Laramie: A Gem City Atlas Reception on Monday

Paula A. Wright, Alex Borgen, Shizue Seigel, Ben Pease, Quarries and Climbing, 2011, ink on paper, 22 x 34 inches, courtesy of the MFA in Creative Writing Program.

A reception sponsored by the MFA in Creative Writing Program for the exhibition, Laramie: A Gem City Atlas, will be held on Monday, May 2, from 5-7 pm at the Art Museum. Readings by some of the students who have maps in the exhibition will begin at 5:15. The exhibition features 16 maps and accompanying artwork that examine the various ways in which Laramie and the surrounding area can be envisioned. Maps act as a visual representation of goods, services, people, and other factors that make up the community.

The project originated early in the semester with the UW MFA in Creative Writing Program and Eminent Writer in Residence, Rebecca Solnit. Solnit had completed a similar project in which she re-envisioned and re-mapped San Francisco. For the Laramie project, she worked with students to identify areas of interest that the students could research and map.

This Monday also marks the final Monday night when the Art Museum has extended evening hours until 9 pm. Summer hours will be Monday-Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm. Please join us for the final Monday night at the museum by celebrating Laramie: A Gem City Atlas.

2011-2012 Membership Campaign

Have you considered becoming a member of the UW Art Museum? We have recently launched our 2011-2012 membership campaign and would like to invite you to consider supporting the museum by joining as a member. By purchasing a membership, your contribution helps support public and education programs, collections, and exhibitions that reach local Laramie residents, students of all ages, and museum visitors from around the world. Membership funds are a crucial part of the Art Museum's continued success.

Incentives of membership include discounts at The Museum Store, 10% off Shelton Studio classes, and donor recognition. We offer a variety of levels of membership, from an affordable student option, to family memberships, and increased levels of support at the donor and sponsor levels. Additional premiums (depending on the level of membership) include an Art Museum t-shirt, or a fine art reproduction print of a work from the Art Museum permanent collection.

Won't you consider supporting the Art Museum through membership? Stop by the museum to pick up a brochure, or call 307.766.3477 and we'd be happy to mail one to you.

Upcoming Exhibition Featured in the Casper Star Tribune

University of Wyoming art student, Tessa Dallarosa, works on the beginning of a map for the UW project, Laramie: A Gem City Atlas. Courtesy of Christine Peterson and the Casper Star Tribune.

Last month, the Casper Star Tribune featured an article that highlighted some of the beginning steps behind the project, Laramie: A Gem City Atlas. An exhibition by the same name will open on Saturday at the Art Museum, featuring the final products.

A series of maps that re-imagine Laramie and the surrounding area, along with artwork that was made in reaction to the data on the maps, were created by UW students and members of the community. The Casper Star Tribune interviewed some of these students in March, in an article that discusses the backstory of the project, the inspiration, and the process of creating the maps. The article can be read online here, and is an opportunity for museum visitors to learn about the exhibition before it is on view.

For more information about the exhibition, please call the Art Museum at 307.766.6622. The exhibition opens this Saturday, April 30, and the Museum is open 10 am - 5 pm. Admission is free.

New Exhibition Opening This Saturday

LuLing Osofsky, Paulius Staniunas, and Shizue Seigel, Wild Wild East, 2011, ink on paper, 22 x 34 inches, courtesy of the MFA in Creative Writing Program.

Opening this Saturday is the exhibition, Laramie: A Gem City Atlas, which features 16 maps and associated artwork that offer new insights into how we view and could map Laramie. The project originated with the UW MFA in Creative Writing Program who hosted Eminent Writer in Residence Rebecca Solnit earlier this semester. Solnit, who did a similar project of re-mapping San Francisco, worked with students to generate ideas of how the many factors and facets of Laramie could be translated onto a map. The project was then opened up to members of the community, who also provided maps that were a testament to the varied ways in which Laramie could be viewed.

Many students partnered with local and student artists who provided an artistic interpretation of the data on the maps. The result is 16 very different maps and accompanying art, which outline things from the locations of stray animals or doctors, the influence of Asian culture on Laramie, or the ratio of salons to saloons.

The Art Museum is open on Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm, and admission is free. For more information on this or any other exhibition, please call 307.766.6622.

Afternoon at the Museum is on Monday

Children create art in the Shelton Studio. Courtesy of the Art Museum.

Afternoon at the Museum, a UW Art Museum class for students with the afternoon off due to Albany County School District staff development, will be offered on Monday, April 25 from 1 – 5 p.m. Students ages 6 – 10 are invited to attend and spend the afternoon investigating and producing art.

During the afternoon students will look at the theme of place as they tour the exhibitions, From the Scottish Sublime to the American West, Selected Works from the University of Wyoming and Etsuko Ichikawa: NACHI –between the eternal and the ephemeral–. Using these exhibitions as inspiration, students will use a variety of materials to explore their own ideas of place. Healthy snacks are provided.

The class is $20 per student or $15 per student for families signing up 3 or more children. Pre-registration is encouraged, but is not required. For more information regarding Afternoons at the Museum or other UW Art Museum classes, contact Master Teacher Heather Bender at (307) 766-3515 or hbender1@uwyo.edu.

Art Museum Closed this Saturday

The Art Museum will be closed this Saturday for the Easter weekend. We will reopen on Monday with our usual hours.

Also, as a reminder, there are only two more weeks of extended Monday hours, where we remain open until 9 pm. Beginning on Monday, May 9th, we will switch to our summer hours, 10 am - 5 pm, Monday through Saturday.

We apologize if our closure this weekend causes any inconveniences, but we hope you visit us next week and have a great Easter holiday!

Easter Items Now in the Museum Store

Looking for some new and fun Easter decorations? Stop by the Museum Store this week for all your Easter needs! Whether you're looking for candy dishes, home decor, or that special something to fill an Easter basket, the Museum Store has what you need!

The Museum Store is open Monday through Saturday, 10 am-5 pm. Be sure to stop in and see all the unique and festive items!

Two New Exhibitions Open This Saturday

Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, 1786-1865), Kabuki Toto 36 Scenes, 19th century, color woodcut, 14-13/16 x 10-3/16 inches, Purchased by the Friends of the UW Art Museum, University of Wyoming Art Museum Collection, 1980.133

Two new exhibitions featuring work from the Art Museum permanent collection will open this Saturday, April 9. Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) Japanese Kabuki Portraits from the Art Museum Collection features woodblock prints by one of the most popular and prolific artists of 19th century Japan. Kunisada’s yakusha-e, or kabuki actor portraits, first appeared in 1808-09 and became his main subject matter. His productivity was extraordinary as it is estimated he produced between 20,000 to 25,000 designs for woodblock prints during his lifetime. Because of artists such as Kunisada, the kabuki actors might only be known by name to modern scholarship without this visual record.

From the Scottish Sublime to the American West: Selected Works from the University of Wyoming explores the relationship between the romantic and sublime landscapes of the British artists of the 18th and 19th century and the early American landscape traditions of the 19th century. The exhibition has been organized in conjunction with The Ninth International Scott Conference, Walter Scott: Sheriff and Outlaw, at UW from July 5-9, 2011.

The Art Museum is open on Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and admission is free. For more information about exhibitions, please call 307.766.6622.

TONIGHT - Herb & Dorothy film screening

The Vogels with Pat Steir in her New York studio, April 4, 2008.

Photography Credit: Steve Konick, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Join us tonight at the Art Museum for a screening of the film, Herb & Dorothy at 7 pm. We will be showing the film downstairs in the Centennial Complex Restaurant, which can be accessed from the lower front entrance or from the stairs off the lobby. This public program is free, and we'll be serving popcorn and soda to make it a true movie night!

Herb & Dorothy tells the story of the Vogels, a librarian and a postal clerk, who amassed an impressive collection of modern American art. The UW Art Museum received 50 pieces through their program with the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States. A selection of those works is on view at the Art Museum through August 27.

NY Times Article on Museums and Technology - what are your thoughts?

A few weeks ago there was an article in the New York Times that discussed museums and their use of technology - from their websites to Facebook and twitter accounts. You can read the article here. The UW Art Museum uses a website, this blog, a Facebook page, and offers a cell phone audio tour to share information about our programs and exhibitions. After reading the article, we wondered - what do our visitors think?

We want to hear from you. What other museums have you visited that have used technology? What was it? Did you like it? What would you like to see more of at the UW Art Museum?

You can either leave your comments here, on our Facebook page, or email them to rmiller@uwyo.edu. Let us know what you think, we're always looking for ways to improve and your feedback is important!