Our Summer 2012 Newsletter is now available online!

We invite you to download our 2012 Summer Newsletter direct from our website. The newsletter has lots of exciting information including: Exhibitions, Calendar of Events, Studio Art Programs, Summer Classes, Free Activities, Summer Art Camp, Teen Apprenticeship Program, Summer Teaching Institute, Museum Tour Program, Ann Simpson Artmobile, Touring Exhibition Service and much more! Find out about all the terrific summer happenings at the Art Museum!

Click here to begin enjoying the newsletter!

Travis Ivey, Hollyhock Haven, work in progress

Photo courtesy UW Art Museum

The third mural for the Laramie Mural Project is well underway and expected to be complete in the next two weeks.  Travis Ivey's Hollyhock Haven is located on Custer between 1st and 2nd Streets.  It was the subject of a front page article in the Laramie Boomerang today. 

Opportunity for Artists and Arts Professionals

The Porland Art Museum's Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Northwest Art, Bonnie Laing-Malcomson will present a focus groups meeting for artists and arts professionals on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7 pm.  The purpose of the meeting is to share information on opportunities for artists of the greater Northwest region (which includes Wyoming), a focus area for the Portland Museum of Art.  Laing-Malcomson invites artists to bring CV's, exhibition catalogs, and CD of recent work for the museum's growing collection of contemporary NW artists.

Laing-Malcomson invites attending artists and arts professionals to join her in a no-host dinner following the meeting at Altitude's (320 S Second, Laramie).  The event is free.  Please RSVP by Sept 20 to Rachel Miller, UW Art Museum assistant curator, if you plan to attend.

First Sessions of Faculty Teaching Institute This Week

Margaret Cogswell (l) shares new work with education

curator Wendy Bredehoft (r)

Courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Margaret Cogswell is in the Art Museum this week to further her research for her solo exhibition scheduled at the museum in the fall 2012 and to be part of the first sessions of the new Faculty Teaching Institute organized by Wendy Bredehoft, the museum's education curator.

Cogswell has been in residence the last three weeks at Ucross.  She shared her work with Bredehoft and the museum's director and chief curator, Susan Moldenhauer, today and conversations ensued about the logistics of her forthcoming exhibition.  Wyoming River Fugues will synthesize her research in publications, video, audio, interviews, drawings, and video stills into a site specific installation in the museum's galleries. 

The Faculty Teaching Institute is a yearlong program for UW faculty who are interested in integrating the original resource materials in the Art Museum into their curriculum.  Cogswell will participate in the first sessions this week and will return in the spring to continue the dialogue and planning.  Faculty will be part of a symposium in October 2012 where they will present their findings and experience in the Institute.

Cogswell's exhibition is funded in part by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.  The Faculty Teaching Institute is funded by the Colonel Rogers Excellence Fund at the University of Wyoming.

Travis Ivey begins third mural for the Laramie Mural Project

Travis Ivey, Hollyhock Haven, artist's sketch

Courtesy of the artist

 Travis Ivey preparing wall for Hollyhock Haven mural

Courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Preliminary sketching out of Hollyhock Haven

Courtesy of the UW Art Museum

This week, Laramie artist Travis Ivey started work on the third mural for the Laramie Mural Project.  Hollyhock Haven is located on Custer between First and Second.  Travis will be on site over the coming weeks to complete the mural.

The Laramie Mural Project is a partnership between the Laramie Main Street Associates and the University of Wyoming Art Museum.  It is funded by the Guthrie Family Foundation, the Wyoming Arts Council, the Laramie Beautification Committee, and the City of Laramie.  Our thanks to Vince Arbour for contributing the wall for Hollyhock Haven.

Margo Grant Walsh conducts Gallery Walkthrough of her collection exhibition

Margo Grant Walsh (center)

Courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Art Museum board members, docents, faculty, and students enjoy the Gallery Walk Through with 20th century silver collector, Margo Grant Walsh.  Walsh's collection, Silver & Metalwork from the 20th Century: The Margo Grant Walsh Collection, is on view in the Art Museum through mid-November and features 20th century silver from North America, Great Britain, Scandinavia, and Europe.  Walsh was in the museum for the official opening of the exhibition.

Silver & Metalwork from the 20th Century: The Margo Grant Walsh Collection was funded in part by Roy and Caryl Cline, FMC Corporation, the National Advisory Board of the UW Art Museum, and Wyoming Public Radio.

Talal Cockar and Meghan Meier nearing completion on Laramie Mural Project mural

 Artist Talal Cockar shares his design for the mural at the
Big Hollow Food Co-op with UW Art Museum National
Advisory Board President Ruth Arnold
Courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Lainie McElwee (l) with mural artist Talal Cockar (r)
Courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Talal Cockar's mural, Tierra y Libertad, at Big Hollow Food Co-op nears completion.  Tala was on site today but took a few minutes out of his work to discuss the mural project with the President of the National Advisory Board of the UW Art Museum, Ruth Arnold and to pose for pictures.  The mural is scheduled for completion by the end of September.

Meghan Meier, Grainery Grove
Courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Just a few steps away in the alleyway by Whole Earth Grainery is Meghan Meier's Grainery Grove.  Finishing touches of silver detailing on the trees in her composition add sparkle to her colorful and upbeat work.

The Laramie Mural Project is an extension of the University of Wyoming Art Museum's exhibition of public art, Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational.  Organized in partnership between Laramie Main Street Alliance and the UW Art Museum, the project is funded by the Patricia Guthrie Family Foundation, the Wyoming Arts Council, Laramie Beautification Committee, and the City of Laramie.

UW Art Museum National Advisory Board tours new Art Department facility

 From left: Richard Walje, Kathryn Boswell, Jacque 

Buchanan, Caryl Cline, Ruth Arnold, Tom Davidson, 

Margo (?), unidentified, Al Simpson, Ann Simpson

 Ricki Klages (l), art department head, touring Art Museum 

National Advisory Board and guests

 

From left: Caryl Cline, Margo (?), Ann Simpson, Ricki Klages

Merl Haworth

The University of Wyoming Visual Arts Center is under construction on a site adjacent to the Art Museum.    During its fall meeting, the National Advisory Board of the UW Art Museum toured the facility with the Art Department head, Ricki Klages, and with Merl Haworth, Facilities Planning.  The facility is on schedule for a completion in December 2011.  Spring semester classes will be taught in the new facility.

Laramie Mural Project

Meghan Meier, Grainery Grove

Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Grainery Grove is almost done and truly does transform the alley way beside the Whole Earth Grainery!  Our thanks to Meghan for a great addition to our downtown environment and to Vince Arbor for working with the Laramie Mural Project.

Vince has been a long-time enthusiast for murals and street art.  A mural from 1976 remains adjacent to Meghan's new work and a truck behind Whole Earth Grainery became the canvas for two other local street artists a few years ago with Vince's blessing.  

In the coming weeks, we expect to see Talal Cockar complete his mural, Tierra y Libertad, just a few doors down at the Big Hollow Food Co-op and to see the third mural of the Laramie Mural Project get underway.

The Laramie Mural Project is a partnership between Laramie Mains Street Associates and the University of Wyoming Art Museum.  It has been funded in part by the Guthrie Family Foundation, the Wyoming Art Council, the Laramie Beautification Committee, and the City of Laramie.

Grainery Grove Nears Completion

Meghan Meier's Grainery Grove

Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Laramie artist Meghan Meier is nearly complete with her mural at Whole Earth Grainery on Ivinson!  Not only has she created an intriguing work for the site, she been able to respect an existing work (to the left of her mural) from 1973!  

Meier's work is part of the Laramie Mural Project which is an extension of Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational, a temporary exhibition of large scale public art that originated in 2008 by the University of Wyoming Art Museum.  The Laramie Mural Project is a partnership between the museum and Laramie Main Street Associates.

The Art Museum and Main Street are hard at work trying to finalize at least three more murals this year.  The project pairs an artist with a building owner to enable enlivening our historic downtown through art.  Funds have been provided by the Guthrie Family Foundation, the Wyoming Arts Council, the Laramie Beautification Committee, and the City of Laramie.

Laramie Mural Project Advances

Meghan Meier's mural is the second in the Laramie Mural Project

Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

 

Talal Cockar's mural nears completion

Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Two murals are now underway for the Laramie Mural Project, an extension of the UW Art Museum's public art exhibition, Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational.  Last night Meghan Meier started to work on her mural at Whole Earth Grainery.  Titled Grainery Grove, she says of her design concept: One of my favorite things about living in Laramie is how easy it is to get to the mountains.  And there has always been something special about finding yourself suddenly in an aspen grove.  So I thought I could contribute something along those line to downtown, people could stumble int an aspen grove . . . and appreciate how lucky we are in where we live and the resources we have."

Our sincere thanks to Vince Arbour and Whole Earth Grainery for his enthusiasm in contributing the wallspace for Grainery Grove!

Meanwhile Talal Cockar nears completion on his large mural at Big Hollow Food Co-op.  

The Laramie Mural Project is a partnership with Laramie Main Street Associates and funded in part by the Wyoming Arts Council, Guthrie Family Foundation, Laramie Beautification Committee, and the City of Laramie.

Big Hollow Food Co-op Mural Update

Talal Cockar mural at the end of this week

Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

By the end of this week, street artist Talal Cockar has made good progress in sketching out and filling in background color for his mural at the Big Hollow Food Co-op. 

Laramie Mural Project Update

Talal Cockar mural at noon today

Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum

Talal Cockar is making progress on his downtown mural. Yesterday, he had the help of Cathedral Home students to begin painting in the background color for the work. 

Meghan Meier sketch for Whole Earth Grainery

Photo courtesy of the artist

Today we also received the sketches for the mural planned for Whole Earth Grainery.  The artist is Meghan Meier of Laramie and she plans to begin working on site in the coming days.  

 

We are most grateful to Vince Arbor and Whole Earth Grainery for his interest in being part of this important project to improve downtown Laramie.

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.

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).

Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational to Add New Artwork This Summer

Chris Drury, Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around, 2011

Courtesy of the artist

The University of Wyoming Art Museum is planning to add several new works to the public art exhibition, Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational this summer.  The first is by British artist Chris Drury, who will be on site in July to create a new work for the University of Wyoming.

Carbon Sink continues Drury's ongoing exploration of making connections between such diverse phenomena as Nature and Culture, Inner and Outer, and Microcosm and Macrocosim.  Carbon Sink will be constructed from Wyoming coal and Wyoming beetle-killed pine which will be collected from the southeastern region of Wyoming.  The work will connect the geologic and economic importance of Wyoming coal with the current pine beetle infestation surrounding Laramie, commenting on the evolution of the geological and natural cycle of life.  The work will be 12 m in diameter on a site near Old Main on the UW campus.

Drury is one of Britain's leading Land Artists.  Originating in the US in the 1960s-70s, Land Art promotes the use of natural and found materials for the creation of large-scale and often site-specific artworks in the landscape and in remote locations.  In 1974, Drury made a 12-day trek in the Canadian Rockies with a pioneer of Land Art, Hamish Fulton, an experience that focused his creative pursuits.

Carbon Sink is made possible through an anonymous donor and the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund.

NACHI - between the eternal and the ephemeral -

 

Installation view, NACHI - between the eternal and the ephemeral -

UW Art Museum

Etsuko Ichikawa

UW Art Museum

The installation is nearly complete and the gallery is transformed into a special place of quiet contemplation.  Only the final fine-tuning remains.  Etusko has created an extraordinary work for the University of Wyoming and the Art Museum, for which we are most grateful and offer our congratulations.  The installation has been challenging and complicated, not only in its physical challenges but also by a schedule that involved so many students both in their classrooms and in the museum's galleries. 

NACHI - between the eternal and the ephemeral - opens tonight from 6 - 8 pm.  The exhibition continues through August 6, 2011.

Don't miss the opportunity to meet Etsuko and join her for an informal walk through the exhibition today at 4:30 pm.

This project has been made possible with the support of an anonymous donor, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Advisory Board of the UW Art Museum Endowment, the National Advisory Board of the UW Art Museum, Wyoming Public Radio, and the Wyoming Arts Council through the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts which believes a great nation deserves great art.

Drawing Students Assist Etsuko Ichikawa's Installation of NACHI

It has been a busy week in the Art Museum as the installation of NACHI - between the eternal and the ephemeral - continues.  Yesterday, drawing students from Prof. Shelby Shadwell's classes spent several hours helping to unfurl, untangle, and isolate each strand of the 11 miles of twine that comprise a large portion of the exhibition.  Prof. Margaret Wilson and dance students also visited the installation to finalize plans for improvisational dances during the opening reception this evening.

NACHI Installation Progresses

Installation view

Courtesy UW Art Museum

The installation of NACHI - between the eternal and the ephemeral - continues.  The suspended structures are complete and preparations to unfurl the hanging twine and hang six 14-ft tall pygrographs begin tomorrow.

NACHI Installation is Underway

Installation view. 

Courtesy UW Art Museum.

The installation of Etusko Ichikawa's exhibition, NACHI - between the eternal and the ephemeral -, is underway.  Primarily suspended from the ceiling, the structural support system is in place and the spiral spine from which a "waterfall" of ropes will be draped, is being attached.