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SIU Museum exhibits celebrate region, alumni

Posted February 03, 2023 12:00 am

by Pete Rosenbery SIU University Communications

Works that showcase the diverse talents of regional artists and SIU Carbondale alumni are among are among the highlights at University Museum this spring.

With the start of the spring semester on Tuesday, Jan. 17, the museum's exhibitions will start next week and include the works of acclaimed southern Illinois woodcarver Fred Myers and alumnus Fred Brown.

"There are a lot of strong ties to the university and the region highlighting just how much talent is pervasive throughout this whole area," said WM Weston Stoerger, curator of exhibits.

The exhibitions, with brief descriptions, are below. The complete spring schedule will also be available on the museum's Facebook page.

North Hall

<h3 class="breakHead">Mitchell Gallery </h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">Women's Voices 3: Make/Believe </h3>

This annual mixed media arts exhibition will feature the works of more than 30 female artists from throughout the region. A reception is from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the museum's North Hall.

<h3 class="breakHead">Continuum Gallery </h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">Natural Talent: The Carvings of Fred Myers </h3>

From an early age Myers, who had no formal artistic training, displayed a natural affinity for his wood carvings from black walnut. Myers worked in several coal mines throughout the region as well as producing prehistoric anthropologic models for SIU while working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1939 to 1942. With Myers' focus on the human form and the daily life of those around him, he developed into a exemplar of the regionalism movement in American arts, and his work as a premier wood carver "is a shining example of that," Stoerger said.

<h3 class="breakHead">Atrium Gallery </h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">Curator's Choice </h3>

The museum's Fine Arts collection hosts several works from many talented artists that call the region home. Museum staff are bringing out the works of Carolyn Plochman and Maude Craig.

South Hall

<h3 class="breakHead">Southern Illinois Gallery</h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">Our Region</h3>

The non-rotating exhibition features historic, geologic and anthropologic artifacts from throughout the region from collections through the museum and SIU's Center for Archaeological Investigations.

<h3 class="breakHead">Lutes Gallery</h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">European Painting, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts</h3>

The exhibition highlights paintings, sculptures, tapestries and furniture from Renaissance Europe, highlighted from the collection of Carl W. Lutes.

<h3 class="breakHead">Saluki Gallery</h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">Visual Translations: The Works of Cheonae Kim</h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">Jan. 17–March 11 </h3>

While at first glance the repeated geometric patterns may mesmerize the viewer, these patterns hold a much deeper meaning for Kim. Many of her works are maze-like to represent the complexity of the human mind. Although abstract, the three rhythmic and dynamic visual compositions function as portraits for the artist, Stoerger said. Kim is a two-degree SIU Carbondale graduate, earning a bachelor's degree in drawing in 1983 and a Master of Fine Arts in painting, drawing and printmaking in 1986.

<h3 class="breakHead">MFA Shows</h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">March 28–May 13</h3>

University Museum will host a series of graduate student exhibitions from the School of Art and Design.

West Gallery

<h3 class="breakHead">Vogel at SIU</h3>

The renowned Vogel Art Collection began taking shape in the early 1960s and over the decades developed into one of the most remarkable American collections formed in the 20th century. In an effort to bring the works in their collection to the public, Herbert and Dorothy Vogel presented a massive gift of 2,500 pieces of art to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. as part of a "Fifty Works for Fifty States" project. In 2008, University Museum received a donation of 50 pieces from that collection. The exhibition will also include a documentary on the couple and their donation.

"They chose us because they felt like the collection coming here would have the largest impact," Stoerger said. "They felt that SIU could do the most with this."

<h3 class="breakHead">Distinguished Alumnus: Fred Brown </h3>

Raised in Chicago, Brown, a 1968 graduate in art, is widely known for his paintings of the early 1970s that were large, bold abstractions based on the art department's abstract expressionist tradition. By the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, Brown gradually included figural elements, a change that coincided with his creation of some landscape paintings reminiscent of folk art. Brown died in 2012.

<h3 class="breakHead">Study Gallery</h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">Huichol: Balancing Hybridity</h3>

In the modern world, there is a constant struggle to preserve the Indigenous cultural identity in Latin America. MFA students Martha Osornio and Sarah-Anne Winchester have dived into the archives to select collection pieces as examples of hybridity within Huichol culture.

<h3 class="breakHead">International Gallery</h3>

<h3 class="breakHead">Taking Flight </h3>

Selected from University Museum's international collections, this exhibition includes objects from various cultures highlighting how our feathered friends have captured the imaginations of artists and artisans throughout the decades.

Exhibits are open to the public. Admission to the museum is free, and it is open to the public. The museum, art galleries and both halls are open Tuesdays-Fridays, from noon to 4 p.m., and Saturdays, 1-4 p.m. Public metered parking is available across from the Student Center and beside Woody Hall. For more information, contact Stoerger at stoerger@siu.edu or visit museum.siu.edu.

'CC Rider' by the late Fred Brown, a 1968 SIU art program graduate Russell Bailey photo

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