The Flint Institute of Arts has received a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in the amount of $1,549,924. The grant will support core programming and day-to-day operations and allow the FIA to offer more free and low-cost activities, expand educational opportunities and host more community events.
“The arts celebrate what it is to be human and create opportunities to connect with people across cultural and geographic boundaries,” said FIA Director John B. Henry, III. “We are grateful to the C.S. Mott Foundation for their support of the on going programs at the Flint Institute of Arts. This is one more important example of the Foundation’s legacy of philanthropy that has enriched the cultural life of our community for 84 years.”
“The Arch” is a collaborative sculpture created by Art School students in the clay abstraction class. It is located in the West courtyard and can be viewed from studios two and eight, or from the second floor lounge.
It wasn’t created by any of the Masters and it’s not located in the galleries, yet this particular artwork has been creating conversation at the Flint Institute of Arts.
On display in the West courtyard is a towering, ceramic sculpture (dubbed “The Arch”) that is comprised of various wheel-thrown objects, Raku ware, and even a miniature representation of the Earth. The piece is the latest collaboration by Art School students and was created by the clay abstraction class between the months of February and May 2012. It can be seen from the windows of Art School studios two and eight, or from the second floor lounge.
Standing around seven feet tall, “The Arch” is a tripod made out of three metal rods that were welded into the shape of an arch and meet at the top of the structure. It holds over 40 ceramic works made by about 20 Art School students.
Deciding together, the students worked with geometric shapes and a black and white color palette, using accents of various color throughout. Each piece was made individually with these concepts in mind, creating a mixture of designs that varied in shape and size. With pieces that range from large and round to small and flat, “The Arch” is estimated to weigh close to 1,000 pounds.
Still a work in progress, a “floating city” is planned for the top of the structure in order to visually connect the three rods that meet in the center.
Art School Faculty Jeff Hageman and Guy Adamec are encouraging students to think differently about clay and guided this project from its initial stages. According to Adamec, after creating a handful of smaller collaborative pieces, the students were encouraged to “push the envelope,” and come together to create a unique piece of collaborative art.
Earlier collaborative sculptures are available to view on the second floor hallway of the Art School.
July’s film is Atlanta by Miranda July. In this film, a 12-year-old Olympic swimmer and her mother (both played by filmmaker, artist, and writer Miranda July) speak to the public about going for the gold.
In August, the gallery will show Battleship Potemkin Dance Edit by Michael Bell-Smith. In this film, Bell-Smith refers to his re-edit of Eisenstein’s iconic 1925 film The Battleship Potemkinas a “sort of Cliff Notes condensation of the original narrative.”
U.S., 2007, by Michael Bell-Smith, 12:29 min. Image courtesy of Electronic Intermix (EAI), New York
Writes the artist, “I’ve separated the film into its constituent shots and time stretched them one by one to the exact same length, one half of a second. I then replaced the soundtrack with a one-second dance loop synced to the cuts.”
Mary Mallery Davis was born in Flint, Michigan on October 20, 1908, the daughter of Harvey James Mallery, one of the original investors in General Motors. She grew up in Flint and later attended Vassar College. She married Keith Davis, whose endeavors included advertising and journalism. Together they enjoyed traveling and bird hunting, always enjoying the outdoors. In addition to these interests, Mary Mallery Davis also was active in the Junior League and other organizations, including Planned Parenthood, the Mott Community College Art Department, the University of Michigan-Flint Library and the Flint Institute of Arts.
One of their greatest interests was in contemporary art. Together Mary Mallery and Keith amassed an incredible collection of post-war art.
Because they lived a rather private life together, it was a collection that was not familiar to many.
In 1965, the collection was exhibited at the FIA and gave visitors a glimpse into their vast collection, which included important works by Dubuffet, de Kooning, Appel, Burchfield, Avery, and Calder.
Keith passed away in 1981, and upon Mary’s passing in 1989, their entire collection was bequeathed to the Flint Institute of Arts, adding substantially to its collection of contemporary art.
Expect the unexpected at the Flint Institute of Arts’ annual celebration. Join the unforgettable fun as FIA presents The Party: An ARTrageous Affair on June 16, 2012 from 7p – 12a.
Experience a fusion of graffiti and urban chic while enjoying live entertainment, a DJ, raffle drawings, strolling dinner, and a cash bar.
Listen to musical artists DJ Rolando and Mama Sol & Tha N.U.T.S. as Flint-based Vertical Ambition Dance Company heats up the dance floor. Watch live artwork by Flint performing graffiti artists Matthew Anderson, Charlie Boike “Wake Up,” and Kevin Burdick “Scraps.” The strolling dinner will be provided by Executive Chef Luis Fernandes.
Mark your calendar. It’s the hottest ticket around!
Make your reservation at flintarts.org. Reservations are $100 per person and include two drink tickets. Advanced reservations are recommended.
The Education Department at the Flint Institute of Arts presents the last Educator Workshop for the 2011-2012 school year with a two-day workshop on June 25 & 26, 2012. Join educator Jessica Ross and learn how to help students develop thinking dispositions that support thoughtful learning in the arts and across school subjects.
This program introduces participants to the Artful Thinking program, Making Learning Visible program and the instructional resources from the Studio Thinking framework. Through activities and demonstrations, participants will think broadly about how works of art can connect to a variety of curricular topics. Participants will also explore how the complex thinking that occurs naturally in the arts can inform students’ and teachers’ understanding of thinking in general.
SB-CEU credit is available through the Genesee Intermediate School District. Graduate credit is available from the University of Michigan-Flint. This workshop carries 1 SB-CEU at no additional charge. Graduate credit is available from an extra charge.
To register, visit our website or contact the Education department at 810.237.7314 or flintartsed@me.com.
Sophie Matisse American, b. 1965 Guernica acrylic on canvas, 2003 102 x 232 1/2 inches Museum purchase with funds donated by Mr. William S. White, 2006.119
John Singer Sargent American, b. Italy, 1856–1925 Garden Study of the Vickers Children oil on canvas, 1884 54.5 x 36 inches Gift of the Viola E. Bray Charitable Trust via Mr. and Mrs. William L. Richards, 1972.47
November 2011 marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Viola E. Bray Renaissance Gallery at the Flint Institute of Arts.
To celebrate the Year of the Bray and Mrs. Viola E. Bray’s contributions, FIA presents the exhibition Viola E. Bray: A Legacy of Giving, on display from May 5 to Aug. 19, 2012 in the Viola E. Bray and Summerfield Galleries.
The Year of the Bray (2011–2012) honors the 50th anniversary of Mrs. Viola E. Bray’s contribution of Renaissance and Baroque works, along with a unique gallery, to the people of Flint.
Commemorating Mrs. Bray’s gift and philanthropy, the FIA highlights the works that entered the museum’s collections through the generosity of the Bray Charitable Trust, a fund established for the care of art, acquisition of new works, and other cultural endeavors.
Works like Francisco Goya’s The Death of St. Joseph (1787) and John Singer Sargent’s Garden Study of the Vickers Children (1884) are just two of several important works that are on view together to celebrate Mrs. Bray’s legacy.
Viola Estelle Bray
Mrs. Viola E. Bray (1873–1961), a Flint, Michigan native, avid art collector, and philanthropist, donated nearly 60 Renaissance and Baroque art objects, along with a specially designed gallery to display them. In her lifetime, Mrs. Bray also collected hundreds of fine examples of paperweights and other works of glass, many of which are now in the FIA collection (given by Mr. and Mrs. William L. Richards, her son-in-law and daughter).
Mrs. Bray chose to share her enthusiasm for art and history with the community in which she lived and worked by establishing her namesake gallery, along with the Bray Charitable Trust, providing funds for the care and maintenance of the collection, the acquisition of new works, and other cultural endeavors. An avid art collector, Mrs. Bray not only acquired beautiful works but also studied them closely as a way to gain insight into the past.
Viola E. Bray Renaissance Gallery
In addition to her social and community groups, Mrs. Bray spent much time researching her family’s history, eventually writing and publishing a book on her and her husband’s ancestry. Her research skills and desire for knowledge carried over to her collecting practices. She loved to research and record everything there was to know about the works she acquired. She traveled to the East Coast to collect art, and it was on one of her travels east that she visited French & Company in New York City. At this gallery, she purchased the set of ten French tapestries that would become the centerpiece of the Renaissance and Baroque collection she donated to the FIA.
Viola Bray died on May 24, 1961. Her memory lives on in her collection and in the gallery she established, and the Bray Charitable Trust continues to provide funds to care for that precious collection of art, which she gave to the people of Flint.
The Flint Institute of Arts will join a worldwide community of 30,000 museums to celebrate the 35th anniversary of International Museum Day on May 18, 2012. To mark the occasion, the FIA will offer free admission to the galleries and special exhibitions.
International Museum Day will allow its visitors to wonder about the role of museums in our new society, in the era of new media, and to discover and rediscover how museums are looking to the future in terms of sustainable development.
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day in 1977 to encourage public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society. Momentum has been rising unabated ever since.
Surveying the Abstract Expressionist movement from the postwar period to the 21st century, Abstract Expressionist: Then and Now includes artists such as Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and Jackson Pollock. This exhibition is on display at the Flint Institute of Arts in the Hodge & Temporary Exhibitions Gallery from May 5 to August 19, 2012.
The Abstract Expressionists, a group of artists who emerged in New York City in the 1950s, broke with the European painting tradition and created canvases that did not represent recognizable subjects. Artists like Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner created works in the mid-20th century that were characterized by powerfully expressive techniques, emphasizing the individual’s experience of the world.
Artists from subsequent generations sought to build on what the Abstract Expressionists achieved. Artists such as Larry Poons, Stanley Boxer, and Jules Olitski continued experimentation with texture and color to maximize the medium’s emotional and expressive potential.
Third-wave Abstract Expressionist painters, including Roy Lerner, Bruce Piermarini, and Joseph Drapell, also built on the earlier movement, using paints that they invented through working with Golden Paints, developing new techniques and forms of expression. These painters share a common interest in high-key color and textured surfaces of acrylic gels. The advancements made in different types of acrylic paint enabled these artists to produce paintings where color is used structurally, as well as expressively, creating a sculptural effect.
Drawing on works in the FIA permanent collection, along with important loans from regional collections, this exhibition surveys this American art movement from its origins in the postwar period to the latest developments in the 21st century.
Abstract Expressionism: Then and Now was organized by the Flint Institute of Arts, featuring more than 40 works, including loans from the Detroit Institute of Arts, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago.
Abstract Expressionism: Then and Now is sponsored by the Friends of Modern Art
François Boucher French, 1703–1770 Boreas and Oreithyia chalk on paper, ca. 1749 or ca. 1769 14.875 x 13.5 inches Collection of the Snite Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. John D. Reilly ’63, 1996.070.020
This exhibition illustrates the history of French drawing from before the foundation of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648, through the French Revolution of 1789.
The drawings offer an opportunity to explore the range of media employed, including chalk, colored chalks, ink, and crayon; a variety of favored subjects, such as narrative compositions, portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes; and types of drawings from figure and drapery studies, quick sketches of initial ideas to complex, multi-figured, highly developed, compositional “machines.”
The FIA is pleased to announce a partnership with the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame for a collections exchange. While The Epic and Intimate exhibition is on view, the FIA will send 8 of its best Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including Mary Cassatt’s Lydia at a Tapestry Frame to the Snite for the exhibition Cassatt and Beyond: Paintings from the Flint Institute of Arts (June 24–September 23, 2012).
Organized by the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame
The Flint Institute of Arts has received a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in the amount of $1,549,924. The grant will support core programming and day-to-day operations and allow the FIA to offer more free and low-cost activities, expand educational opportunities and host more community events.
Flint Institute of Arts 