Category: Akron Art Museum
Art in New York City, Part 1
by Janice Driesbach, Chief CuratorGiven the Akron Art Museum’s commitment to modern and contemporary art, featuring the work of artists from our region and working internationally in our collections and exhibitions, taking advantage of opportunities to see artwork firsthand (so important) nearby and beyond is an important activity for me. As with other members of our curatorial department, I regularly visit galleries and museums, attend artist talks, and meet with collectors, both as part of my job and pursuing my personal interests. In that regard,
Visual Artists Direct Music Videos
By Elizabeth Carney, Assistant CuratorMusic videos offer an incredible opportunity for pop culture and visual art to collide. Artists who we would typically see represented in museums or galleries often collaborate with musicians, lending their aesthetic as visual interpretation for their songs.Besides often being quite fun, these crossover collaborations offer insights into the connections artists see between their work and music others are creating. And, as viewers, we get to see those connections and original interpretations. This is part of why I like Sam Taylor-Wood’s
Inscribed Books at the Akron Art Museum
by Stefanie Hilles, Education AssistantImagine this. You visit the Akron Art Museum and fall in love under the “roof cloud” (the museum’s 327 foot long steel cantilever that joins the old 1899 post office building with the new 2007 Coop Himmelb(l)au structure). No, not with some beautiful stranger you exchange eye contact with across the museum’s lobby (although that would be pretty exciting too). Instead, you fall in love with a beautiful artwork. Maybe you’re a fan of American Impressionism and succumb to the charms
Meet Theresa Bembnister, New Associate Curator at the Akron Art Museum
Winter in Northeast Ohio is filled with anticipation. As I walk and drive around Akron, with the sidewalks, roads, tree branches and buildings covered with snow, slush and ice, I can’t help but look forward to spring and the changes that come with it. What will the melting snow reveal? How will the city look and feel when the grass is green, the trees have leaves, and more and more residents venture outside?
Immerse Yourself in Beauty Reigns
by Gina Thomas McGee, Associate EducatorHow do you experience an art exhibition? You look, of course. You enter the galleries and spend time taking in the colors, textures, and lines of the works in front of you. Maybe you even read the label. During the Beauty Reigns exhibition, the museum invites you to take your experience a step further, and we’ve come up with some tools to help you do just that. First, you can pick up a copy of the gallery guide as you
2014 Highlights
By Mark Masuoka, Executive Director and CEO2014 has been a year in which we sought to connect the energy that drives great art to that which drives our great city: the energy of ideas. In every exhibition, program, event, and conversation, we strove to stimulate ideas and encouraged everyone to look at what they already do in a new light, and to recognize the ways in which we all Live Creative. What follows is a brief recounting of what we did to Live Creative, to reach out to
Take a Journey to the Past with Inside|Out
By Roza Maille, Inside|Out Project CoordinatorPicture this: You’re walking down the street and then suddenly…whoa! Is that the painting I saw at the Akron Art Museum last week? How did it get out here?Don’t worry. It’s not the real painting, but a reproduction so realistic it’ll make you do a double take. That is just one of the ways the Akron Art Museum will engage the community with its new public project, Inside|Out. We are so excited about this project that we decided to give
Cultural Shift: Rust Never Sleeps
Knight Foundation recently awarded the Akron Art Museum $1 million to engage the public with a series of groundbreaking exhibitions. Executive Director and CEO Mark Masuoka writes about the museum’s new efforts and approach to community building. As the title of Neil Young’s 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps suggests, time stands still for no one and only action can deter obsolescence. In a constantly shifting cultural landscape, art organizations can choose to adapt and potentially survive in current economic conditions, or forge ahead and develop innovative
Trains on the Brain
by Alison Caplan, Director of EducationTrains are on my brain this fall, from the sound of the historic steam engine chugging through the valley to the powerful black and white images by O. Winston link hanging in the museum’s Bidwell gallery.My toddler’s obsession with the train table at our local library has led me to embrace amazing picture books like Steam Train Dream Train and Locomotive. Steam Train Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld is a great bedtime story featuring animals
BUY CREATIVE
The Akron Art Museum is a member supported non-profit organization. All proceeds generated from sales in the Museum Shop provides operational funds in order for us to present engaging exhibitions and programs. Become a member of the Akron Art Museum and join us in making a difference in the creative life of our community.