FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Springfield, MO. (January 20, 2022) – The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced that the Springfield Art Museum has been approved for a $25,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support the presentation of Yoko Ono: Mend Piece, a participatory exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts (AFA). This project is among 1,498 projects across America totaling $33.2 million that were selected to receive this first round of fiscal year 2022 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects category.
Yoko Ono (b. 1933, Tokyo, Japan) is widely recognized for her pioneering conceptual art, which has encompassed performance, instruction, film, music, and writing. Ono proposes communal mending as an act of healing. Mend Piece brings to mind the metaphor of the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, a technique of repairing broken or cracked pottery using brushstrokes of gold and silver, a philosophy that treats the breakage and repair as part of the object’s history - an important and precious detail, rather than something to disguise, but also the idea that once broken, it is never the same.
In a seemingly simple white room, shattered cups and saucers are placed on a table. Participants are asked to mend the fragments together using common household items: twine, glue, scissors, and tape. The resulting works are displayed on nearby shelves, evidence of the power of collective action. In conjunction with this exhibition, the Museum plans educational and community programs in an adjacent gallery where community members can extend their experience with a variety of hands-on conceptual art projects inspired by core values of the “Fluxus” art movement including humor, chance, and active collaboration. Projects include a room for shadow play and a variety of art supplies coupled with prompts for collaborative making.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from the Springfield Art Museum that help support the community’s creative economy,” said NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers. “The Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri is among the arts organizations nationwide that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.”
Yoko Ono: Mend Piece will be open in the Eldredge Gallery from April 9 – July 10, 2022. Support for the Museum’s presentation of Yoko Ono: Mend Piece is generously provided by lead gifts from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Melinda J. McDaniel Charitable Trust, UW, Bank of America, N.A., Trustees, with additional support from Howard C. and Nadia T. Cavner. Sponsorship opportunities for this exhibition, as well as upcoming exhibitions, are available. For more information, contact Kate Francis, Museum Affairs Officer for Development and Fundraising at 417-874-2865 or kate.francis@springfieldmo.gov.
The presentation of Yoko Ono's Mend Piece (Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York City version) is part of Art Room, an ongoing series of contemporary art installations organized by the AFA. For more information on this exhibition, please visit https://www.sgfmuseum.org/261/Yoko-Ono-Mend-Piece. The Springfield Art Museum is located at 1111 East Brookside Drive Springfield, MO 65807. Admission is always free. Donations are gratefully accepted.
Image credit: Yoko Ono, Mend Piece (Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York City version), 1966/2015, Ceramic, nontoxic glue, cello tape, scissors, and twine. Dimensions variable. Collection of the Rennie Museum, Vancouver, 2018. Photographed by Blaine Campbell. Installation view, courtesy of the Rennie Collection. © 1966/2015 Yoko Ono.
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The Springfield Art Museum is Springfield, Missouri’s oldest cultural institution, founded in 1928. A department of the City of Springfield, the Museum invites you to connect with the world, your community, and yourself through active engagement with art objects. For more information, please visit www.sgfmuseum.org or contact Joshua Best, Museum Affairs Officer at (417) 874-2859 or jbest@springfieldmo.gov.