Behind the closed office doors of the Art Museum, many people contribute time, energy and hard work to develop programs and events that enliven art and give it a voice. Our Education program is currently working with two interns, students who wear many different hats.

One of the interns who has been working with the education team this fall is Grace Wyatt, a German and Art History major from Transylvania University. Her projects have included writing teachers’ guides, researching works of art, helping plan and implement Artful Sundays, helping with tours and assisting in the less glamorous aspects of program management. She provides the Museum with extra hands and inspiration, while gaining insight into the museum world. Working with interns is essential to our educational mission. Their conversations inform us about the ideas and concerns of our college and university visitors, and we get to play a part in training the leaders of tomorrow’s museums.

Grace’s favorite work of art, at least for today, is John Christen Johansen’s Portrait of a Woman. Next time you visit the Museum, see if you can find this beautiful painting.

Passing of a Great Friend

October saw the passing of a great Kentucky artist and long-time University of Kentucky professor, Robert James Foose. The Museum was fortunate to host a retrospective of his work in 2002, which really brought to light his versatility as an artist. His oil paintings and watercolors are stylistically different. Many of his oil paintings are large abstractions of a familiar landscape, while his watercolors focus on line and the subtle changes in atmosphere. He was also known as a great innovator in the area of artist’s books. He influenced the lives of many through his art and teaching and leaves a great legacy for the University of Kentucky.

ROBERT JAMES FOOSE American, 1938-2013, Frenzy, 2001, oil and alkyd on canvas, gift of the artist

Photography Exhibition and Lecture

How many photos do you have on your phone, on Facebook, on Instagram? Our first featured artist for the 2013-2014 Robert C. May Photography Lecture series explores the sheer volume and anonymity of contemporary photography. Penelope Umbrico, examines the notion of how photography exists in the digital age, making prints of ephemeral electronic images, culling samples, and then building them into installations of multiple images that offer a revealing snapshot of who we are. Her work can be displayed on walls, on Flickr, or in other spaces for the viewer to discover including drawers. Photography today is constantly changing and Umbrico’s work explores its dichotomies including the tension between producer and consumer, the individual and collective, and the material and immaterial.

Make sure to see her special installation in the Art Museum which opens this Friday, October 18. It will be on view through November 10. And don’t miss her lecture Friday, October 18, 2013 at 4 pm in the Worsham Theater of the UK Student Center. Both her lecture and admission to the exhibition are free.

PENELOPE UMBRICO, Screen Shot 2012-07-26 at 5.29.54 PM of 16 Screenshots of People Holding the Sun at Sunset, 2012, digital c-print. Courtesy of the artist, Mark Moore Gallery, LA, and LMAK projects, NYC

This is Not Your Mother's Textile Exhibition

Museum staff and interns are busy this week installing the next exhibition INNOVATORS AND LEGENDS: Generations in Textiles and Fiber. In addition to interesting weavings and painting-like embroidery the crates have revealed amazing sculptures including cats made of wire and nylon and larger than life-size “sound suits” with hand-stitched sequins.

It’s the variety that makes this exhibition exciting: representational and abstract styles, a range of media from the unusual (Tyvek and holographic film) to everyday (teacups and wire), and a palate from monochromatic to day-glo.

Please join us for the exhibition opening, Sunday October 13 from 2 -4 pm in the Museum galleries.

Image Credit: NICK CAVE, Soundsuit, mixed media