FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Springfield, MO. (July 18, 2022) – The Springfield Art Museum is pleased to present Humanities, Vol. 1, opening Saturday, July 23 at 10:00 AM. This special exhibition features 49 works from the Museum’s permanent collection selected by 36 co-curators. This exhibition is the first in a series - the Humanities - that seeks to investigate the "spark" that begins a connection with art by examining disparate works in the Museum’s collection with a wide range of community members. The Humanities exhibitions are curated and facilitated by Curator of Art Sarah Buhr.
The Springfield Art Museum is supported by a wide variety of staff roles. It takes everyone from security to custodial, to curatorial and education, to development and administration to keep the Museum running smoothly. Regardless of job duties, everyone at the Museum works in some capacity alongside the permanent collection. Does this impact relationships with the art objects on view? What connections with art are made as the building is secured, contracts are managed, school tours are coordinated, and grants are written? This exhibition seeks to answer these questions by highlighting the people who keep the Museum moving forward including staff, board and committee members, and community partners, as illustrated through a range of objects they have selected from the Museum’s collection.
Humanities, Vol. 1 is organized around five broad themes: formal art technique, curiosity, memory, personal identity, and home. Each work is accompanied by expanded text from each co-curator describing their connection to the work of art on view. Buhr notes, "These themes are not based on the objects but are based on the type of connection each participant made with the work... A major factor between these levels of connection is time. If you only have ten minutes to walk through an exhibit, you will likely remember the work or works that jumped out for their formal considerations... but if you have an hour, you might have a memory sparked as you look longer..." Featured works include paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, ceramics, decorative arts, and textiles. Featured artists include Julie Blackmon, Paul Cadmus, Dwaine Crigger, Morgan Frew, Thomas Hart Benton, Hasui Kawase, Anne Lindberg, Michael Naranjo, Robert E. Smith, Wendy Red Star, and Kara Walker, among many others.
A full slate of public programs including an opening day, gallery talks, panel discussions, and art-making workshops are scheduled. Full program descriptions and registration information can be found by visiting the Museum's website: https://www.sgfmuseum.org/265/Humanities-Vol-1. See Humanities, Vol. 1 in our Eldredge, Spratlen, and Armstrong Galleries through November 13, 2022. The Springfield Art Museum is located at 1111 East Brookside Drive. Admission is always free. Donations are gratefully accepted.
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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.