May 1 – August 10, 2008
MMAsterpieces
Underwritten by Hooker|DeJong Architects and Engineers.

Special exhibition featuring a select group of top acknowledged masterpieces from the Muskegon Museum of Art’s permanent collection.

Edward Henry Potthast, 1857-1927
The Joy of the Sea
1918
Oil on canvas
Collection of Kalamazoo Valley Museum
Gift of Ethel Todd Woodhams
Image courtesy of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum

May 1 – August 31, 2008
Sunlight in a Paintbrush: American Impressionism from Regional Collections
The Muskegon Museum of Art’ summer exhibition schedule features Sunlight in a Paintbrush, the first major loan exhibition the MMA has organized in over a decade.
Sunlight Open Public Tours
Through August 28, 1:00 – 3:00 pm
MMA docents will be on hand every Thursday afternoon throughout the summer to guide visitors through the Sunlight in a Paintbrush exhibition. Drop in to learn more about American Impressionism. Thursday admission and tours are free. Reservations are not needed.

Impressionism, an art movement that arose in the 1860s in France with such well-known artists as Claude Monet, is one of the most beloved art styles of all time. American Impressionism evolved from the European version, but was also flavored by other European and American influences. Over two years ago, MMA Senior Curator E. Jane Connell conceived the idea that the story of American Impressionism would be an interesting foundation for an exhibition, and certainly one that would relate to the strengths of the Museum’s own collection. Before long, Connell began laying the groundwork for an exhibition that would represent the interesting and diverse range of American Impressionism. She selected nearly 50 exceptional paintings from the MMA’s holdings and from upper Midwestern public and private collections. She then set about arranging the many loans of artwork from museums and individuals in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana that would complete her vision.

The resulting long-awaited Sunlight in a Paintbrush will be on display throughout the summer in the main gallery of the MMA’s historic Hackley wing. Adjacent galleries will feature significant European and American works from the MMA’s renowned collection that influenced the development of American Impressionism.

James M. Keny, co-director of Keny Galleries of Columbus, Ohio—an important midwestern center for the study of American Impressionism—and William H. Gerdts, Professor Emeritus of Art History at the Graduate School of the City University of New York and one of the leading authorities on the movement, assisted in organizing Sunlight. Mr. Gerdts is guest essayist for the illustrated publication produced by the MMA to accompany the exhibition, and is guest lecturer for the MMA exclusive member’s preview on April 30.

SPONSORSHIP: Sunlight in a Paintbrush: American Impressionism from Regional Collections, and the accompanying catalogue and education programs, were made possible through the generous support of the DTE Energy Foundation; CHASE; the Community Foundation for Muskegon County; the Roger and Peggy Schwer Fund of the Community Foundation for Muskegon County; Manufactured Technical Solutions, Hudsonville, Michigan; Kim Smith, Perception Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan; George and Barbara Gordon; and Steven and Lisa Maas. Additional support comes from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Print advertising support is provided by The Muskegon Chronicle. Broadcast support is provided by WGVU Public Radio.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND NOTES: American Impressionism flourished in the United States in 1905 when local lumber baron Charles Hackley earmarked funds in his will to purchase “pictures of the best kind” for the citizens of Muskegon. It was still popular in 1912 when the Hackley Art Gallery (the Muskegon Museum of Art since 1979) opened to the public. In 1912 and beyond, Impressionist and Tonalist pictures were avidly collected by the Museum, including works by French Impressionists Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley; Barbizon painters Théodore Rousseau and Camille Corot; American Impressionists Willard Metcalf and Robert Reid; West Michigan artists Mathias Alten and Gregory Smith; and American Tonalist painters James A. M. Whistler and Charles Warren Eaton.

May 1 through August 31,2008
Early Impressions of Ox-Bow

Complements the MMA’s exhibition, Sunlight in a Paintbrush: American Impressionism from Regional Collections. Paintings, works on paper, posters, broadsides, and photographs selected from the Ox-Bow and Art Institute of Chicago archives introduce visitors to the early history of Ox-Bow as a school of outdoor, or plein air, painting and its impact on the Impressionist movement in the Midwest. The exhibition has been organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art in cooperation with the Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency.

May 29 – Aug. 20, 2008
   The Muskegon Museum of Art opens the 80th edition of its annual Regional Exhibition to the public on Thursday, May 29 at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and artist award ceremony. Awards will be given at 7:00 and the event will end at 8:00. Event admission is free.
   The exhibition will run through August 20, and features 176 works in a variety of media by 152 amateur and professional artists, selected by a juror from a total of 648 works submitted by 352 artists. Regional entry submission was open to artists residing in West Michigan area code zones, from the Mackinac Bridge in the north, to the Indiana border in the south. Artworks include paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, and fiber creations. Many of the works are available for sale. Regional cash awards total over $4,000. Various individuals and organizations underwrite additional purchase award selections.
   Works included in this year's Regional were selected by juror Joe Bova, a professor emeritus of Louisiana State University and a former Director of the Ohio University School of Art, where he continues to hold a position. He has been a visiting artist at many schools, is a Fellow and Past President of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, and is an elected member of the International Academy of Ceramics, Geneva. His work has been included in numerous publications, and in nearly 200 exhibitions since 1970. Bova’s home and studio are in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
   The Muskegon Museum of Art Regional has been in existence longer than any other regional art show in Michigan. Up until 1962, the Regional was traditionally held during the month of February. In that year, Regional was scheduled to show during Muskegon’s summer Seaway Festival (now called "Muskegon Summer Celebration"). The Regional, as we know it now, actually started as an invitational show of work by 15 Muskegon area artists and was inaugurated by museum director, Lulu F. Miller, in February of 1927. A Muskegon Chronicle newspaper clipping from that month and year starts off with the headline, "Works by Muskegon Artists Exhibited in Hackley Gallery, Collection Brings to Light Much Talent, Some Previously Unknown to Critics of City."
   Eventually, the geographical draw really did become more of a regional type, expanding first from Muskegon to other lakeshore communities, and finally further north, south, and east to include the present Regional eligibility area. The 80th Regional Exhibition includes work by 33 artists from Muskegon County and 34 from Ottawa County artists. Numerous works by Kent County artists are in the show, with a lesser number of artists represented from areas further outlying.
   Since its beginning, a goal of the exhibition has been to offer the opportunity for artists from different levels of experience to exhibit their work in the same space. Though media, techniques, and style have become more diverse during the decades, the viewer can still find the artistic work of amateur artists from many walks of life displayed side-by-side with the work of professional artists.
   A "Meet the Artist" event will be held at the museum on Thursday, June 26 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and is open to the public. Light refreshments will be served and award-winning Regional Exhibition artists will discuss their work and answer questions in a walk-and-talk style during the event.

Ongoing
Contemporary Arts Showcase
Ongoing series of temporary small exhibitions highlighting works by artists in the region.

"My Ol'Man"
Drawing for Pages 4-5 by Patricia Polacco
Ink, marker, pencil, acrylic, and oil pastel
1995
Gift of the Artist in honor of Karen Shields
Muskegon Museum of Art 1996.38.6

My Ol' Man: The Illustrations of Patricia Polacco
Exhibition and tour underwritten by the Verizon Foundation's Check Into Literacy program.

My Ol' Man, the MMA-organized traveling exhibition, begins a year of touring West Michigan in March. The exhibition comprises original art by Michigan native, artist, and author Patricia Polacco, who wrote and illustrated a children's book of the same name. The story is about Polacco's father who, she says, "was a traveling salesman, a flimflam man, a dream saver, a wish keeper." Throughout the book, she recalls the many stories and tales her father shared from his wild travels. The exhibition is designed to demonstrate the artist's creative process used to develop this popular children's book, especially the visual narrative, and includes sketches and a selection of final illustrations for the book. The exhibition opens at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts in March.

Exhibition Schedule
2008
March: Saugatuck Center for the Arts
April: Holland Area Arts Council
June: Spring Lake District Library
August: Hesperia Community Library
September: Grand Rapids Public Library
October: Nuveen Community Center for the Arts
November: Newaygo County Center for the Arts
2009
January: Lowell Area Arts Council
February: Ludington Area Arts Council
March: Hackley Public Library

(Other future sites are in development.)