30! A Celebration of the Arthur Ross Gallery
January 17, 2013
Happy New Year to one and all! The 2012-13 season marks ARG’s 30th year, and our schedule is jam-packed with exciting exhibitions and events. Over the past thirty years, the Gallery has mounted nearly 150 exhibitions curated by both home-grown talent and by guest curators and artists from around the world. We look forward to the celebration of our glorious past and our promising future. This is a year is not to be missed! California Impressionism The anniversary year began with the luminous landscapes featured in California Impressionism. The pieces were painted en plein air, and captured the splendor of the California landscape. The exhibition presented thirty-five paintings including works by Franz Bischoff, Anna Hills, Granville Redmond, and Guy Rose, among others, organized and lent by the Irvine Museum and guest curated by Lynn Marsden-Atlass, University Curator and Director of the Arthur Ross Gallery. In conjunction with the exhibition ARG held its inaugural “Plein Air Painting Competition” in collaboration with the Morris Arboretum. Congratulations go to the grand prizewinner Mina Smith-Segal! Other related programming included Gallery Talks by Irvine Museum President James Swinden and tours by the ARG student docents.
Now on View: 9 Perspectives on a Photography Collection
Over the past year, the Office of the Curator has placed special focus on photography. Currently, 80 photographs from the University Art Collection are on view as part of the exhibition 9 Perspectives on a Photography Collection. The exhibition is curated by the nine faculty members from Penn’s Photography Department. Led by the exhibition’s Chief Curator, Gabriel Martinez, the following faculty members are also curators: Michael Bryant, Nancy Davenport, Jamie Diamond, Anna Neighbor, Karen Rodewald, Sara Stolfa, Brent Wahl, and Tony Ward. In her catalogue essay, director Lynn Marsden-Atlass notes that Gabe Martinez discovered “buried treasure” in the University’s photography portfolios. “He realized that Penn housed an important photography collection,” says Atlass. by inviting his eight colleagues, Martinez “exponentially expanded his vision of this exhibition, transforming it into a presentation of nine different perspectives, with nine curatorial voices.” The show opened on Friday, November 9th to an enthusiastic audience. As part of the exhibition planning process, Martinez worked with Collections Manager Heather Gibson to document and digitize the complete photography collection of over 800 works. The process took place over the course of 12 months, and these documented images are available to the public through the Office of the website. The exhibition will be on view at the Arthur Ross Gallery through January 27th. The exhibition programs included standing-room only lectures by renowned photographers Larry Fink, and Neal Slavin.
Larry Fink, English Speaking Union, New York City, December 1975, 1976
Silver gelatin print. Gift of Seymour Passman, Courtesy of Larry Fink
Coming Soon
Opening on February 9, 2013, Creating: Quilts of the Lakota will feature over twenty eye-dazzling 20th-century quilts from The Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota. In addition, nine 19th-century Lakota artifacts are lent by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
ARG has exciting programs planned including Native American dance, a world premiere reading of Sheldon Wolf’s “Miracle play” and guest curator Mary Bordeaux will be coming from South Dakota along with Lakota quilter Janyce Trask for an Artist Demonstration and Talk. Be on the lookout for more details in the Winter/Spring Issue!
Unknown artist, Star Quilt, c. 1980, cloth,
The Hertitage Center at Red Cloud Indian School, Pine Ridge, SD
Upcoming events
Saturday, February 9, 11:00 AM
Gallery Tour by curator Mary Bordeaux at 10:15 AM
Artist Talk with Lakota quilter Janyce Trask at 11:00 AM
Friday, February 22, 7:30 PM
Premiere Reading of Miracle Play by Sheldon Wolf