Youngstown, Ohio's Butler Institute is the first museum of American Art. Designed by McKim, Mead, and White, this architectural masterpiece was dedicated in 1919 and is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. The Institute strives to preserve and collect art created by people nationwide in all ranges of media. The Butler collection has grown to exceed 20,000 individual works and the Institute is known globally as "America's Museum".
I am especially fond of the Butler Institute having toured its galleries numeraous times on elementary school field trips and later as a student at Youngstown State University. There is also a sentimental connection, for Butler is where numerous works by my great-uncle, Harold Staley hung for years in the rotating collection.
Currentlly there are two notable exhibitions featured at Butler, ones that will surely fascinate and delight all who visit them.
1) REVEALING SHADOWS, by Larry Kagan, now through August 25, 2013. The exhibit is showcased in the Beecher Center wing. The eight amazing works of master scuptor Kagan, are wall constructions that create art that can only be seen in the shadows that are cast by the welded metal pieces on the gallery walls. In this dieplay, the metal forms are beautiful in themselves, but it is the light and shadow-play that is so stunning.
2) PASTELS by Rhonda Yanow, now through July 14, 2013. This exhibit is presented in the Giffuni Gallery. A New Jersey native, Yanow is an artist exhibited nationally and internationally. She was educated at the Parsons School of Design and the National Academy of Design, NYC. There are various subjects such as portraits, still-lifes, and landscapes included in this extraordinary pastel exhibition.
And while you're there, be sure to take time to browse the Butler permanent collection, as it rivals some of the most famous collections around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment