Greetings patrons, sponsors, faculty and staff of Visual Arts at Colorado State University. We are quite thrilled to be opening the Unviversity Art Museum, in just a few weeks, with a ribbon cutting and opening reception on Thursday, April 2.
This e-newsletter is a complete guide to the space, the opening events, and the gallery exhibits.
In addition to the opening reception, participate in a variety of special events, including an opening gala dinner, keynote speaker, and an alumni reunion. Don't forget to register by March 25 at https://advancing.colostate.edu/ART/MUSEUM. Enjoy reading about the new University Art Museum and please forward this newsletter to your friends. We look forwarding to seeing you soon!
Sincerely,
Marketing and Publicity Director, School of the Arts |
| UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM OPENING CELEBRATION! |
 Colorado State University celebrates the opening of the University Art Museum, one of the centerpieces of the new University Center for the Arts, with a ribbon-cutting and reception on Thursday, April 2 from 7 - 9 p.m.
The campus and local communities are invited to the free opening reception and exhibits, as well as a variety of opening week events and an art alumni reunion at the University Center for the Arts, 1400 Remington St. in Fort Collins.
The museum, located in the old Fort Collins High School, completes the renovated historic structure and brings diverse exhibitions and programs from CSU's Department of Art to the multi-disciplinary center which also houses the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance. In a single facility, easily accessible to both campus and community, visitors can explore both the visual and performing arts.
"The museum will establish an integrated learning environment emphasizing enhanced creative synergies among the artistic disciplines within the School of the Arts. This will raise regional, national and internationally awareness of the level of excellence in the present undergraduate and graduate programs in art, dance, music and theatre," said Gary Voss, chairman of the Department of Art and co-director of the School of the Arts.
 Located through the UCA's historic entrance, the museum features four discrete galleries that offer flexibility for the installation of small or larger exhibitions in a 4,000 square-foot space. It also features a small gift shop with work by graduate and undergraduate students. The museum is augmented by teaching facilities and an additional 4,000 square feet of state-of-the-art collection storage facilities and exhibition preparation spaces.
The exhibition, storage and preparation areas are equipped with museum-standard climate control systems, lighting and security and are designed to safely exhibit and store works of art at ideal temperature and humidity levels. The proximity of teaching facilities for art history allows access for coordinated study of the collections.
 "The opening of the University Art Museum is a milestone for the visual arts and CSU," said Museum Director Linny Frickman. "Having a home for our growing permanent collection and museum-standard exhibition spaces for this collection and for incoming loans and traveling exhibitions, has been the dream of many faculty members, alumni and friends of the Department of Art for decades. We are delighted to realize the dream and even more delighted to do so at the University Center for the Art where our visitors can partake of programming in multiple arts disciplines." |
| MUSEUM OPENING EVENTS |
In addition to the ribbon cutting and opening reception on Thursday, April 2, the opening celebration includes a gala dinner, a keynote speaker and a symposium all in conjunction with an Art Alumni Reunion. The University Art Museum and board present "Little Secrets: Significant Works - A Gala Fundraising Dinner and Auction" at 7 p.m. Friday, April 3 in the Instrumental Rehearsal Hall, UCA. Reservations are required and tickets are $100 a seat. The gala features anonymous works by alumni, faculty, and "secret" nationally known guests - the artist will only be revealed once a work is purchased. These works will be sold via silent auction during the gala, benefiting the University Art Museum Endowment which supports the facility, programming and collection care. Sponsors of the Little Secrets gala are Jim and Wendy Franzen, Healing Arts Family Medicine and Center for Advanced Dentistry, Gary and Judy Voss, Department of Art and faculty, College of Liberal Arts, Ann Gill, and Liley Rogers and Martell LLC. To reserve a seat by March 25, register at https://advancing.colostate.edu/ART/MUSEUM  A keynote guest artist lecture entitled, "New Beginnings at the End" will be presented by nationally renowned artist Mel Chin at 5 p.m. Friday, April 3 in the Griffin Concert Hall, UCA. Known for his socially involved practice, his current project, "Safehouse," investigates and attempts to find solutions for lead contamination in post-Katrina New Orleans. Chin has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards including a Rockefeller Foundation Grant, the Creative Capital Grant, and the Pollock/Krasner Foundation Fellowship. The lecture is free and open to the public. The annual Front Range Symposium in the History of Art takes place from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 4 in Room 158, UCA. This annual symposium, traditionally held at the Denver Art Museum, is hosted this year by the CSU Department of Art. Students will be presenting papers that represent the best in art historical scholarship from colleges and universities along the Colorado Front Range. The Department of Art welcomes alumni to campus for an Art Alumni Reunion, April 2 - 4. In addition to the University Art Museum opening events at the University Center for the Arts, reunion events take place in the Hatton Gallery in the CSU Visual Arts Building on Lake Street. These events are open to the public. The graduate student open studio tours are 3-5 p.m. Saturday, April 4. The Hatton Gallery History of the Art Department exhibition and reception is 5-7 p.m. Saturday, April 4. The Art Department open house is 1-4 p.m. Sunday, April 5. |
| MUSEUM OPENING EXHIBITS |
 The new University Art Museum has a twelve-month schedule with rotating exhibitions that honor diverse cultures and aesthetic traditions. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., the museum initially features three exhibits:
"Reflection, Refraction, Reconfiguration: Images from the Collection of Polly and Mark Addison," April 2 - June 13. Contemporary art collectors and museum donors, Polly and Mark Addison, generously loan a selection of works of art from the late 20th century and early 21st century to inaugurate the large gallery in the museum. The exhibitlooks at art work that - through the lens of the camera, through digital manipulation, or through the hands of the artist -reconfigure imagery in order to reflect upon contemporary issues. The exhibition features works by a number of important contemporary figures from around the globe including Mel Chin, Jeanne Dunning, Jana Sterbak, Mona Hatoum and William Kentridge. Image 1: Jeanne Dunning (born 1960), Detail #20, 1994, photograph, Collection of Polly and Mark Addison.
 "African Art: Highlights from the Permanent Collection,"April 2 - Sept. 25. Composed of objects from the University Art Museum's permanent collection, this exhibition features pieces that illustrate the rich artistic traditions of Africa. Examples of jewelry, textiles and sculpture, generously donated by the Carlen, DeVore, Garst and Udall families, will be featured in the museum's central gallery. Image 2: Woman's necklace, Maasai, Kenya, leather, beads, wire, University Art Museum Collection, Gift of Dorothy and Rob Udall.
 "A Floating World: The Art of the Japanese Print,"April 2 - June 13. The first exhibition in the museum's intimate gallery examines 19th-century Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Ukiyo-e, which means "pictures of a fleeting, floating world" capture the changing nature of modern society in Japan. The works on display in this exhibition came to the museum through the generous gifts of George and Alice Drake and Editha Todd Leonard. Image 3: Hiroshige, (Japanese, 1797-1858), Detail Evening Squall at Ohashi, 1856-1857, woodblock print on paper, University Art Museum Collection, Gift of Editha Leonard.
In addition to these three exhibitions, recent and promised gifts to the museum will be showcased in the back gallery. | |
