Summer 2022 Art Talk

summer 2022

ART TALK

FROM THE

DIRECTOR

Take a summer vacation day with us and visit the history-making exhibition Blurring Boundaries in the comfort of our air-conditioned galleries. You will find many surprises amongst this group of abstract artworks by women of the American Abstract Artists group. Gender within cultural, and specifically art history, has been an unresolved issue of full inclusion and representation. This artists’ alliance was founded in 1936 and from the very start included amazing works by great women artists. Exhibitions like this are placing women artists within an art history that is reflective of the full range of makers over time.

Accomplishments are clearly not gender based and this insightful exhibition is a joy to behold. Each of these works deserves slow looking, time to allow the absorption of their unique visual characteristics. Like hearing a musical composition, these simple works take time to “see.”

COVER IMAGE: (detail) Cecily Kahn, Laughter and Forgetting, 2017.

Oil on canvas.

Courtesy of the artist.

Artwork featured in Blurring Boundaries: The Women of American Abstract Artists, 1936 – Present.

Our Permanent Collection continues to be a source of amazement and exploration. Be sure to visit the Mario Moore: Responding to History project, which has been curated by museum fellow Clarke Brown. She examines the iconography and meanings found in this complex work from our collection. This realist work takes a thematic perspective that contemplates the Civil War and today. The Eugene Martin exhibition continues as curated by our former registrar Olivia Peltier and it shares the exploratory works of this great artist through works from our permanent collection. The portrait gallery has been reinstalled and pairs historic and modern/contemporary works that resonant and ask questions: power and privilege; agency and status; now and then. A wall of artists' photographic portraits is a celebration of talents from the creative fields. The permanent collection galleries take new directions with new acquisitions and reexamines works in our growing collection.

In this issue we share some new acquisitions, we welcome our new Senior Curator Michelle Schulte and Educator Brandon Lewis, and we share images from our successful Soirée where we celebrated with some of our longtime supporters. The LSU Museum of Art is a social space, a third space, for both community and individual revelry and contemplation. There is much to explore and to celebrate in these unusual times. Let the Museum be a place of recreation for you, your families, and friends.

Daniel E. Stetson Executive Director 2

Art Talk Summer 2022

EXHIBITIONS Blurring Boundaries Eugene Martin Mario Moore State of the Art

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COLLECTIONS Recent Acquisitions New Staff: Curator & Educator

Programs

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CALENDAR

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EDUCATION

Paul Stephen Benjamin Zine Project Young Artists Gallery

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DEVELOPMENT

Director's Circle Soirée Adopt-A-Work New Members

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MUSEUM STORE

MFA Student Artwork

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ANNUAL MEETING ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 18 Join us for our Annual Meeting as we recap the 2021–2022 year of programs, exhibitions, and the impact LSU MOA has on our community and beyond. A reception and exhibition talks in the galleries will follow this program.

Anne Russinof, Inside Out, 2017. Oil on canvas.

Courtesy of the artist. www.lsumoa.org

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BLURRING BOUNDARIES

THE WOMEN OF AMERICAN ABSTRACT ARTISTS, 1936 – PRESENT On view July 14– October 23, 2022 VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION Thursday, July 14 Zoom, 6 p.m.

Learn about Blurring Boundaries with the exhibition’s curator, Rebecca DiGiovanna, artists Creighton Michael and Susan Bonfils, and LSU MOA Executive Director, Daniel Stetson.

GALLERY TALK: SUSAN BONFILS Sunday, August 7 Fifth floor, 2 p.m.

Learn more from Blurring Boundaries artist Susan Bonfils during this talk.

(Above detail): Katinka Mann, Red Yellow Polaroid, 1982, Polaroid print.

Courtesy of the artist.

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Art Talk Summer 2022

On view this summer at LSU MOA is an awe-inspiring celebration of an intergenerational group of artists—one that is both comprehensive and long overdue—Blurring Boundaries: The Women of American Abstract Artists, 1936 – Present highlights the indelible ways in which the women of American Abstract Artists have, for more than eighty years, shifted and shaped the frontiers of American abstraction. The hierarchy of distilled form, immaculate line, and pure color came close to being the mantra of modern art—particularly that of American Abstract Artists (AAA), the subject of this exhibition. From the outset—due as much to their divergent status as abstract artists as to their gender—women of American Abstract Artists were already working on the periphery of the art world. In contrast to the other artist collectives of the period, where equal footing for women was unusual, AAA provided a place of refuge for female artists.

Through fifty-four works, Blurring Boundaries explores the artists’ astounding range of styles, including their individual approaches to the guiding principles of abstraction: color, space, light, material, and process.

More than eighty years after its founding, AAA continues to nurture and support a vibrant community of artists with diverse identities and wide-ranging approaches to abstraction. In celebration of this tradition, Blurring Boundaries: The Women of American Abstract Artists traces the extraordinary contributions of the female artists within AAA, from the founders to today’s practicing members. Included are works by historic members Perle Fine, Esphyr Slobodkina, Irene Rice Pereira, Alice Trumbull Mason, and Gertrude Greene, as well as current members such as Ce Roser, Irene Rousseau, Judith Murray, Alice Adams, Merrill Wagner, Katinka Mann, and Louisiana-based artist Susan Bonfils.

Blurring Boundaries: The Women of American Abstract Artists, 1936– Present was organized by The Clara M. Eagle Gallery, Murray State University, Murray, KY and the Ewing Gallery, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC. The exhibition was curated by Rebecca DiGiovanna. This exhibition is also sponsored by Taylor Porter Attorneys At Law and the LSU MOA Annual Exhibition Fund donors.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHTS BEHIND THE WORKS

Founded during the Great Depression, American Abstract Artists (AAA) was established at a time when museums and galleries viewed abstract as “not American” due to its derivation from the European avant-garde and its elusive imagery. Even the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which mounted its first major exhibition of abstract art in 1936, hesitated to recognize American artists working within the vein of abstraction. This lack of institutional recognition frustrated abstract artists working in New York and was the impetus behind the founding of American Abstract Artists later that year. Abstraction empowered many women artists to create freely, many who have had a major impact within AAA since its founding. Below are just two of the 54 works featured in this exhibition. Learn more about this art collective and these female artists when you visit LSU MOA this summer.

Gertrude Greene, Related Forms, 1947. Oil on canvas.

Courtesy of Berry Campbell Gallery.

Gertrude Greene was a founding member of the AAA and worked to gain acceptance of abstract art by picketing museums like MoMA that refused to feature works of American abstract artists. Greene was one of the earliest American artists—possibly the first—to produce non-objective relief-sculptures in the early 1930s, synthesizing Cubist and Russian Constructivist themes in her work. She produced her last sculpture in 1946, then concentrated on abstract painting for the rest of her life.

In her paintings, Greene often combined geometric form with biomorphic shapes, which she then arranged in lively compositions that are striking for their play with color and contrast.

Emily Berger "My paintings are based on a structure of repetitive and deliberate gesture that is intuitive but carefully considered. I brush, wipe, rub, and scrape, incorporating the color, texture and pattern of the wood supports, concealing and revealing layers in various states of transparency and solidity. I work with and against whatever happens as I work, painting from edge to edge or exposing areas of the surface to create shape. The rhythm and variety of the bands of paint create movement, broken symmetry, and light. In recent work I explore these themes in a return to color, a break in linearity with a series of irregular marks, and interruption of the rectangle as the image forms new relationships to the edge."

Emily Berger, Breathe In, 2017. Oil on wood.

Courtesy of the artist. www.lsumoa.org

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EUGENE MARTIN THE CREATIVE ACT

On view until October 2, 2022

COLLABORATIVE COLLAGE SPACE Be inspired by Martin's work and add your piece to the collaborative collage wall in the gallery studio space.

(Above): Installation view of Eugene Marin: The Creative Act

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Art Talk Summer 2022

Eugene Martin: The Creative Act is the first major exhibition of the artist's work. It features a selection drawn from the 2008 acquisition of 31 pieces and focuses on Martin’s unique brand of abstraction.

Born in Washington, D.C. in 1938, Martin dedicated his life to living and working as a full-time artist, creating artwork defined by stylistic periods, from black and white ink drawings to bright and colorful acrylic paintings and collages. Throughout these styles, Martin’s hand is distinct and present. A mixture of organic forms, geometric shapes, and architectural worlds make up Martin’s universe of figures and creatures. Though often hinting at figures and familiar forms, his abstraction offers delights of color that are free from time and place.

Highlighted in the exhibition are Martin’s unparalleled collages, which feature pieces or photographs of previously completed works.

This form of artistic cannibalism represents the artist’s practice that was never static and always exploring. Also featured are Martin’s circle drawings, a product of setting his own limitations on composition—just to see what he could do. Working only from within, he straddles styles and does not answer to outside influence. Rather, his works satisfy the impulse to simply create. In his last decade, Martin lived and worked in Lafayette, Louisiana. He achieved regional acclaim while continuing to exhibit across the country and abroad.

His art is held in the collections of several Louisiana institutions.

LSU MOA thanks the generous donors to the LSU MOA Annual Exhibition Fund for supporting all exhibitions at the museum: Louisiana CAT; The Imo N. Brown Memorial Fund in memory of Heidel Brown and Mary Ann Brown; The Alma Lee, H. N., and Cary Saurage Fund; Charles "Chuck" Edward Schwing; Robert and Linda Bowsher; LSU College of Art + Design; Mr. and Mrs. Sanford A. Arst; and The Newton B. Thomas Family/Newtron Group Fund.

IN CONVERSATION

SUZANNE FREDERICQ

Suzanne Fredericq, the wife of late artist Eugene James Martin, donated LSU MOA’s collection of Martin’s works that made the exhibition The Creative Act possible. Olivia Peltier sat down to chat with Fredericq at her home in Lafayette, Louisiana, surrounded by many more of the late artist's works. Fredericq is the Freeport McMoran/LEQSF Regents Professor of Biology at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. Find the full transcript of their discussion about Eugene Martin, Surrealism, Marcel Proust, and so much more at www.lsumoa.org/inside-lsu-moa.

OP: Tell me a little about yourself. Of course the exhibition focuses on the artist, but let’s hear more about the person behind the work it takes to bring the artwork to the public.

SF: I’m originally from Belgium, from the North. I’m a biologist and did my undergraduate degree at the University of Ghent in zoology. I got [to Washington, D.C.] in March or April 1981, and was there for a year. In the meantime, the friend of my mother’s where I was staying had a friend who wanted to use his house to show a lot of artifacts from the Far East, from India, to interior decorators. They would come to the house, but she needed some help from students. There was not much to do, just opening the doors for interior decorators who would come with their clients, et cetera. Everything in the house was antiques, and there was a little group of graphite drawings. I said, “What are those? I love them.” She said “Oh, they are from Eugene Martin, a wonderful friend.” A day or two later, a knock on the door and there he was, to say hello to Isabel. He was so handsome and then Isabel asked me, because I worked for her a little bit, “Suzanne, can you go to the post office?” and Eugene said, “Well I’ll go with her.” And that was it.

He was always so positive. I found it fantastic to live with someone–he was so generous with everything and he made life so much easier for me. Normal people

would make life difficult for people around them. Not him–he was just the opposite.

He was really wonderful, and he was always wonderful from the moment I met him.

OP: Do you think that so much of his work is positive and fun because it’s an expression of himself?

SF: I think so. He said "Well on Earth, you have one chance, so what am I going to do? Complain all day long and make my life miserable, or do I do something positive?"

That’s how he was, he was always looking at the best of what he can do and with his art too.

OP: Can you speak about your experience in keeping his work and his spirit out there?

SF: Everything that’s not in private collections or placed is here. What to do in the future–I’m still thinking of it. It would be nice if it could be in a research institute.

I show the work to a lot of curators but they don’t see what’s so special about Eugene. To really understand [his work], you need to know art history I think. I was not an art historian, but I really fell in love with him, and with all his work. I’m his biggest fan.

Suzanne Fredericq and Eugene Martin.

Courtesy of Suzanne Fredericq.

www.lsumoa.org

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MARIO MOORE

RESPONDING TO HISTORY On view July 14– October 23, 2022

GALLERY TALK & RECEPTION Thursday, August 18 Fifth floor, 6:45 p.m.

Learn more about this exhibition during this talk with LSU MOA Curatorial Fellow, Clarke Brown.

LSU MOA is pleased to present Mario Moore: Responding to History.

Featuring two paintings and two drawings, the showing provides an in-depth look at Moore’s nuanced artwork During and After the Battle. At over five feet by six feet, the large-scale artwork offers much to contemplate. The painting within the painting makes this work even more intriguing. A product of a collaboration with fellow artist Mark Gibson, During and After the Battle responds to classical painting traditions, American history, and the Civil War, and reflects on the past and the present. Mario Moore: Responding to History also includes Gibson’s painting Battle of Antietam, which gives visitors another view into Moore’s process for During and After the Battle.

Moore recently had an exhibition of his work at the Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana entitled A New Republic, which included a series of paintings depicting Civil War scenes placed in contemporary settings. Drawing influences from Peter Paul Rubens, During and After the Battle realistically depicts the violence of the Civil War and references elements of Black masculinity.

ABOUT THE ARTIST Mario Moore creates lifelike and frequently life-sized paintings of family, friends, and acquaintances. His works evoke physical presence and highlight the individual, while also cementing the subject as a part of history and art history. Moore lives and works in Detroit, Michigan. He received his master of fine arts in painting from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and a bachelor of fine arts in illustration from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.

(Above detail): Mario Moore, During and After the Battle, 2020.

Oil on linen, Purchased with funds from the Reilly Initiative for Underrepresented Artists.

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Art Talk Summer 2022

Support for this exhibition and all LSU MOA exhibitions is provided by the Annual Fund Exhibition Fund donors. This exhibition has been organized by Clarke Brown, LSU MOA Curatorial Fellow. Moore’s painting was acquired in 2020 with funds from the Winifred and Kevin Reilly Initiative for Underrepresented Artists.

LAST LOOK

STATE OF THE ART: RECORD

Recordings preserve information. This can include an idea, a sound, a moment in time— the important outcome remains the same: the record. Artworks in the exhibition, State of the Art: Record, reveal a broad expanse of this concept. Some of the artists grapple with the constantly unfolding historical record. Others use their work as a way to record concepts too big for words or too abstract for simple explanation. Others employ their artistic skills to order their surroundings, transforming chaos into something manageable. Record speaks to the task of documenting the random, confusing, and sometimes inexplicable, and underscores a desire to return to the existing record in order to reconsider.

(Top to bottom): Installation view of State of the Art: Record at LSU Museum of Art; Jenelle Esparza, Dancer in an Unconscious Rhythm I & II, 2018. Natural brown cotton wrap, cotton weft in natural white and black, and blue inlayed silk. Courtesy of the artist.

UPCOMING JENELLE ESPARZA PROGRAMS Twenty artists are included in this exhibition at LSU MOA including Jenelle Esparza, who will be visiting for a series of museum and community programs in June including a Museum Open House en Español with activities, gallery talks, a free educator workshop, and a closing reception.

See page 12–13 to learn more and to attend.

State of the Art: Record is organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. The national tour of State of the Art 2020 is sponsored by Bank of America with additional support from Art Bridges.

This exhibition and its programming are sponsored locally by a generous grant from Art Bridges. www.lsumoa.org

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COLLECTIONS

RECENT ACQUISITIONS The museum continues to acquire exciting new artworks that expand the permanent collection in both size and scope. Many of our recent acquisitions allow us to improve our understanding of not only contemporary styles, media, and themes, but also increase cultural competencies, respond to current political and societal issues, and create stronger connections with our guests through interpretation and research.

E. John Bullard, longtime museum supporter and the former executive director of the New Orleans Museum of Art, continued his support of the museum through the donation of eight contemporary ceramic sculptures and vessels, bringing his total promised gift to 123 objects. Thanks to Bullard’s enormous generosity, the museum now has a varied contemporary ceramic collection that represents a broad survey of current American clay artists.

New York artist Hannah Thompsett investigates perception and reality through the creation of sculptural objects. Her ceramic pieces originate with an exploration of folded paper—she begins with a flat line drawing, then folds and bends the paper, transforming the plane into a voluminous three-dimensional object. These resulting forms are then cast into molds and slip cast. While the final object shows evidence of the original drawing and paper sculpture, it takes on new characteristics through its own material presence.

Hannah Thompsett, Lidded Jar, 2021.

Porcelain slip cast with celadon glaze, Promised gift of E. John Bullard.

Paul Briggs, [Sic] from Knot Stories Series, 2022. Ceramic wall sculpture, slap/ coil construction, glazed stoneware. Courtesy of the artist. Museum purchase.

Using resources from the Winifred and Kevin P. Reilly Fund for Underrepresented Artists, the museum recently purchased several pivotal artworks, further fulfilling our commitment to expand holdings of pieces by African American and Latinx artists.

[Sic], a sculptural work from the Knot Stories series, explores society’s use of language, which is often derived from spiritual and cultural traditions. Paul Briggs transforms words into material shapes and living images. [Sic], a Latin term frequently used in scholarly texts, is generally inserted after a particular quoted word or phrase to denote, “this was intentionally written this way,” and is not a mistake. It is used when quoting colloquialisms or dialects, such as in, “she said, her hair was looking phat [sic] today.” Briggs is thus visually exploring how language is intertwined with biased ideas regarding etiquette and correctness, and how many common words and expressions used by certain populations are characterized as incorrect by greater society.

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Art Talk Summer 2022

NEW STAFF

CURATOR & EDUCATOR

LSU MOA is excited to introduce Michelle Schulte as the new Senior Curator and Director of Programming. Schulte (pictured right) has an extensive background in museum and gallery management, art education, and Southern art and history and its relationship to and impact on current events and societal inequities. She has a master of arts in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland; Georgia state teacher certification in art education from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia (now Georgia Southern University, Armstrong Campus); and a bachelor of fine arts in photography from Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. Schulte has worked as Gallery Director / Chief Curator for the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts at Pensacola State College in Pensacola, Florida and Gallery Director and Adjunct Faculty at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. She gained extensive knowledge on collection care, museum standards and practices, and creating programming through university collaboration. She also served as the Curator of Education at the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia, where she gained skills in curating exhibitions, collaborating with artists and community partners, and networking with peer institutions across the Southeast. At the Morris Museum, she established an Education Gallery and developed a space dedicated to teaching visitors about art movements and contemporary artists. Schulte currently serves as a senior volunteer leader for the Southeastern Museums Conference, which focuses on museum professional development and organizational practices.

Meet our New Museum Educator and Public Programs Manager, Brandon V. Lewis. Lewis (pictured left), an artist, teacher, and Baton Rouge native, has dedicated the last decade to educating traditional and non-traditional students. He is a product of the East Baton Rouge public school system, graduating from the gifted and talented program at McKinley Senior High School. He went on to earn a bachelor of arts in history, with a minor in fine arts, from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. Lewis served as the Fine Arts Chair and African American Studies instructor in the City of Baker School System for over nine years, eventually becoming the District Fine Arts Coordinator/Director. He is a member of the National Association of History Educators, National Association of Arts Educators, Greater Baton Rouge Arts Council, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. An advocate for service, Lewis believes that art, in any form, can be a change agent. For the past three years he has spearheaded the neighborhood senior Art Pack Initiative, which engages participants and provides a fine art experience for senior citizens impacted by the pandemic.

In addition to being a devoted educator, Lewis is a celebrated visual artist, creating work since the early age of three. Driven by his mother and grandparents, Lewis developed an early passion for the arts, which formed the foundation for him to thrive in the field.

Working primarily as a painter, he has won numerous national awards and honors. Lewis’s work celebrates people of color and all aspects of their culture. He truly believes artists are custodians of their community’s histories, and it is their job to preserve and relate the stories for all. www.lsumoa.org

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LSU MOA PROGRAMS MARK YOUR CALENDARS JUNE 05

FREE FIRST SUNDAY: ALL ABOUT PRINTS

Fifth floor, 1–5 p.m. / FREE Enjoy activities in our reopened hands-on family gallery.

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MUSEUM OPEN HOUSE EN ESPAÑOL LSU MOA, 2–5 p.m. / FREE Enjoy hands-on activities and gallery talks, all presented in Spanish. ♦ ♦ Jueves, 16 de Junio, 2–5 p.m.

Casa Abierta del Museo, ¡En Español!

Disfrute de actividades en la galería y breves charlas, todo en español.

GRATIS.

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JENELLE ESPARZA | JUNE 16–17 Photo by Rigoberto Luna, Courtesy of the artist.

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LSU MOA, 5:30 p.m. / FREE State of the Art artist, Jenelle Esparza, and LSU Associate Professor, Stephen Andes, will discuss the history of Mexican migrants in the Southern cotton industry and familial connections and heritage in the Latinx community—all inspirations behind Esparza’s artwork. Afterwards, join us for a SOTA closing reception.

GALERÍA DISCUSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: TEJIENDO TRADICIONES

Jueves, 16 de Junio, 5:30 p.m.

La artista, Jenelle Esparza, y el profesor asociado de LSU, Stephen Andes, hablan sobre la historia de los inmigrantes mexicanos en la industria algodonera del sur y las conexiones familiares y la herencia en la comunidad Latinx, todas inspiraciones detrás de la obra de arte de Esparza. Sigue la recepción. GRATIS.

JULY 03 04

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17 FREE EDUCATOR WORKSHOP: WEAVING TRADITIONS

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Art Talk Summer 2022

FREE FIRST SUNDAY

Closed for July 4 Holiday

JULY 4TH CELEBRATION

Sixth floor, 7–10 p.m.

Buy tickets on Eventbrite, online at www.lsumoa.org, or call LSU Museum Store at 225-389-7210.

VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION: BLURRING BOUNDARIES Zoom, 6 p.m. / FREE Learn about Blurring Boundaries during a virtual panel discussion featuring the exhibition’s curator, Rebecca DiGiovanna, artists Creighton Michael and Susan Bonfils, and LSU MOA Executive Director, Daniel Stetson. Sign up for link on Eventbrite or at www.lsumoa.org.

(Detail): Jenelle Esparza, Dancer in an Unconscious Rhythm II, 2018. Natural brown cotton warp, cotton weft in natural white and black, inlayed blue silk.

LSU MOA, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. / FREE Explore the history of migrant Latinx workers and the Southern Landscape with State of the Art: Record artist Jenelle Esparza. Reservation required by emailing mschulte@lsu.edu.

CLOSING RECEPTION & TALK STATE OF THE ART: RECORD

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EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW

Fifth Floor, 6 p.m. / self-guided Blurring Boundaries and Mario Moore: Responding to History on view in the galleries.

spend your week with @lsumoa FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | ONLINE

AUGUST 07

FREE FIRST SUNDAY GALLERY TALK: SUSAN BONFILS Fifth floor, 1–5 p.m. / FREE Enjoy hands-on activities and gallery searches as we highlight abstract artwork.

Join us at 2 p.m. for a gallery talk by Baton Rouge artist, Susan Bonfils, whose work is included in Blurring Boundaries.

18 ANNUAL MEETING: GALLERY TALKS & RECEPTION

Third & Fifth floors, 5–8 p.m.

Join us for LSU MOA’s Annual Meeting, and attend reception and gallery talks for Blurring Boundaries and Mario Moore: Responding to History.

NEIGHBORHOOD ARTS PROJECT SUMMER SCHEDULE

Free art making for all ages

EBRP LIBRARY SYSTEM

10 a.m.–12 p.m.

June 14: Scotlandville Library June 21: Delmont Gardens Library June 28: Baker Library July 5: Main Library at Goodwood July 12: Carver Library July 19: Baker Library July 28: River Center Library

GARDERE INITIATIVE

8434 Ned Ave, 9 a.m.–11 a.m.

June 15, June 22, June 29 July 6, July 20

VILLAGE RESOURCE CENTER AT EDEN PARK

765 N. Acadian Thwy, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.

June 16, June 23, June 30 July 7, July 14, July 21

BREC GUS YOUNG PARK

4200 Gus Young Ave, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.

June 17, June 24 July 1, July 8, July 15, July 22

MT. BETHEL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH Support art, enjoy live music by Sweet Southern Heat, food by City Pork, batch drink by Three Roll Estate, and watch fireworks! Buy tickets at www.lsumoa.org or call LSU Museum Store at 225-389-7210.

13540 Scenic Hwy, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.

July 26, July 27

SHAW CENTER PLAZA

100 Lafayette St, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.

July 29

Scan QR code to buy tickets!

Thank you to all of our event sponsors: Louisiana Lottery Corporation, IBERIABANK, a division of First Horizon, CSRS, Inc., Friends of the LSU Museum of Art, Country Roads Magazine, LSU Auxiliary Services, and Coca-Cola®.

Thank you to the following sponsors of Free First Sundays and Free Friday Nights: Louisiana Lottery Corporation and IBERIABANK, a division of First Horizon, for sponsoring free admission and Louisiana CAT for sponsoring programming. www.lsumoa.org

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EDUCATION

PROGRAMMING UPDATES

VISITING ARTIST PAUL STEPHEN BENJAMIN State of the Art: Record artist Paul Stephen Benjamin visited LSU MOA for a series of programs including a live stream performance of his work Daily Meditations. Through his paintings, video installations, assemblages, sculptures, and performances, Paul Stephen Benjamin explores the questions, “What is the color black?” and “If the color black had a sound, what would it sound like?” Benjamin draws from his daily ritual of manually typing out his thoughts about these questions. LSU MOA collaborated with the LSU Main Library to live stream his performance with the artist typing live at the museum, with live broadcasts at the library. Through this platform, viewers were prompted with the question of "If the color black had a sound, what would it sound like?" Viewers typed in responses, which appeared during the live stream as a feed on the screen (pictured above). Benjamin also spent time creating charcoal rubbings of the Black is Beautiful Daily Meditations vinyl installation in the LSU MOA lobby (pictured below). He does this process at each location the art is installed to create a record of his work.

(Top to bottom): State of the Art: Record artist Paul Stephen Benjamin at LSU MOA during his series of programs including a live stream feed of his performance Daily Meditations and charcoal rubbings of his installation.

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Art Talk Summer 2022

(Clockwise from top left): Participants at EBRP Main Library at Goodwood Blvd. creating collages for the zine project; Macy McCalip, Talk to Each Other, LSUUniversity Laboratory School; Alex Fluker, Every Picture Tells a Story, LSU-University Laboratory School

OPEN CALL ZINE PROJECT During the State of the Art: Record exhibition, LSU MOA held an open call for submissions to be compiled for a zine publication. Participants were asked to submit their interpretation of 'record' in any media. A total of 121 submissions were gathered from the local community, Therese Knowles' ceramics high school class at the LSU-University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, LSU MOA Advisory Board members, and beyond. The museum also partnered with the East Baton Rouge Main Library and the LSU College of Art + Design, setting up a collage art-making table, encouraging participation and facilitating accessibility to this open call.

YOUNG ARTISTS GALLERY Presented by EBRP Fine Arts Department and Magnet Programs, LSU MOA displayed EBRP student artwork for over a month and during their Art, Jazz, and Pizzazz Art Walk in LSU MOA'S Young Artists Gallery (pictured left).

LSU Museum of Art educational programming is also sponsored by Louisiana CAT and Junior League of Baton Rouge. State of the Art: Record programming was made possible through Art Bridges.

www.lsumoa.org

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DEVELOPMENT

DIRECTOR'S CIRCLE SOIRÉE & ADOPT-A-WORK DIRECTOR'S CIRCLE SOIRÉE The 2022 Director’s Circle Soirée was held March 25 at the A. Hays Town designed home of generous host, L. Cary Saurage II. Attendees experienced the lovely courtyard and beautiful art-filled home as they mingled with fellow donors, board members, and staff over Mojitos provided by Three Roll Estate and delicious hors d’oeuvres. Executive Director Daniel Stetson announced the promotion of Nedra Hains to Deputy Director and the arrival of our new Senior Curator and Director of Programs, Michelle Schulte, both in attendance. Stetson shared the importance of art in our community. We thank everyone for attending, including the LSU College of Art + Design's Art History Professor, Dr. Darius Spieth, and Advisory Board member Becky Gottsegen and Yvette Bonanno’s Catering who helped make this a special event. Over $2,800 was pledged as part of the Adopt-A-Work program (see next page). The Director’s Circle includes Silver, Gold, and Platinum level members.

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Join us at the next Director’s Circle event by becoming a member today at www.lsumoa.org/ membership. Many thanks again to L. Cary Saurage II for a memorable artful soirée!

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(1) L. Cary Saurage II; (2 left to right) LouAnne Greenwald and Christina Lake; (3 left to right) Gwen Palagi and Carole Lamar; (4 left to right) Nedra Hains and John Hains, L. Cary Saurage II, Cathy Coates and Brian Hales; (5 left to right) Denise Greenwood Loveless, Becky and Warren Gottsegen, Tricia Day and Joe Simmons. Photos by inRegister Magazine.

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Art Talk Summer 2022

(6 left to right): Nubia Khan, 6 Darius Spieth, Michelle Schulte, Donna Saurage and Daniel Stetson; (7 left to right) Daniel Stetson, Arlene Morgan and Jerry Ceppos; (8 left to right) Mary Joseph, Paul Spaht, Carol Anne Blitzer and Katherine Spaht; Photos by inRegister Magazine.

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ADOPT-A-WORK 2022 PROGRAM UPDATE This program supports conservation of permanent collection works which wouldn't be possible without our generous donors.

Preserving these artworks for future generations to view and experience is critical to the mission of LSU MOA. Nine artworks have been identified for Adopt-A-Work 2022 conservation sponsorship: ⊲ Hunt Slonem, Bayou Tech at Jeanerette, 2013. Oil on wood, Gift of Henry and Pat Shane.

Received a sponsorship by Nancy and Cary Dougherty and by Jan and Sanford Arst; Two of three works on paper by Eugene Martin (to be selected by the curator) received sponsorship by Becky and Warren Gottsegen (one more available for sponsorship); John McCrady, The Robert E. Lee and The Natchez, 1945, and Steamboat ‘Round the Bend’, 1945. Lithographs on paper, Gifts of Trenton and Kay James. Received full sponsorship

by Robert Bowsher; George Overbury, “Pop” Hart, Springtime in New Orleans, 1925.

Lithograph on paper, Gift of Trenton and Kay James. Received full sponsorship by Linda Bowsher; Conrad Albrizio, The Olive Pickers, n.d. Oil on canvas, Bequest of Elizabeth Coleman. Received full sponsorship by Tricia Day and Joe Simmons.

Available for Adoption: ⊲ Lonnie Holley, In God, 1983. Sandstone. Gift of Steven and Beverly Heymsfield.

Requires chemical stabilization and the construction of a minimally invasive mount.

Estimated cost: $1,200.

Please contact Michelle Schulte, Senior Curator and Director of Programs at mschulte@lsu.edu for more information on this collection preservation program.

WELCOME NEW & RETURNING MEMBERS SUSTAINER Dr. Suzanne Marchand and Dr. Victor Slater III HOUSEHOLD Susan Arnold and Wesley Shrum Jamee Blink Toliver and Kelli Bozeman

FRIEND Emily Brabham Suzanne Fredericq Gina Monette EDUCATOR Patrina Claiborne www.lsumoa.org

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LSU MUSEUM STORE

MFA STUDENT ARTWORK

Each year the LSU Museum Store works with the LSU School of Art to display and sell student artwork. This summer, we are excited to sell work by recent LSU School of Art MFA students. Support these emerging artists by adding these unique works to your collection or purchase them as gifts. For more information about artwork and purchase inquiries, please contact LSU Museum Store Manager LeAnn Russo at lrusso@lsu.edu or call 225-389-7210. Learn more about three LSU School of Art students whose work is available in the LSU Museum Store: Lauren Sanders is a multidisciplinary artist originally from Wichita, Kansas. She received a bachelor of fine arts in studio arts from Kansas State University and a master of fine arts in studio arts from Louisiana State University. Her work focuses on the subjective and inter-subjective nature of installation art. Focusing on material, texture, and surface, she creates sculptures the viewer wants to interact with. She primarily uses resin and yarn to make her sculptures.

Ali Saunders recently received her master of fine arts in ceramics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She attended the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas and received a bachelor of arts in fine arts with a focus on ceramics. Saunders completed a residency at Flower City Arts Center in Rochester, New York.

Her highly decorated work focuses on patterns found in nature, flowers, and insects. She makes functional vessels that facilitate moments of pause and enjoyment for the user.

Paul Acevedo Gomez is a Mexican-American artist currently residing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

He attended Louisiana State University, and has a master of fine arts degree with a focus in printmaking. He specializes in lithography to create his colorful and isolated compositions.

Even though his work is rooted in childhood memories and social interactions in rural and urban settings across multiple locations, he is currently Influenced by the surreal Louisiana landscape–a key factor to the development of his identity as an artist and individual.

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Art Talk Summer 2022

STAFF

Daniel E. Stetson, Executive Director Sarah Amacker, Communications & Marketing Specialist Clarke Brown, Curatorial Fellow LeAnn Dusang, Museum Store Manager / Visitor Services Manager / Membership Coordinator Nedra Hains, Deputy Director Brandon Lewis, Educator & Public Programs Manager Olivia Peltier, Contract Registrar Travis Pickett, Preparator Michelle Schulte, Senior Curator & Director of Public Programs

FRIENDS OF LSU MUSEUM OF ART President: Clarke J. Gernon, Jr. Vice President: Michael Avant Secretary / Treasurer: Robert Bowsher Brad M. Bourgoyne Ann Wilkinson Jeff Bell Kevin Harris Ex-Officio: Daniel E. Stetson Staff Representative: Nedra Hains

GLASSELL GALLERY

ADVISORY BOARD 2021–2022

Chair: Nancy C. Dougherty Vice Chair: Ben Jeffers Secretary / Treasurer: John Everett Immediate Past Chair: Steven Heymsfield Sanford A. “Sandy” Arst Margaret Benjamin George Bonvillain Jerry Ceppos Lake Douglas Donna Fraiche Becky Gottsegen LouAnne Greenwald Blaine Grimes Randell Henry Joyce Jackson Mary T. Joseph Yvette Marsh Stephen R. Miller Elizabeth Carpenter Noland Winifred Reilly L. Cary Saurage II Carol Steinmuller Ex-Officio: Clarke J. Gernon, Jr.

Daniel E. Stetson Honorary: Mayor-President

Sharon Weston Broome

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser

Nadine Russell

Jeffrey Fraenkel

BLOOM! 21st Annual Summer Invitational Art Exhibition The LSU School of Art Glassell Gallery planted an idea in the beautiful imaginations of local and regional fine artists: cultivate and create, innovate, and make original, growing, fecund, and flora-luscious art for our show. Over sixty artists responded to this year's theme of "BLOOM!" Jurors: Leslie Charlveille, and Jonathan “radbwa faroush” Mayers. This exhibition is dedicated with love to Belinda V. Meek, who helped so many of us to bloom.

Elizabeth Fontenot, Shelter in Place, 2020

Show Dates: June 25–August 14, 2022 Reception: Saturday, July 9 / 6–8 p.m.

S C H O O L S H OW: M A R 2 6 | 1 0 : 0 0 A M

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LSU Museum of Art is supported in part by a grant from the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, funded by the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President and Metro Council. Additional support is provided by generous donors to the Annual Exhibition Fund. LSU Museum of Art is supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Support also provided by Art Bridges.

HOURS Tuesday through Saturday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Thursday and Friday: 10 a.m.–8 p.m.

Sunday: 1–5 p.m.

Closed Mondays and major holidays

100 Lafayette Street, Fifth Floor Baton Rouge, LA 70801