FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Springfield, MO. (October 24, 2022) – The Springfield Art Museum is pleased to announce a $14,913 Visual Arts Annual Grant from the Missouri Arts Council in support of three upcoming focus exhibitions Rodney Frew, Frieda Logan: Swap Meet, and Lyrical Abstraction. This grant is the largest that the Museum has received from the Missouri Arts Council in almost a decade.
“This generous grant marks a nearly 50% year-over-year increase of the Missouri Arts Council’s funding for the Museum,” said Museum Director Nick Nelson. “This speaks not only to the quality of the planned exhibitions, but also to our community and elected representatives’ advocacy efforts on behalf of arts and culture in the state of Missouri and the recognition of the value and economic impact of the Museum’s exhibitions and programs.”
Focus exhibitions are pulled from the Museum’s permanent collection of over 10,000 objects and aim to create a deeper understanding and connection with select artists, artistic media, genre, or art period. Both Rodney Frew and Frieda Logan: Swap Meet focus on Missouri artists and their connections to the region. Frew was an artist and art educator who taught printmaking, drawing, and painting at Missouri State University for 34 years, retiring with emeritus status in 1997. Logan was a local commercial artist well known for her depictions of daily life in the Midwest during the 1980s. Lyrical Abstraction features work by a group of artists during the 1960s and 1970s, dubbed "Lyrical Abstractionists," who sought to expand the idea of abstract painting and to reassert the importance of the formal elements of line and color.
See these focus exhibitions November 26, 2022 through March 19, 2023 in the Eldredge, Spratlen, and Armstrong Galleries. In conjunction with these exhibitions, the Museum plans educational and community programs including a gallery talk with Frew’s son, artist Morgan Frew, art-making workshops, and Slow Viewing Nights.
Financial assistance for these exhibitions has been made possible with public support from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. Sponsorship opportunities for these exhibitions, 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 Springfield Art Museum is located at 1111 East Brookside Drive Springfield, MO 65807. 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.
Established as a state agency in 1965, the Missouri Arts Council is a division of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor dedicated to broadening the growth, availability, and appreciation of the arts in Missouri and fostering the diversity, vitality, and excellence of Missouri’s communities, economy, and cultural heritage. The Council is funded through the Missouri General Assembly, Missouri Cultural Trust, and National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, please visit www.missouriartscouncil.org.