Artist Interview with Chris Drury Coming Soon

Artist Chris Drury is interviewed by Ali Grossman of UWTV with his sculpture behind him.
Courtesy of the Art Museum.

The latest in a series of artist interviews was filmed today by UWTV. British land artist Chris Drury is wrapping up his visit and answered a series of questions about his research and creative process, his artistic inspiration from forms in nature, and the materials he used in his sculpture. The filmed interview will be edited and posted on the Art Museum's webpage and YouTube page.

Drury was filmed with his newly installed sculpture, Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around, as the backdrop. This is the 12th artist interview that UWTV has collaborated with the Art Museum on, however, this is the first interview to be filmed outside!

Stay tuned for the completed video interview. You can visit the Art Museum webpage or call 307.766.6622 for more information about Chris Drury's sculpture.

Summer Teaching Institute in Full Swing

Margaret Wilson (l) and Brittany Arnold (r)

Photo courtesy UW Art Museum

The Art Museum's Summer Teaching Institute is this week and sessions for Wyoming teachers are in their second day.  This morning, Dance Prof Margaret Wilson and student Brittany Arnold conducted a session of movement in response to Etsuko Ichikawa's installation, NACHI - between the eternal and the ephemeral -.  This summer’s Institute, Figurative Art as Story, Metaphor and Presence, explores the impact of figurative art in communicating ideas, action, culture and more.   In addition to the Art Museum and its Ann Simpson Artmobile exhibition, Go Figure!, other campus resources such as the American Heritage Center and Coe Library will engage participants in original art and strategic discussions to develop new skills in support of arts education in schools and in the community.

New Exhibition Opens Tomorrow

Evald Nielsen, Tea and Coffee Service (coffeepot), 1919-1920, sterling silver, ivory, Scandinavian Style, Copenhagen, Denmark, M0002M0002, courtesy of Margo Grant Walsh

A new exhibition opens tomorrow at the UW Art Museum. Silver & Metalwork of the 20th Century: The Margo Grant Walsh Collection features over 185 items of silver and metalwork from this unparalleled private collection. Based on design - from contemporary UK design ideas to Arts and Crafts - the work on view originates from eight different countries.

Walsh began collecting silver on a whim and considers herself a self-educated collector. Today, her collection consists of over 2,000 objects, all of which she collected based on their beauty, functionality, and good design. With a background in architecture and interior design, she has amassed a truly unique collection.

The Art Museum is open 10 am - 5 pm on Saturday and admission is always free. Visit the Art Museum website or call 307.766.6622 for more information on exhibitions or to plan a visit!

New Art Museum Website

The Art Museum has a new website! Earlier this month we launched a newly redesigned site that is based around themes, such as "Visit," "Explore," or "Learn." Other new features include FAQs that can help answer questions from "How do I donate a work of art to the museum?" to "How can I receive a scholarship for my child to attend an art class?" We hope the new site is informative and visual, with lots of images and easy to access information. The web address has remained the same.

As is common with new sites, there is still room for changes and fine tuning, so we want to hear from you. As you navigate the website, we want to know if there is information missing that you think should be there, or if it's easy or difficult to find what you're looking for. You can email our publicist, Kaylee Porter at uwartpr@uwyo.edu, or leave your comments here on the blog or on our Facebook page.

Drury Completes Carbon Sink

Chris Drury, Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around

UW Art Museum Photo

Today, British artist Chris Drury and crew completed his extraordinary new work on the campus of the University of Wyoming.  Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around, places beetle-kill pine and coal--both natural resources in Wyoming--in a formal structure derived from a mushroom spore, twisting into a vortex to suggest the natural process of decay, decomposition, and transformation.  Typical of the artist's work, who routinely connects natural phenomena from the macrocosmic to the microcosmic, the whirling deep, dark, and beautiful reflective properties of the coal play off the raw wood that has been charred so the materials merge at the center.

The work is the next in an evolving public art exhibition that launched in 2008, Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational.  Additional works are planned this year both on and off campus.

Drury Sculpture Making Progress

Chris Drury working on sculpture

Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

With great weather and great assistants, Chris Drury's sculpture, Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around is taking shape on the south lawn from Old Main.  Every day the work is looking more and more like the original drawing submitted by the artist.

 Original Sketch for Carbon Sink

Courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Today, you can begin to see the beautiful qualities of juxtaposing the materials that comprise the work--coal, charred wood, and pine.  The deep, dark coal glistens vibrantly in the sunlight, offset by the rhythmic whirl of the light, blond wood; its charring merging the materials toward the center.

 Close up view

Courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Drury draws his work from Nature; the vortez form of Carbon Sink coming from the notion of taking the shape of a mushroom spore and rotating it as it fanning out a stack of cocktail napkins.  The mushroom spore and vortex form are common elements that connect the macro and micro perspectives of Nature in the artist's work.

 

20th Century Silver Collection to Open July 23

Collector Margo Grant Walsh (r) is assisted by Art Museum

assistant curator Rachel Miller (l) during the installation

of Silver & Metalwork of the 20th Century

Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Margo Grant Walsh was on site earlier this week for the installation of an exhibition drawn from her 20th century silver and metal collection.  With a passion for silver, Grant Walsh, a retired interior designer, has amassed one of the most important privately held collections.  Her guiding principle for acquisitions has been first and foremost design, craftsmanship, and functionality.   The exhibition opens to the public on July 23.  Grant Walsh will return to Laramie to present a talk on her collection on Thurs., Sept. 8 (7 pm) and a Gallery Walk Through on Fri., Sept. 9 (4:30 pm).

Land artist Chris Drury Begins Scultpure on University of Wyoming Campus

Chris Drury (3rd from left) with the Art Museum and Physical Plant crew

on site for his new work on the University of Wyoming campus

Work began on Monday for the next sculpture for the University of Wyoming Art Museum, Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational.  Titled Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around, the 36 diameter work will be constructed from Wyoming coal and beetle-kill pine.  The artist will be on location for three weeks to create the work.

Chris Drury and assistants Sterling Smith and Felicia Resor
work on Carbon Sink

By this morning the laying of logs that will form the structure of the work started from the center and spiraling outward.  Coal will be placed between the logs.

Saturday is the Final Day to View Scottish Sublime Exhibition

Saturday, July 9 will be the final day to view the exhibition, From the Scottish Sublime to the American West: Selected Works from the University of Wyoming at the UW Art Museum.

The exhibition compares the romantic sublime landscapes of 18th and 19th century British artists with early 19th century American landscapes. British artists examined the landscape through color and light, creating images in which untamed nature became an aesthetic experience, similar to the Romanticism movement occurring in literature and history. American artists drew upon these grand romantic images in the magnificent landscapes of the American West.

Visitors can also access a free cell phone audio tour by dialing a local number from their cell phone. The cell phone audio tour is a free service offered by the Art Museum and provides in-depth information about the artists and artwork in the exhibition. Handouts are available at the front desk.

This exhibition has been organized by the UW Art Museum in conjunction with The Ninth Annual International Scott Conference, Sir Walter Scott: Sheriff and Outlaw, scheduled at the University of Wyoming from July 5 – 9, 2011.

New Cell Phone Audio Tour for Scottish Sublime Exhibition

Searly S. Willis (Scotland), Untitled (Hunting Scene), 1874, oil on canvas, 30 x 50-1/4 inches, gift of William J. Thulin, University of Wyoming Art Museum Collection, 1971.4

A new cell phone audio tour for the exhibition, From the Scottish Sublime to the American West: Selections from the University of Wyoming is now available. The cell phone audio tour is a free service offered by the Art Museum and is accessible by dialing a local number from your cell phone. Handouts are available at the front desk.

This audio tour provides information about the different artistic movements that are represented in the exhibition, including British sublime landscape painting and American styles such as the Hudson River School artists. Information about specific artists and paintings is also available.

Because this exhibition was organized in conjunction with the 9th International Scott Conference, which begins today and is being held at UW, the audio tour is punctuated with information and quotes from Sir Walter Scott's writing. A special thanks to Peter Parolin, department head of the UW Department of English, for recording this tour!

For more information about this exhibition or the cell phone audio tour, please call 307.766.6622.