Maria Tomasula
Never Let Me Go
2007
Oil on panel
From the collection of Mark and Barbara Roche

March 20 – May 4, 2008
Rapture: Recent Paintings by Maria Tomasula:
Broadcast media sponsor is WGVU Public Radio.

Tomasula’s vibrant, luminous paintings boast an eerie beauty in their tightly rendered trompe l’oeil still lives. Flowers, fruit, meat, insects, and other natural objects are portrayed within shallow spaces reminiscent of early Christian icons, their semblance to martyrs and saints becoming metaphors for human spirituality. Her rich artworks explore religion, life and death, and the wonder of the natural world. Exhibition Features approximately 20 new works and is organized by the Snite Museum and Zolla Lieberman Galleries. Tomasula currently teaches in the department of Art History and Design at the University of Notre Dame.

Livio De Marchi (Italian, born 1943)
Strumenti del pittore
(Paint Brushes with Pot)
Wood and ceramic, 1993
Muskegon Museum of Art
Gift of the "In and Around Venice"
MMA Tour Participants, 1993

March 29 – April 27, 2008
Expressions 2008: 26th Annual Muskegon Area Student Art Exhibition
Underwritten by Comerica. Broadcast media sponsor is WGVU Public Radio.

Artwork by Muskegon Area K-12 public and non-public students is displayed in this popular annual exhibition co-organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art and the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District.

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
The Muskegon Museum of Art opens an ambitious summer exhibition schedule on May 1 with free Thursday admission and free guided public tours of Sunlight in a Paintbrush: American Impressionism from Regional Collections, the first major loan exhibition the MMA has organized in over a decade.
Sunlight in a Paintbrush Opening Day Tours
Thursday, May 1
Join the MMA staff for guided, in-depth tours of Sunlight in a Paintbrush during its first open-to-the public day. Admission and tours are free.
Tour Schedule:
11:00 am Tour with Senior Curator, E. Jane Connell
2:00 pm Tour with Curator of Education, Cathy Mott
6:00 pm Tour with Senior Curator, E. Jane Connell

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
80th Regional Exhibition
The 80th Regional Exhibition is presented by Muskegon Summer Celebration and Esurance. Media sponsor is Blue Lake Public Radio.

Large juried show of paintings, glass, sculpture, prints, photography, fiber art, ceramics and more by West Michigan artists in the state’s longest running regional exhibition.
Artists: For information about submitting work for Regional Exhibition jurying May 8-10, please visit muskegonartmuseum.org. For placement on entry form mailing list, e-mail amartin@mpsk12.net

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
March: Saugatuck Center for the Arts
April: Holland Area Arts Council
May: Grand Haven Arts Council
June: Spring Lake District Library
July & August: Open
September: Grand Rapids Public Library
October: Nuveen Community Center for the Arts
March 2009: Hackley Public Library
Other confirmed venues: Newaygo County Council for the Arts and Ludington Area Center for the Arts Council

(Other future sites are in development.)