed throughout the gallery are paintings, sculptures, and prints that make visual and conceptual connections to the ceramic works in the exhibition. Funding for this exhibition was provided by the Gerald Eskin Ceramics Art Initiative

(above) Unknown Italian (late 1st–early 2nd century) Funerary relief, undated Marble (fragment) 11 3/4 x 22 x 13 3/4 in. Museum purchase, 1972.167

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FALL EXHIBITION

SILVER LININGS

THE UIMA IN IOWA’S CLASSROOM

fter the flood of 2008, the UIMA needed to find a way to serve the university community and Iowa as a whole—without a museum building. The creative and extraordinarily popular result was a UIMA Education Department program that offers hands-on educational opportunities to Iowans. Using the museum’s world-class African art collection as a template, members of the education staff purchased similar objects specifically for presentations at K–12 Iowa schools. Since that beginning, art objects from many other cultures, including works from India, Japan, and the indigenous peoples of the Americas, have joined the School Programs Collections for this unique educational experience. The UIMA’s flourishing outreach extends throughout the state, including many underserved communities. Thanks to the generous donations of the UIMA Education Partners, US Bank, and Scheels, K–12 students and other Iowans can explore, see, and hear about amazing artworks that bring the cultures of the world to Iowa. To enhance understanding of and appreciation for our School Programs Collections, the public is invited to view selected artworks from the collections in downtown Iowa City and on campus.

GRAPHIC NOVELS AND COMIC ART US Bank 204 East Washington Street June 3–September 30, 2016

ART OF INDIA Hands Jewelers 109 East Washington Street August 29–September 16, 2016

AMERICAN INDIAN AND FIRST PEOPLES ART: MIXED MEDIA UIMA Visual Classroom Iowa Memorial Union, 3rd floor 125 North Madison Street August 8, 2016–January 16, 2017

AMERICAN INDIAN AND FIRST PEOPLES ART: CERAMICS Black Box Theater Iowa Memorial Union, 3rd floor 125 North Madison Street October 8–December 11, 2016

UIMA EDUCATION PARTNERS

Jerry Laktonen (American; Alutiiq, 1951– ) Sea Otter Paddle, undated Red cedar, paint, dentalium, beads, feathers, sinew, string 59 1/2 x 4 1/4 x 1 1/2 in. UIMA School Programs Collections, AIS.45

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The Waswo X. Waswo Gift A major gift to the UIMA from the expatriate artist and collector Waswo X. Waswo, of nearly 250 prints by more than one hundred artists of the Indian subcontinent, will be a primary repository for teaching and research for UI professors Anita Jung (Studio Arts) and Philip Lutgendorf (Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures). Professor Lutgendorf described the gift as “an important and beautifully chosen collection that documents the history and present vitality of the art of printmaking in India. Assembled by an artist whose career has unfolded in both the United States and India, and who is in dialogue with many Indian artists, it is a unique record of both connoisseurship and collegial appreciation for the achievements of Indian printmakers during more than a century.” Some of the artists are extremely important in Indian modernism, some are well-known contemporary artists, and others are promising young artists just in the process of being recognized by the Indian art community.

Jagadeesh Tammineni (Indian, 1988– ) Untitled (Gandhi), 2009 Woodcut 90 3/8 x 59 1/8 in. The Waswo X. Waswo Collection of Indian Printmaking, 2016.59

Waswo X. Waswo Photo by Thomas Livieri

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NEW TO THE COLLECTION

Moutushi (Indian, 1975– ) Virginal Ceremony, 2008 Etching 22 1/4 x 30 in. The Waswo X. Waswo Collection of Indian Printmaking, 2016.6

The collection is significant for Professor Jung because “it captures a new medium within an old culture. Utilitarian print has been in India since the sixteenth century, but the fine art print is relatively new. There was some experimentation in the early twentieth century, but only during the early 1950s, with Kanwal Krishna, who was studying viscosity printing with Stanley William Hayter in Paris, did an Indian national make a significant global contribution to print. The establishment of print programs in universities in Baroda and outside of Calcutta had the strongest impact. Artists such as Jyoti Bhatt in the 1960s and 1970s, who studied at both Baroda and Pratt Institute in New York, began to build studios and commit to working in print. Waswo’s collection is the only one I know of that documents into the twenty-first century the work by these fine Indian artist-printmakers and others.”

The prints will be accessioned into the UIMA collection by the end of 2016. A book on the collection by Lina Vincent Sunish and Waswo X. Waswo, Between the Lines: Identity, Place, and Power: Selections from the Waswo X. Waswo Collection of Indian Printmaking, was published in 2012 and is available from Amazon and other vendors. See Mr. Waswo’s website for the collection: http://collection.waswoxwaswo.com/home.php

Commenting on his decision to choose the UIMA as the home for his collection from a list of several interested museums, Waswo said, “I believe it will be an exceptionally good home for the collection. There is enormous energy at UIMA for both Indian art and printmaking, and this collection straddles both.”

Jagadeesh Tammineni (Indian, 1988– ) Untitled, 2009 Woodcut 28 x 22 in. The Waswo X. Waswo Collection of Indian Printmaking, 2016.24

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Nocturnes August 22–October 15, 2016 University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art Cedar Falls, IA

Leopold Hugo (American, 1860–1933) Untitled, c. 1900 Gelatin silver print 5 x 7 in. Gift of Dr. Neal Kassell, 1981.105

Nocturnes traces artists’ portrayals of night skies from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The night sky has always instilled a sense of wonder and curiosity in earthbound observers, while moonlight has long been associated with illusions, apparitions, and enchantment. The artworks displayed explore our enduring human interest in observing atmospheric phenomena, illuminated cityscapes, and phantasmagoria that emerge from darkness. The Nocturnes artists capture the effect of lustrous moonlight on sublime landscapes, the garish glow of gaslight, and renditions of surreal and cosmic universes. The exhibition includes works by Joseph Cornell, Robert Rauschenberg, Odilon Redon, Ando Hiroshige, Berenice Abbott, and Edvard Munch. This exhibition was curated by Alice M. Phillips, PhD, and was organized by Sarika Sugla, MFA, for Legacies for Iowa: A University of Iowa Museum of Art Collections-Sharing Project, supported by the Matthew Bucksbaum Family.

Tuesday, August 30, 6:00–7:00 p.m. • Curator’s Tour and Gallery Talk Alice Phillips will discuss highlights of the exhibition and the relationship between art and the history of artificial light.

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LEGACIES

MATERIAL TRANSLATIONS September 10–November 27, 2016 Figge Art Museum 225 West Second Street Davenport, IA

Mark di Suvero (American, 1933– ) Untitled (New York Collection for Stockholm), 1973 Silkscreen 9 x 12 in. Gift of Robert Rauschenberg, Inc., 1976.156 ©Mark di Suvero, courtesy of the artist and Spacetime C.C.

Two-dimensional prints and drawings that precede, change, and follow complex three-dimensional sculptures and installations allow for an investigation of the processes and relationships between an initial concept, its planning, and a final product. This exhibition presents sculpture in combination with twodimensional examples of how artists develop their ideas, using a variety of materials and mediums. While some works give visual form to the technical nature of a final product, others explore the conceptualization of an object or installation. This exhibition was curated by Sarika Sugla, MFA, and was organized by Legacies for Iowa: A University of Iowa Museum of Art Collections-Sharing Project, supported by the Matthew Bucksbaum Family.

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STAFF RESEARCH

A Museum

Mystery By Kimberly Musial Datchuk

leepless nights and anxiety aren’t typically associated with curators, but I couldn’t shake my uneasiness during the installation of a recent UIMA@IMU Visual Classroom exhibition, Doing It All: Figural and Abstract Works by Women. I kept thinking about a print labeled Untitled (The Summer), 1962, by Leonor Fini. I had a hunch that something was off. This woodcut depicts a three-quarter-length view of a woman in a blue dress. The clean lines and geometric shapes reminded me of fashion drawings from the 1950s. It intrigued me in part because it was different from Fini’s other work. Although the subject of women is prominent Henrik Finne (Norwegian, 1898–1992), Untitled (The Summer), 1962 in her oeuvre, the style, color, and composition Woodcut, 25 3/4 x 33 in., Gift of Owen and Leone Elliott, 1968.75 stood in stark contrast to her paintings. Another oddity was the signature, which was similar, but not identical, to examples I had seen. I tried reverse image searches on Google and TinEye.com, but had no luck. I devoured every book and article I could find about Fini. Still, nothing. The exhibition opened in February 2016. Each time I gave a tour, I felt conflicted when discussing the Fini. At the suggestion of Kathleen Edwards, UIMA chief curator, I looked at a set of older files that I hadn’t known existed. On a notecard, I saw the signature transcribed as "Finne"—aha! After more searching, I discovered Henrik Finne, an artist who rejuvenated the medium of woodcut in the 1940s and ’50s in Norway. The two untitled works by Finne in the museum’s collection, known as The Summer and The Harvest of the Grapes, 1961, had been misattributed to Leonor Fini. Fortunately, problems like this don’t arise often—but it is reassuring to know that we can meet the challenge.

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UIMA ABROAD

MÁLAGA Following a five-month stay in Berlin, the UIMAorganized exhibition “Jackson Pollock’s Mural: Energy Made Visible” traveled to the Museo Picasso Málaga in Spain, opening on April 20. The scale of the iconic Mural, as well as that of another UIMA painting in the exhibition, Robert Motherwell’s Elegy to the Spanish Republic, No. 126, necessitated the use of a crane to install the works in a second-floor gallery. The weight of Mural’s monumental shipping crate obliged the museum staff to unpack the painting and move it through the museum in its travel frame, custom-built of aircraft aluminum by the Getty Conservation Institute. Pollock’s Mural and other selected works from the UIMA collections will also be lent to the Royal Academy of Arts in London for its exhibition “Abstract Expressionism,” opening September 24, 2016. Images courtesy of Museo Picasso Málaga

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NEW BUILDING SITE At their meeting of June 8, 2016, the Iowa Board of Regents approved the planning and design phase of the new UIMA facility. The location is shown here; there are a number of reasons why this is a good site. Firstly, on an annual basis, literally millions of people pass through this major campus intersection, between the much-visited Main Library and the popular Campus Recreation & Wellness Center. The site is easily seen from major streets in all directions, with the busiest road intersection nearby.

The site—large enough for any future expansion—is above the 100-year flood zone and was not affected by the 2008 flood (technically, a 500-year event). Further, the plan is to elevate the building to accommodate parking underneath, so the first floor will start at an elevation of about twenty feet (delivery vehicles are often as high as sixteen feet and may need access), which should allay fears of future flood issues. The planned connection between the museum and the library, perhaps with a bridge, will provide easy access to the library’s café, auditorium, and other services. In turn, the new museum facility can accommodate certain library functions and events. The fiftieth anniversary of the UIMA is in 2019, and we will celebrate the new building, whether it is a substantially complete structure or a fully open museum. That’s three years from now and a significant milestone—so watch this space!

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Initial Site Design Concepts

There is also considerable foot traffic along Burlington Street, especially on “game days.” Add a sculpture park in Gibson Square, and it all begins to look like an obvious art museum. Visibility for the building is the first step in making an institution accessible.

FUTURE SITE

Front Street

• Public/gallery spaces • Parking below • Connection, expansion into Library (3rd floor) • Offices • Support • Conservation • Storage

GIBSON SQUARE PUBLIC (SCULPTURE) GARDEN

Madison Street

NEW MUSEUM

Museum/Library Entry Pavilion

College of Education

Burlington Street – Gateway Site

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GRANT WOOD FELLOWS

Lectures take place at 116 Art Building West, 141 N Riverside Drive, Iowa City

September 14 • 7:30–8:30 p.m. Tameka Jenean Norris (painting and drawing) uses herself and her community as subjects in her painting, video, photography, music, performance, installation, project-based art, context art, confession, the internet, and institutional critique to explore the internal drives and external influences that shape identity. Her practice critiques the invisibility of blackness in cultural forms built upon the appropriation of popular and sacred black expressions and idioms. Norris received her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MFA from the Yale University School of Art (2012). She has participated in the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2009), the Fountainhead Residency (2013), the Hermitage Artist Retreat (2013), and MacDowell Colony (2016). Her group exhibitions include Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art at the Walker Art Center, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (2014–15). Her feature-length film/installation Meka Jean: How She Got Good premiered at Prospect 3 in New Orleans (2014), and was shown at Emerson Dorsch Gallery in Miami (2015) and David Shelton Gallery (Houston, 2015). Solo exhibitions include Lombard Freid Gallery (New York), Ronchini Gallery (London), and 1708 Gallery (Richmond, VA).

September 21 • 7:30–8:30 p.m. Colin Lyons (printmaking) was born in Windsor, Ontario, in 1985, and grew up in Petrolia, “Canada’s original oil boomtown”; his years there have fueled his interests in industrial ruins and sacrificial landscapes. His recent work fuses printmaking, sculpture, and chemical experiments. He explores industry through the lens of fragility and impermanence, considering planned obsolescence and the nature of what we choose to preserve.

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LECTURES

Lyons received his BFA from Mount Allison University (2007) and an MFA in printmaking from the University of Alberta (2012). Recent projects have been presented at Platform Stockholm, The Soap Factory (Minneapolis), Kala Art Institute (Berkeley), SPACES (Cleveland), CIRCA (Montreal), Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (Dawson City, Yukon), Centre[3] (Hamilton, Ontario), and aceartinc. (Winnipeg). He has been the recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation.

September 27 • 7:30–8:30 p.m. Christopher-Rasheem McMillan (dance) received his BA from Hampshire College (2007) and his MFA in experimental choreography from the Laban Conservatoire, London (2011). He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College, London. McMillan’s diverse work includes live performance and performance for camera, as well as film and photographic works. McMillan’s performance works have been seen at venues including the Bates Dance Festival of Bates College, Providence International Arts Festival, and the Dance Complex and Green Street Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in performance platforms such as the 2011 participatory event Beyond Text, London. He was a Five College Fellow for the 2013–14 academic year. McMillan’s work has been published in the Journal of Dance, Movement & Spiritualities, Kinebago, and Choreography.net.

The 2016 Grant Wood Symposium will be held October 28–29, 2016. In honor of Grant Wood’s 125th birthday, the theme is “Myth, Memories, and the Midwest: Grant Wood and Beyond.” Presentations by national scholars will be held in Art Building West on the University of Iowa campus. Learn more at http://grantwood.uiowa.edu/symposium.

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THE BETTE SPRIESTERSBACH DISTINGUISHED LECTURE

FAITH RINGGOLD October 18 7:00 p.m. 240 Art Building West

MORE THAN 60 YEARS The Bette Spriestersbach Distinguished Lecture

With political imagery from her American People series and a firsthand account of the 1960s civil rights movement, Faith Ringgold will begin a lecture that surveys her long and active life in the arts and politics. Through an evolving body of work that includes more than seven hundred paintings, Ringgold illustrates the inspiring, often humorous, always very personal story of her work as artist, activist, author, teacher, and parent. She will also show images from others of her series, including Women on a Bridge (1988), French Collection (1991), American Collection (1997), and Coming to Jones Road (2000). Ringgold’s oil paintings of the 1960s, as well as her participation in the protests, events, happenings, and exhibitions of the sixties and seventies, took a stand for freedom of speech and equality, as she broke ground and opened (museum) doors for artists of color and for women. Today, she is best known for her painted story quilts and her illustrated children’s books. Her first book, Tar Beach, was a Caldecott Honor Book and won the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration, among numerous other honors. Ringgold has illustrated sixteen children’s books, including thirteen she wrote herself. Her newest book, We Came to America, was released in May 2016, following Harlem Renaissance Party of 2015. She has exhibited in major museums in the USA, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Her work is in the permanent collection of many museums, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Ringgold has received more than seventy-five awards, fellowships, citations, and honors, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Fellowship for painting, two National Endowment for the Arts Awards (for painting and sculpture), and twenty-three honorary doctorates, one of which is from her alma mater, City College of New York. Ringgold is professor emerita of the University of California–San Diego, and is represented by ACA Galleries in New York City.

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LECTURES

MEET THE ARTIST

BENJ UPCHURCH

November 10 7:30 p.m. Ceramics Studio, UI Visual Arts Building

MEET THE ARTIST

In conjunction with Clay Revisited: Traditions in Shards, Benj Upchurch will present his work in clay through a lecture and demonstration. Upchurch will discuss the creative influences and landscapes that have informed his approach to clay, as he has sought little distance from the structures and framework of a traditional potter. His work in the craft tradition generates pathways of expression that have inherent ties to sculpture and geological processes. His talk will conclude with a brief tour of the ceramics facilities and a demonstration in the ceramic studio in UIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Visual Arts Building.

Upchurch is a transplant to Iowa from Montana, earning his MFA from the University of Iowa in 2009. He is currently an adjunct professor in ceramics at the University of Iowa, Kirkwood Community College, and Coe College.

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Out of the MUSEUM and into the CLASSROOM TE AC H E RS D I SCUSS TH E I M PAC T O F TH E U I M A’ S K–12 SC H OO L PROG R A M S Excited, quivering fingers stretch toward the ceiling as the UIMA presenter asks the class a question about the artwork they carefully pass down the row. Students give eager answers as they examine the work closely and listen intently while the presenter explains the context of the artwork.

“Perhaps the most important thing is that the art and the peoples who made it seem more real to the students,” says Chris Noel, art teacher at Berg Elementary in Newton, Iowa. “This is a great way to have an authentic cultural component in the art (or any) curriculum.”

Every year, teachers across Iowa schedule presentations of the UIMA’s K–12 School Programs Collections, hoping for a bit of added engagement in their classroom culture. Yet those scheduling a presentation for the first time may not realize the impact the artwork can have.

Noel first heard about the UIMA K–12 School Programs during a presentation by Curator of Education Dale Fisher at an Art Educators of Iowa conference. She was so intrigued that she collaborated with two other art teachers in Newton to bring the American Indian and First Peoples art collection to

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EDUCATION

four Newton schools—Berg Elementary, Woodrow Wilson Elementary, Aurora Heights Intermediate, and Thomas Jefferson Elementary. Breanne Determan, art teacher at Newton’s Thomas Jefferson Elementary, had the collection in her classroom subsequent to a unit on clay. After learning about clay techniques and reading a book on traditional American Indian pottery, students could see and handle ceramics similar to those they learned about. Following presentations on the artworks in the collection, the students discussed American Indian imagery further and, using pictographs, created their own stories; they then incorporated their images into a weaving project. Determan agrees that having physical objects in the classroom adds to the students’ engagement and enhances their projects. “Every student and class was engaged during the presentation (even the wiggly kindergartners!). They were eager to ask questions and learn more about what the symbols on the artwork meant, how it was made, where it came from, and if they could touch it!” she said. “The students loved having the chance

to hold and examine some of the artwork up close and in their own hands.” Other teachers, already familiar with the UIMA School Programs, request presentations year after year, as they form an integral part of the classroom curriculum. Rachael Arnone, art teacher at South East Junior High in Iowa City, utilizes the K–12 mask collection every year in conjunction with a maskmaking project for her seventh- and eighth-graders. “We discuss the fact that the masks incorporate many ideas into one work,” she said. “Students also view videos from the Art and Life in Africa website and YouTube to see masks being performed.” Arnone says that having the mask collection in her classroom enhances learning and engagement. “It makes the work real; they can actually try it on! Nowhere else can students try on authentic masks, or even be that close to artworks they can’t touch!” All three teachers agree that they would encourage any school to utilize the UIMA’s K–12 School Programs. As Breanne Determan says, “This is an amazing opportunity to bring a museum into your classroom and give students the chance to examine artwork with their own hands.” uima.uiowa.edu

UIMA@IMU VISUAL CLASSROOM

POLITICAL PRINTS  The presidential election is still a few months away, but it has pervaded the media for more than the past year. The UIMA has many prints in its collection that relate to politics, from those commissioned by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s to more-recent protest art. It seems timely to exhibit a selection of this artwork in the UIMA@IMU Visual Classroom this fall. In the 1960s and ’70s, protests and riots challenged the status quo, while artists debated what the American dream looked like and who could participate in it. The prints in this exhibition explore the fissures that threatened to rend the nation half a century ago and continue to affect our lives now. The period began auspiciously with the election of the young, charismatic John F. Kennedy, who promised an era of hope and progress, but he inherited challenges that included the Vietnam War and the Cold War. The Civil Rights Movement, which gained strength throughout the 1960s, elicited savage responses from police and from civilians. Many of the inspiring events of the decade were quickly followed by tragedy. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in August 1963 was followed three months later by President Kennedy’s assassination, only the first of many violent acts against political leaders. The artists included in Political Prints confronted issues of racism, nuclear war, and patriotism in their

work. In Poster for CORE (1965) Robert Rauschenberg captured the hope placed in the apparent progress on multiple fronts, including the election of JFK, the establishment of the Congress for Racial Equality, and technological advances. The flip side of hope is disappointment, examined by other artists in the exhibition. Elizabeth Catlett memorialized Malcolm X in Malcolm X Speaks for Us (1969/2004), and Glen Ligon and Charles White explored the experience of African-Americans, focusing on what it means to be black in a largely white United States. Jasper Johns’s Two Flags (1970–72) questioned the values symbolized by the American flag. Andy Warhol and June Wayne considered specific byproducts of the Cold War: Warhol’s Electric Chair #78, 1971, is based on a 1953 photograph of the electric chair used to execute convicted Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg; and Wayne’s 1965 At Last a Thousand series of lithographs depicted atomic mushroom clouds and the cratered surface of the moon to suggest the technological discoveries of the era. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Political Prints confronts the viewer with the reality of our divisions. By presenting us with instances of promise and peril in recent American history, the artists who produced the works in this exhibition sought to secure the possibility of a unified future.

Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925–2008) Poster for CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), 1965 Screenprint with varnish overlay 35 7/8 x 23 7/8 in. (91.1 x 60.6 cm) ©Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

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EDUCATION

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This year’s Museum Party, held April 2 in the old museum building on Riverside Drive, celebrated our old home and introduced the proposed site for our new home. Guests enjoyed a sentimental journey through former gallery spaces, adorned with light and balloons instead of artwork. A nostalgic slideshow of archival photos, ranging from 1968 to 2008, included UIMA construction as well as old friends, past events, and exhibitions. The large northern gallery space was devoted to slide presentations of the collections, featuring a life-sized projection of Jackson Pollock’s Mural, complemented by the museum’s two Eames lounge chairs. Katherine Wallace was the lucky winner of the raffle for a Mural electric guitar made by Waterstone Musical Instruments. The announcement of the proposed future site of UIMA, adjacent to the university’s Main Library, capped the evening. Thanks to the UIMA Members Council and party co-chairs Jessica Tucker Glick and Mary Westbrook, the evening was a fun, funky, festive fundraising success.

We’d like to thank all of our generous Museum Party supporters: Museum Party Signature Sponsors University of Iowa Community Credit Union H&H, Mortenson Development, Mortenson Construction, BNIM Architects Museum Party Sponsors The Singer Foundation / Waterstone Musical Instruments® Museum Party Hosts Anna & James Barker

Lensing Funeral & Cremation

Jackie Blank

Polly & Tom Lepic

Bradley & Riley PC

Phoebe Martin, REALTOR

Catherine’s

Jane McCune

Design Engineers

Oaknoll Retirement Residence

Hudson River Gallery–Nick Hotek

Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Walker, Tucker & Gelman LLP

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Shive-Hattery Architecture + Engineering Kristin Summerwill Alan & Liz Swanson Mary Westbrook Laurie & Mark Zaiger

MUSEUM PARTY

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STAFF CHANGES

What were you doing before you came to the UIMA?

JOYCE TSAI CU R ATO R O F A RT

At the University of Florida, Gainesville, I taught courses on museum practice, abstraction, art and technology, and the history of animation, as assistant professor of modern and contemporary art. I had previously earned my PhD in art history and an MA in German from the Johns Hopkins University, focusing on modern European and American art. My latest curatorial project was an exhibition on László Moholy-Nagy, entitled Shape of Things to Come, at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. In addition to the catalog to that show, I recently published articles on the relationship between military surveillance and avant-garde aesthetics in Artforum, on modernist prints for the National Gallery of Art exhibition Three Centuries of American Prints, and on the integration of material science in the interpretation of art in the Journal of the American Institute of Conservation.

What does your job entail? As a UIMA curator, I’ve worked to develop long-term programming that highlights the remarkable strengths and history of the UIMA. I am also a faculty member at the College of Education. In that capacity, I’m exploring interdisciplinary strategies to integrate the museum’s resources into teaching across different communities.

What have you accomplished since you started at the UIMA? Since joining the team in January, I have embarked on several long-term projects. I am exploring strategies to secure support for the conservation of major works in our collection and, in the process, I hope to publicize the discoveries we make in the course of treatment. I was also awarded a Digital Bridges pedagogy grant to work with Professor Jenny Anger at Grinnell College to develop digital tools for students to reconstruct historical exhibitions within an online platform for a course I will teach in spring 2017.

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JEFF MARTIN M A N AG E R O F E X H I B ITI O N S A N D CO LLE C TI O N S

n 1982, as Jeff Martin began a graduate program in printmaking with Mauricio Lasansky, he joined the UIMA staff as a student preparator. While working toward his 1987 MFA, he served as teaching assistant for both Keith Achepohl and Virginia Myers. After graduate school, he became the UIMA assistant registrar, then registrar in 1996, and manager of exhibitions and collections in 2005. Jeff kept track of a growing collection, built a new UIMA collections database, managed an estimated sixty UIMA exhibitions, and accompanied works of art to Japan, Taiwan, almost every country in Europe, and every major city in the United States. Notably, in 1993 he took Jackson Pollock’s Mural to the Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, and the Royal Academy of the Arts, London, for the exhibition “American Art in the Twentieth Century.” In June 2008, with the Iowa River’s devastating flood threatening, Jeff mobilized a team of external partners, museum staff, and volunteers, and the collection was moved safely. On the night of June 12, in pouring rain, he sent a last group of vulnerable objects to Old Capitol Museum. The next morning, with the roads closed and the museum cut off, Jeff left his station—reluctantly, and only when the National Guard locked the doors. He was back to secure the remainder of the collection before it was deemed safe; he was asked to leave—but he returned first thing the next day. In 2010 Jeff was given responsibility for the UIMA-organized exhibition Jackson “Pollock’s Mural: Energy Made Visible.” Once again, he has managed the triumphant arrival of Mural in major European cities, including Berlin and an upcoming stay at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The UIMA staff thanks Jeff for his long and dedicated tenure. He is a valued colleague and friend. We wish him the best in his retirement—and his new role as a lifetime UIMA supporter. uima.uiowa.edu