Expressions 2020: 38th Annual Muskegon County Student Art Exhibition
March 25 through April 26, 2020
Expressions 2020: 38th Annual Muskegon County Student Art Exhibition is a collaboration between the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District and the MMA that celebrates the artistic talents of Muskegon County’s K-12 students. The exhibition features exceptional artworks in a variety of media, selected by art instructors from each of the public, charter, and private schools in the county.
Expressions Receptions
Visit the exhibition and attend student receptions to celebrate and support our county’s young student artists and their creative vision. Refreshments will be served and event admission is free and open to the public.
The Muskegon Museum of Art holds an internationally recognized permanent collection of art, boasting important works by artists such as Edward Hopper, John Steuart Curry, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Winslow Homer, Elizabeth Catlett, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre Bonnard. Begun in 1910, today the collection features paintings, prints, drawings, watercolors, sculpture, glass, and decorative arts covering a wide range of genres and time periods. A collecting institution, the MMA continues to acquire, through gift and purchase, both historic and contemporary art as a vital component of its mission. Through the summer of 2020, all of our galleries will highlight and explore the various facets of our collection, celebrating our most recognized masterworks and bringing out more rarely seen objects that define over 100 years of collecting.
As the MMA looks to the next hundred years, join us in celebrating and exploring this renowned Muskegon treasure.
MMA Members’ Reception
Exclusive preview event for MMA Members Wednesday, May 13
5:30 – 7:30 pm
Public Opening Reception Thursday, May 14
5:30 – 7:30 pm
Join us for a special announcement!
Free and open to the public
THE EXHIBITION
Shaping the Future, Celebrating the Past
Robert D. and C. Corcoran Tuttle Gallery
Illustrated timeline and drawings celebrate the past with drawings and other materials that reveal plans for the future
Laying the Cornerstone, October, 2011
Glass: Treasures from the Permanent Collection
L. C. and Margaret Walker A Gallery
Major exhibition showcasing works by many of the artists that defined the studio glass movement along with works made by today’s new masters
From Dürer to Rembrandt: Five Centuries of Art and Faith
Theodore and Joan Operhall Gallery
Works on paper from the earliest days of printmaking in 15th-century Germany and 17th-century Holland along with paintings by Dutch, German, and Swedish artists demonstrate the significant influence of faith on the advancement of art.
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn Descent from the Cross by Torchlight 1654 Gift of Mr. Max Ashendorf 1961.2
Joos van Cleve St. Jerome in Penitence circa 1516-18
Graphic: 19th- and 20th-Century Prints and Watercolors
Theodore and Joan Operhall Gallery
Examples from the golden age of printmaking in late 19th- and early 20th-century Europe to the etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, and screenprints of today
Mary Cassatt The Mandolin Player circa 1889
The Artist’s Lens: 20th- and 21st-Century Photography
Alcoa Foundation/Ernest and Marjorie Cooper Gallery
Photography by nationally and internationally recognized photographers as well as our own Michigan artists, including a selection of prints from Edward Curtis’s photographic masterpiece The North American Indian
Edward Sheriff Curtis Placating the Spirit of a Slain Eagle – Assiniboin Copyright 1926, published 1928
A Living Legacy: Modern and Contemporary Art
Michael and Kay Olthoff/Thelma and Paul Wiener Gallery
Modern pieces that bridge the distance between our early paintings and today’s art and works by contemporary artists
Maria Tomasula Please Don’t Go 2010
20 for 20: Celebrating Michigan Illustrators
January 16 through April 19, 2020
Alcoa Foundation Gallery
Amy Young Untitled – Illustration from A Unicorn Named Sparkle Pen and ink drawing with gouache on Fabriano Uno paper, 2016 Courtesy of the Artist
In recognition of the artistic talent stemming from within our state, 20 for 20: Celebrating Michigan Illustrators is a curated view of children’s illustrators from across the mitten. We are thrilled to exhibit the work of both nationally recognized household names in children’s literature alongside emerging illustrators from the state. The exhibition is a collaged experience, celebrating the differences within the illustrative process that exemplifies the various ways artists come to create a piece, and challenges the viewer to adjust their definition of what it means to be an illustrator. From paintings, drawings, and collages, to pieces that are entirely digitally rendered, this exhibition celebrates the diversity found amongst illustrators here in Michigan and sets a precedent for beyond.
Jeffrey Brown Illustration from My Teacher is a Robot (pages 20-21) Pen and ink drawing on illustration board 2018 Courtesy of the artist
Rebecca Howe Let’s Go Acrylic and digital drawing on paper, 2018 Courtesy of the artist
Related Programs
Opening Celebration Thursday, January 16
5:30 – 7:30 pm
Have a fun family night out and celebrate the Michigan illustrators in 20 for 20. Refreshments will be served. Free public event.
Mark your calendar! Reception & Book Fair Thursday April 9
5:30 – 7:30 pm
Join us for a special spring break party and an opportunity to purchase books illustrated by the artists in 20 for 20.
Underwritten by The Folkert Family Foundation and the DTE Foundation.
The Art of Making: Sculpture and Fiber from the Permanent Collection
December 19 through March 22, 2020
Michael and Kay Olthoff Gallery
The Art of Making showcases artworks from the permanent collection of the Muskegon Museum of Art whose material is integral to their aesthetic and conceptual content. What the material is and how it is worked are essential to the artist’s message, shaping how we understand and relate to the object.
Featured artwork includes Caroline Lee’s geometric sculptures made from assembled forms of machined aluminum; totemic, bent copper sheet sculptures by Michael Hall; cast glass and found steel sculpture by Albert Young; basketry by Myrna Brunson and Gary Trentham; and fibers from Geary Jones, Kristina Aas, and Michael Olszewski.
In keeping their materials true to their origins, these artists invite understanding through the experiences of the viewer, of our day to day familiarity with common natural and manufactured objects. In doing so, they invite us to more closely examine the world around us, seeing inspiration in all we perceive.
Caroline Lee American, 1932-2014 Projectile Machined aluminum 1971 Gift of the artist in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Muskegon Museum of Art 2011.5
RELATED PROGRAM
Sculpt It! Super Saturday
Free Family Fun Day
Saturday, February 8, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm Imagine it, plan it, sculpt it! Join us to explore The Art of Making with an art making activity, tours, and family film. Free admission and activities.
Excellence in Fibers V
December 12 through March 15, 2020
L. C. & Margaret Walker Galleries A & B
The Muskegon Museum of Art (MMA) has partnered with the Fiber Art Network to present Excellence in Fibers V this winter. Excellence in Fibers is an annual, international juried fiber arts competition organized by the Fiber Art Network. Curated from the juror-accepted 2019 Excellence in Fibers entries, this exhibition brings to our Michigan audiences the works of 39 artists from the United States and Canada. The exhibition will run December 12, 2019 through March 15, 2020 at the MMA.
About Excellence in Fibers
Each year, hundreds of artists from around the world submit art for consideration by a team of expert jurors representing artists, curators, and designers. The final selection of artworks represents striking examples of a host of textile and fiber based pieces including sculpture, tapestry, jewelry, costume and clothing, quilting, weaving, basketry, installation, and more. These artworks are featured in a special edition of the internationally distributed magazine Fiber Art Now as a way of showcasing the current state of the fiber arts movement.
Curator’s Statement
Art Martin, MMA Director of Collections and Exhibitions/Senior Curator, comments, “The latest aesthetic, conceptual, and technical ideas shaping the modern field of fiber arts will be on display at the MMA—from pedestal-size baskets to towering textiles that fill entire walls. Excellence in Fibers offers new perspectives for how we see and interact with our world, and how deeply such familiar materials as cloth and thread can confound our expectations.”
Jurors
The 2019 Excellence in Fibers jurors are Amy DiPlacido, a visual artist and curator from Northern California; Karen Hampton, fiber artist and professor; and Monica Moses, the former editor-in-chief at American Craft magazine and award winning designer and publisher.
Denise Ziganti East Coast Fabric, paper, lace, metal chain, sequins, crinoline, tulle, thread, 2019 23 x 29 inches
Polly Adams Sutton Bear Bark Western Red Cedar bark, ash, coated copper wire, 2019 14 x 7 x 8 inches
Maria Shell Everything All At Once Vintage, contemporary and hand-dyed fabrics with batting and thread, 2019 58 x 58 inches
Ulrika Leander January Wool in weft, cotton in the warp, 2018 49 x 80 inches
Kathy Knapp Toxic Overgrowth Cotton textiles, vintage trims, metallic beads and claps, recycled bracelet pieces, 2019 43 x 33 x 30 inches
Jurors
The 2019 Excellence in Fibers jurors are Amy DiPlacido, a visual artist and curator from Northern California; Karen Hampton, fiber artist and professor; and Monica Moses, the former editor-in-chief at American Craft magazine and award winning designer and publisher.
