New exhibit celebrates the west
The American West comes to life in an art exhibition to celebrate the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Fine Art’s 20th anniversary.
The art exhibition represents the last 100 years in Western art as well as the museum’s permanent collection gathered since 1982, when it began.
Jim Edwards, museum director and chief curator, said in the early 20th century people thought the West was a cultural wasteland, but the pioneers brought their artistic skills.
Then, in mid-century, there was a boom of people moving to the West and it soon became culturally diverse. Now, it is no longer a wasteland, but is nationally and internationally known for its Western art, he said.
“The exhibition is trying to tell a story of how art has moved through the last century in the West,” he said.
“It’s like walking through time,” said Vicky Rowe, education curator at the museum.
The display will be up for one year beginning in a couple of weeks when the installation of the art pieces is complete, Rowe said.
Pedestals in the museum have to be moved, art uniquely rearranged and, Rowe said, “we try to build our spaces to be people friendly.”
She also indicated that, although a large amount of art will be displayed when the installation is finished, at any given moment there is only 3 percent of art displayed from the collection’s 4,400 objects.
“It would take about 33 years to show it all,” she said.
Twain Tippetts, a former professor of art at USU, was the museum’s first director. He started the museum’s permanent collection, she said.
Edwards said, in the last 20 years the museum has gained its collection through gifts, donations, gallery owners, directly from the artists and many other venues.
The museum also serves students and the community with an opportunity to learn, he said.
Rowe said Utah State University classes tour the museum each year. The creative art class alone brings in 900 students per semester.
“We try to interact with the art department,” Edwards said. “The museum gives students a historical perspective, while teachers show them how to create their own ideas.”
Rowe said grade-school students are also involved with the museum each year. The museum hosts many fourth- to ninth-graders, and overall, about 4,500 kids visit the museum annually.
They take tours and sometimes participate in activities such as making hand-held pots from clay, she said.
The community also takes an active role with the museum.
Boy Scouts complete badges, tours are held for the Adult Day Center at Sunshine Terrace and literary guilds often hold their meetings there.
“We feel the museum is an educational institution. We are teaching through the results of artists,” Rowe said.
Edwards said one reason the museum is able to offer so much is because it’s accredited by the American Association of Museums, therefore it has to uphold a certain standard.
“It’s not easy to get membership from the AAM, because a museum has to have professional expertise,” he said. “But we have been a member for 10 years.”
The AAM provides guidelines so the museum directors know they are doing the best possible job they can, which Edwards said, “makes us excited for this showcase of the West because we are putting our best foot forward.”
– karigirl79
@unitedstates.com