Art In Bloom

The Art Museum's signature fundraiser, Art in Bloom , is less than 4 weeks away! This morning our staff liaison, Amy Nelson, AIB Chair Kasia Pater, and Event Coordinator, Deanna Dillender met with me to discuss some details. We have an auction committee led by Betty Spain and a sponsorship committee led by Mike Moran, all working hard to make sure this year is the best ever!

The event features interpretations of works of art by floral designers, led by Bart Goley. Our honorary chair is Isabel Yates and our signature artist is Mary Neely. You will see her lovely garden painting on the invitations and posters. Hope to see you at Art in Bloom!

Art Shipping In and Out

The artwork for the Richard Bell: Uz vs. Them show arrived yesterday in two 750 pound crates. They are sitting in the galleries being "acclimatized." Bell is an award-winning Australian artist of aboriginal descent whose work addresses some of the inequalities in Australian society, and by extension, others. We ;need extra help to handle those huge crates!

At the same time, we are preparing three works of art to be on loan to the Speed. Wanting each piece to look its best, Art Preparator Hubert Burton was making sure the frame was in good repair on Emile Bernard's Portrait of Madelaine, the Artist's Sister, 1889.

President Capilouto Visits Art Museum

On January 17th, President Capilouto and his wife, Dr. Mary Lynne Capilouto, came to review the museum. Here you see them touring the art storage area with Mike Moran , Chairman of our Advisory Board, and Janie Welker, Curator of collections and Exhibitions. It is always fun to visit storage and see how extensive and varied our collection is.

In fact, we need some additional paintings racks. We've written a grant and have our fingers crossed.

Paintings Return from Governor's Mansion

A selection of our paintings has been spotlighted at the Governor's Mansion and has just returned. They were chosen by museum staff and Estill Pennington to provide an overview of our holdings.
One of my favorites is Contentment by Robert Atkinson Fox. It depicts cows in a serene landscape setting. Oil paintings by this Canadian artist, Robert Atkinson Fox, are rare, mainly because as his career progressed so did his number of offspring, and he had to turn to commercial art to support them. He turned to illustration for print and calendar companies, where we was quite prolific and popular!