Art Museum Closed for the UW Winter Break

The UW Art Museum galleries are now closed for 2013.  This past year has seen 21 different exhibitions, ranging from African art to abstract expressionism, Haitian paintings and photography.  We hope you've enjoyed all that was presented! 

Art Museum administrative offices will remain open today and then will be closed for the UW winter break until Thursday, January 2.  The galleries will remain closed in January as we install all new exhibitions that will open on Friday, January 31 at our opening reception from 6-8 pm. 

Thank you to our students, interns, visitors, board members, and supporters for a successful year of creativity, great art, and inspiration!

New Artist Interviews on YouTube

Two new artist interviews are now available on the Art Museum's YouTube page.  Artist Neltje discusses both her sumi-e ink drawings and her large abstract expressionist paintings that are on view through this Saturday, December 21.  A Wyoming artist, this interview provides insight to her process and inspiration.  If you haven't had the opportunity to see her work yet, watch this video and then stop by the museum and see her colorful, large-scale works! 

A second interview featuring Chicano art collector and advocate Cheech Marin has also been uploaded.  In the interview, Marin discusses the motivation behind his collecting, some of his favorite paintings, and the Chicano art movement.  It was a great opportunity to have him in Laramie, and this video helps continue the conversation he started!

Holiday Shopping at the Museum Store

Keep the Museum Store in mind as you finish up your holiday shopping!  We have fun Laramie Mural Project items, including coloring books and a variety of tshirts.  There are handy museum totes in a variety of accent colors like orange and green.  And if you still need to send out your holiday cards, the Museum Store has several winter and holiday themed cards available that feature artwork from our permanent collection.  They also work great as thank you notes for all the fabulous presents we hope you receive this holiday season!

The Museum Store will be open Monday-Saturday through December 23 from 10 am to 5 pm.

Thank you for a great Happy Holidays, Laramie! and Festival of Trees

A big thank you goes out to all of you from the community who visited us on Saturday for Happy Holidays, Laramie! and the Festival of Trees!  We had a great turnout with over 1500 people in attendance.  The musical performances throughout the day were fantastic and really put everyone in the holiday spirit!  All of the beautifully decorated trees were successfully auctioned off and are being delivered this week. 

These two events wouldn't be possible without the help of our dedicated docents and volunteers, as well as the community groups who donate their time and talents to decorate trees.  Thanks to all!

Happy Holidays, Laramie! and the Festival of Trees

Join the Art Museum this Thursday evening at 6 pm for the Lighting of the Trees Ceremony as we kick off our annual holiday events, the Festival of Trees and Happy Holidays, Laramie!  We will have live music and refreshments on Thursday evening when the Festival of Trees silent auction opens to the public.  Visitors will also have the opportunity to select the People's Choice Award by voting for their favorite tree!

The silent auction of trees, all of which have been decorated by volunteers from local community groups and organizations, will remain open through Friday and will conclude on Saturday at 2:30 pm.

Happy Holidays, Laramie! is the Art Museum's hugely popular community holiday celebration with music performances throughout the day, an exhibition of artwork by ACSD #1 students, balloon animals with Pinkerbell, visits with Santa Claus, and lots of yummy cookies!  We will begin the musical performances at 10:30 am and conclude at 2:30 pm with the Laramie Community Band.

All of these events are free and open to the public, so we hope you'll join us in kicking off the holiday season!

Call for Entries Now Open for the Annual Juried UW Student Exhibition

A highlight of the Art Museum's programming, the 39th Annual Juried UW Student Exhibition call for entries is now open!  As in the past, the exhibition is open to any student at UW who is enrolled in the current academic year.  This year, students will be submitting images online through Cafe - an online call for entry website.  One of the goals of the student exhibition has always been to provide students with a practical, professional experience. By shifting to an online submission process, students will be set up with the tools and skills they will need to apply for national and international shows on a professional level.

Another benefit of the online process is that we can reach out to jurors who are farther away.  This year's juror is Nina Johnson-Milewski, director and owner of Gallery Diet in Miami.  Working with contemporary artists on a daily basis, Nina will bring a unique perspective!

Students who would like to submit to the exhibition can visit the Cafe website and create a profile for free.  A simple search for "39th Annual Juried University of Wyoming Student Exhibition" will bring up the call where information and images can be uploaded.

The Art Museum is looking forward to another great exhibition that showcases the creative work being done by students around the UW Campus!

Laramie Mural Project Update

 

The final mural of 2013 has been completed, but there are still a lot of exciting things happening with the Laramie Mural Project!  A new cell phone audio tour is now up and running.  Each mural artist took the time to record a prompt for their mural or murals, so the next time you're around town all you have to do is call a local number, enter the prompt number listed above followed by the pound sign (#), and you'll hear directly from each artist! You can click on the image above for a larger version of this handout to print and take with you.

Dan Toro's mural, Bookshelf, was the last mural of the year, and Brian Guice Media of Laramie has created a great time lapse of Dan's process.  You can check out the video here.

Thanks to the great support of the Kickstarter campaign earlier in the year, we look forward to the addition of even more murals in 2014!  As winter kicks into gear, we hope everyone around town appreciates the added color and liveliness that the current murals offer to Laramie's downtown!