Grand Opening Planned for Kimball Visual Arts Center
OGDEN, Utah – The public is invited to the grand opening of the Ethel Wattis Kimball Visual Arts Center at Weber State University, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 24.
The celebration will include guided tours, demonstrations, exhibits and music. This will be the first opportunity to view the “Utah Collectors” exhibit featuring artwork on loan from Utah collectors, “Permanent Collection: Recent Acquisitions” sponsored by the Stewart Education Foundation, and the “Emeriti Faculty” exhibition. These exhibits will be on display through July 31.
The center is the first academic building at WSU built entirely with private donations. The three-story, 70,000-square-foot building features classrooms, studios and galleries. The facility will house the university’s visual arts department and exhibition program.
The university’s collection and exhibition program will be a key component in courses in museum studies and gallery management offered by the department starting in fall 2002. Students will learn how to properly handle, care for and store art as they prepare for careers as curators in galleries, museums, universities, government archives and libraries.
The new center will also accommodate growth in the visual arts department. Since the Collett Art Building opened 36 years ago, the number of art majors has more than tripled, the number of full-time faculty has doubled, and the choice of programs has tripled and evolved, reflecting changes in art history, studio practices, technology, aesthetics and employers’ needs.
The building’s proximity to the Val A. Browning Center offers the community a unique complex dedicated to the arts. The facility, designed by Prescott Muir Architects, was built to museum-standards.
“The climate control and security systems allow us to offer a new caliber of local and national exhibitions to area residents,” said Jim Jacobs, visual arts department chairman.
“In addition to viewing exhibitions of national significance, the public will be able to take part in outreach programs and have the opportunity to talk with visiting artists,” Jacobs said.
Upcoming exhibits at the center include an Asmat art display and an exhibition by Latino artists. A schedule of future exhibitions is attached.
Regular hours at the center will be 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The public grand opening is sponsored by WSU and Wells Fargo.
2002-2003 Exhibition Schedule
Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery in Ethel Wattis Kimball Visual Arts Center, Weber State University.
PREMIERE EXHBITIONS
Utah Collectors
May 24–July 31
The Kimball Visual Arts Center was built with the vision of many far-sighted individuals– community leaders who demonstrate their love of the arts through contributions of money and time and through their patronage of artists. To honor these individuals, the premiere exhibition in the Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery will feature works on loan from some of the private collectors in Northern Utah.
Permanent Collection: Recent Acquisitions
Funded by the Stewart Education Foundation
May 24–July 31, 2002
A number of works from the Weber State University Fine Art Collection are also part of the premiere exhibition in the Shaw Gallery. On display are several works donated by friends of the university and new art purchases, made possible by generous funding from the Stewart Education Foundation. The Fine Art Collection includes printmaking, photography, drawings, painting, sculpture, ceramics, illustration and graphic design by nationally recognized artists. These works are the foundation of a permanent teaching and viewing collection maintained by the Department of Visual Arts.
WSU Emeriti Faculty
May 24–July 31, 2002
This exhibit in the John A. and Telitha E. Lindquist Hall features paintings, drawings, photographs and sculpture by emeriti professors Dale Bryner, Farrell Collett, Charles Groberg James MacBeth, Fred Rabe, Doyle Strong and Richard Van Wagoner.
COMING EXHIBITIONS
Asmat Art and Influence as Seen Through the Eyes of the Western Contemporary Artist
August 26–October 11, 2002
The display of this outstanding private collection of Asmat art, one of only a handful in the world, will present a unique opportunity for the people of Northern Utah to experience a fascinating, evolving culture and art form. The exhibition will be drawn from the private collection of Salt Lake City collector and adventurer Steve Chiramonte. Asmat artifacts will include carved ancestral poles, drums, masks, war shields and ceremonial costumes. The Asmat, which means “tree people” or “men of wood,” are a semi-nomadic people living on the southwest coast of New Guinea. They are recognized internationally for their rich and powerful wood sculptures, which have influenced the works of such Western artists as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. Showcasing significant contemporary changes in the Asmat art forms, the exhibit also will provide examples of the growing influence of the Asmat culture on artists worldwide. Performance art such as dance or the use of Asmat drums or other traditional instruments may be part of the opening event.
Derek Boshier – Works on Paper: A Retrospective
October 21–November 30, 2002
Derek Boshier was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1937 and studied at the Royal College of Art, where he received his MFA in 1962. He played a key role in the British pop art movement during this time, along with his contemporaries David Hockney, Allen Jones, R.B. Kitaj and Peter Phillips. “Works on Paper: A Retrospective” will feature a range of Boshier’s artworks, including a 1957 drawing of his father; pop art from the ’60s; pieces completed during his travels in India; collage from the ’70s; prints, posters, and graphics with pop groups David Bowie and the Clash, his ’80s Texas work, urban explorations of the ’90s, and more current directions. The inaugural show will be at the Ethel Wattis Kimball Visual Arts Center.
Harry Taylor: Retrospective
December 2-31, 2002
This comprehensive exhibition will feature woodcut prints, paintings and drawings by Harry Taylor, who received a Utah Governor’s Award in the Arts. Known for his strong portrayal of design, Taylor has incorporated many elements and influences from his travels throughout the world into his art. While social and political issues have always played a role in his work, a well-developed sense of whimsy has also been a constant.
Foundations Today: A Student/ Mentor Exhibition
January 6–February 14, 2003
Intended as a satellite project to parallel the activities at the Foundations in Art: Theory and Education national conference in Sarasota, Florida, this exhibition will showcase a national cross-section of artwork by students and their instructors. The exhibition will provide a singular opportunity to see how the instructors influence the students’ work to be similar to or different from their own.
Art From the New Border – Frontera Lake Street Project
February 17–March 21, 2003
“Frontera Lake Street” is a new exhibition by six visual artists who are part of a group of artists and cultural activists called Grupo Soap del Corazon. The “Frontera Six” navigate the cultural, personal and aesthetic borders of the Latino experience. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the group is devoted to promoting the “border” culture. The inaugural exhibition will be in Minnesota, and the Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery will be the opening venue as the exhibition prepares to travel around the country.
WSU Annual Student Art Exhibition
April 1–May 13, 2003
The WSU Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition will open on April 1 in the Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery. Entries will be student works in all media including drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, jewelry, graphic design, textiles and ceramics. An estimated 250 artworks will be submitted, of which 75-100 will be chosen for exhibition.
John Kowlewski, Director of Media Relations
801-626-7212 • jkowlewski@weber.edu- Contact:
Jim Jacobs, Visual Arts Department chairman
801-626-7099 • jcjacobs@weber.eduScott Knauer, gallery curator
801-626-6420 • sknauer@weber.edu