Monday Nights at the Museum

The work of American Surrealist Leon Kelly is currently on view at the UW Art Museum, along with 4 other exhibitions.

Image: Leon Kelly (American, 1901-1982), The Reclining Moor, 1953, oil on canvas, 32 x 19-3/4 inches, photo courtesy of Gratz Gallery

Looking for a fun way to spend your Monday evenings now that the Olympics are wrapping up? The UW Art Museum is open late on Monday nights this spring. To accommodate those who work 9-5, students who need some extra time, and anyone who just can't fit in a museum visit during the day, we're open until 9 pm on Monday evenings during both the fall (Sept-Nov) and spring (Feb-April) semesters.

Monday evenings are also when we hold things like "The No-Stress Art Class: Exploring with Watercolor," a hands-on studio class for teens and adults who are interested in working with watercolor. No experience is necessary! Call the Education Department at 307.766.3496 for more information or to sign up.

Public programs by visiting artists are also often held on Monday evenings, so keep an eye out throughout the year for Art Talks and lectures. Coming up this Monday night, March 1, is 20:20 for students. Stop by to hear brief presentations and see images of work by UW art students. This event begins at 7 pm. Future Monday night programs include an Art Talk by American painter Harold Garde and curator Jeannie Dowis on Monday, March 30 at 7 pm. This will be followed by a small reception. Unless otherwise noted, public programs are free and open to the public.

So be sure to stop by the Art Museum on Monday nights this spring for a chance to check out all the exhibitions, hear from the artists, or take a class! For more information about all the exhibitions and programs the Museum has to offer, please visit the website or call 307.766.6622.

James Surls Audio Tour at Coe Library and the Art Museum

The cell phone audio tour for the exhibition of James Surls' sculpture is now live at the Art Museum. Call in to hear information about his work like this one, Me and the Black Flower with the Needle and Thread.

Image courtesy of the artist.

The cell phone audio tour that accompanies the exhibition James Surls: Flowers is now posted at the Art Museum. Visitors to the museum can access additional information about James Surls' career and materials use by calling 307.200.0040 from their cell phone. This is a free service at the art museum, and different audio tour prompts are assigned to different exhibitions and specific artwork throughout the museum. Handouts are available at the front desk.

With the recent installation of Surls' Rolling Flower in the 5th floor atrium of Coe Library, it seemed the perfect opportunity to provide UW students, the public, and library patrons with information about this sculpture, which is the latest permanent installation of large-scale sculpture on the UW campus. Jennifer Mayer, Fine Arts Librarian at Coe, volunteered to write a prompt about Rolling Flower and to record the audio tour for the James Surls exhibition. Look for signs in Coe Library to access the cell phone audio tour for Rolling Flower.

Surls' work is also included in the exhibition Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational. Prompt number 13 of the cell phone audio tour is dedicated to his work in this exhibition, In Circle.

For full instructions on how to use the cell phone audio tour, dial 307.200.0040 and press 1, followed by the pound key (#). Handouts are available on the Art Museum's webpage, at individual sculptures in Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational, and at the Art Museum front desk. This is also an opportunity for visitors to leave their feedback, including comments and suggestions. Press 0, followed by the pound key to leave us a message!

NEW - Cell Phone Audio Tour for the Juried Student Exhibition

This year, in conjunction with the 35th Annual Juried University of Wyoming Student Exhibition, students whose work was accepted into the exhibition were invited to write and record their own cell phone audio tour about their artwork. Museum visitors now have the chance to hear from the students themselves.

The cell phone audio tour is free to museum goers. Visitors dial a local, 307 area code number and can listen to different recorded prompts that provide additional information about a particular artist, artwork, or exhibition. The information can be accessed from anywhere, whether you're standing in front of a painting or have returned home and want to listen again!

To hear from select students about their artwork in the Juried Student Exhibition, dial 307.200.0040 and enter one of the prompt numbers below, followed by the pound key (#).

29-
Gabrielle Reeves
The Saddle
On Road
4 Doors

30-
Kimberly Shannon
Out of Context Series

31-
Angela Weber
Buck Rail

32-
Katrina Romine
Everywhere

33-
Stephanie Ann Thomas
Principle Solo

A special thanks to these students who wrote and recorded an audio tour script! Funding for this program is provided by the Wyoming Arts Council through the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art.

One Week until 20:20 Deadline for Students

A reminder to students who are interested in signing up for 20:20 on March 1st: you have one week until the deadline to submit a PowerPoint presentation of your images. The deadline is Monday, February 22. You may sign up in advance to reserve your place if you know you want to participate. This 20:20 is open for participants who are high school, community college and UW students.

20:20 is a program begun last April by the UW Art Museum. This is the fourth 20:20 event to be held. Presenters who participate show a slide show in PowerPoint format of 20 images, each of which is shown for 20 seconds, resulting in a 6 minute and 40 second presentation. It's a chance for artists, educators, and arts organizations to share their programs, new work, and accomplishments. 20:20 is intended to create an atmosphere of networking and open dialogue among artists in Wyoming.

The 20:20 event on March 1st begins at 7 pm at the Art Museum. It is free and open to the public. Local artists, educators, and administrators are encouraged to attend to see the work of the next generation of artists!

To sign up, or if you have questions, please contact Rachel Miller at 307.766.6621 or rmiller@uwyo.edu.

Discovery Days for Prospective UW Students and Parents

UW students work on a class assignment at the Art Museum.

Prospective students and their parents are invited to Discovery Days in the Student Union this Saturday, starting at 8 am. This event is meant to introduce prospective students to the UW campus, and showcase some of the academic colleges, extra-curricular activities, and events. The UW Art Museum will be there with information about our programs, education classes, and the opportunities that are available for UW students. If you're thinking about attending UW for college, then be sure to stop the Art Museum table to see the various roles we play in the Laramie community and on campus.

For more information on Discovery Days, visit the webpage for a schedule and all the details. For more information on the UW Art Museum and the programs and exhibitions available, visit the webpage or call 307.766.6622. The Art Museum is open on Saturdays from 10 am - 5 pm, so we invite you to stop by after Discovery Days to see the exhibitions first hand!

Reminders for Students

A couple of reminders for students - if you have work in the 35th Annual Juried UW Student Exhibition and would like to record a cell phone audio tour, in your own words and in your voice, to tell museum visitors about your artwork, TODAY is the last day to do so! All you have to do is write up a paragraph, the content is entirely up to you. The more students who participate, the better the experience will be for museum visitors. This is an opportunity for you to really convey what you want people to take away from your art. It's also a good way to gain exposure and let people know who you are as an artist.

Students are also invited to sign up to participate in 20:20 to be held on March 1st at 7 pm. This is an event that the Art Museum holds 3-4 times a year, focusing on a particular group of artists. This time the focus is on high school, LCCC, and UW art students. If you would like to present a brief talk and images of your work, please sign up! There will be museum staff, local artists, and faculty members in the audience, so this is a chance for you to show everyone (including fellow students) what you've been working on and what your artwork is all about.

If you have questions about either of these programs, or would like to sign up, please contact assistant curator Rachel Miller at 307.766.6621 or rmiller@uwyo.edu.

Mohamed Shata Available for UW Faculty and Students

Mohamed Shata

Egyptologist Mohamed Shata will be at the University of Wyoming Art Museum on Tues., Feb. 9.  In addition to his Art Talk at 7 pm entitled The Art of Ancient Egypt, Shata will be available at 4 pm to meet informally with students and faculty in the Art Museum's conference room. 

For his public lecture, Shata will explain the process, technique and images of the tombs built and decorated for the kings, queens and nobles of ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom (2700-2200 B.C.).

An archaeologist and licensed Egyptologist for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, Shata received a degree in archaeology at Cairo University. He worked extensively on excavating sites in the vicinity of the Pyramids with Zahi Hawass, Egypt's vice minister of culture and secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.  He has also worked on restoring the Sphinx and has discovered many tombs of Old Kingdom royal family members at Giza. Shata was a presenter at the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists.

The Art Talk is free and open to the public.  All are invited to attend.

20:20 Call for Student Participants

Calling all high school, LCCC, and UW art students!

You’re invited to participate in

at the UW Art Museum on Monday, March 1st, 7 pm

The UW Art Museum is pleased to announce its fourth 20:20 event. 20:20 is a fast-paced presentation format whereby presenters are able to show 20 images for 20 seconds each. The total presentation time is only 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Advance sign-up is required and offered on a first come, first served basis.

20:20 Students is scheduled at the UW Art Museum on Monday, March 1, 7-9 pm. It is open to LCCC, University of Wyoming, and high school students. All disciplines are welcome. The deadline to submit images in a PowerPoint format is Monday, February 22.

20:20 is an opportunity to share accomplishments in the arts, ideas, new work and images. The program is meant to foster open dialogue and communication among student artists and to provide an opportunity for networking with colleagues. It is also a great opportunity for students to practice public speaking skills, talk about their artwork, and to see what other students are doing.

The format of 20:20 is borrowed from a program that was first developed in Japan by two architects who were looking for a new way to present design ideas in an upbeat and exciting way. Events like 20:20 now occur internationally as specially organized evening events where the focus is on sharing information and community participation.

To sign up: contact Assistant Curator Rachel Miller at 307.766.6621 or rmiller@uwyo.edu
Deadline to submit images: Monday, February 22, 2010
*Images must be in PowerPoint format!

The UW Art Museum aims to host 3-4 20:20 events throughout the year, each one targeting a specific group of artists, arts organizations and educators. The next 20:20 will be held on June 7th, for Performing Artists.

Gallery Walk Through: Award Winning Students - TONIGHT

An image of the crowd at the opening reception for the 35th Annual Juried UW Student Exhibition on Friday night.

At the Art Museum's spring opening reception on Friday night, an awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the 35th Annual Juried University of Wyoming Student Exhibition. 46 awards, including cash and purchase awards, were given.

There will be a Gallery Walk Through tonight, featuring the award winning students. Each student will be given a few minutes to talk about their work and answer any questions. This event is free and open to the public and begins at 7 pm. Please join us to hear more about the great student artwork that is on exhibition!