MWPAI Bulletin December 2012 Monthly Newsletter

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School of Art Presents Holiday Classic Friday Dec. 14, 7 p.m., • Saturday Dec. 15, 2 & 7 p.m., • Sunday Dec. 16, 2 p.m.

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he School of Art dance program presents four performances of the Holiday classic, The Nutcracker 7 p.m. Friday, December 14; 2 and 7 p.m.

Saturday, December 15 and 2 p.m. Sunday, December 16 at Mohawk Valley Community College.

Eighty-six dancers in brilliant costumes and colorful backdrops will come to life with choreography by Nancy Long and Lynn Bollana. Guest dancer David Tai Kim will return to dance in the Snow Scene with Anna McEvoy-Melo as the Snow Queen.

Also returning are Jeff Hover and Matthew Sparks who will dance the Cavalier alternately with three different Sugar Plum Fairies. The seniors dancing the role of Sugar Plum Fairy are Elizabeth Andrews, Angela Mia Belmonte, and Hannah Straney. Nik Allen returns as Drosselmeier and is also featured in the Russian Dance with senior dancers Brianna Aponte and Cassie Bushey. Maria Panuccio will be featured along with the other seniors in the dance of Mirlitons.

Mary McEvoy-Melo and Oliva Aceto will share the role of Clara and the dance program is pleased to include Noah Price and Benton Stivali in the role of Fritz.

Tickets are $8 for general admission and can be obtained at the Dance Studio or at the door. Please phone the studio at 315-797-0000 ext. 2208 or the School of Art receptionist 315-797-8260 for further information.

Classic Vocal Jazz Takes Concerts in the Court Stage Saturday December 8, 8 p.m.

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he classic vocal jazz of New York-based singing sensation Hilary Kole will be showcased in a Concerts in the Court presentation 8 p.m. Saturday, December 8 in the Museum of Art. Kole has been hailed as a “musical marvel” by Rex Reed, and as having “a glowing voice with something to say” by The New York Times. With debuts at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, she has steady engagements at some of New York’s leading cabaret venues. Her debut recording, Haunted Heart, was released to critical acclaim in 2009 (receiving four stars from Downbeat Magazine) and her newest recording, You Are There, was named Record of the Year in USA Today, and won the 2010 Bistro Award for record of the year.

Tickets are $26.50 for members, $31.50 for general admission, and $16.50 for students. The museum opens at 7 p.m. so patrons may view the current exhibitions, socialize and visit the Gift Gallery. Concerts in the Court also feature a cash bar and a special gallery talk at intermission. For tickets contact the Performing Arts Ticket Office at 797-0055 or 800-754-0797.

Tickets are also available online at www.mwpai.org.

Event Sponsored by

Series Sponsored by

Museum Education Programs Workshop for Kids of All Ages Gingerbread House Saturday, December 1, 9 a.m. to noon. $15 MWPAI Members; $20 General Admission Tickets, 315-797-0055.

Space is limited to 15.

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In this workshop participants will be able to decorate a charming gingerbread house.

First Friday Shorts Gallery Talk Victorian Yuletide Friday, December 7, 1:10 p.m.

Paula Caruana, Decorative Arts Assistant Free and Open to the Public

Art and Yoga For Mind, Body and Spirit Saturdays, December 1, 15, 22 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.

Drop in fee: $10 MWPAI Members; $15 General Admission Each class offers a 15-minute introduction to art in the gallery followed by one hour of yoga. All levels of ability are welcome. Wear comfortable clothing and bring your own yoga mat. For more information contact the Museum Education Department at 315-797-0000, extension 2158.

Bus Trip New York City Wednesday, December 5, 6 a.m. to midnight $58 MWPAI Members; $68 General Admission Tickets, 315-797-0055 After being dropped off at Bryant Park where more than 100 artisans sell their wares at the annual holiday shops, enjoy free time all day in the city, shopping, viewing a Broadway show, sight-seeing, museumhopping or taking in the magnificent holiday window displays at stores such as Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor.

Candlelight Tours Tuesday, December 11 or Thursday, December 13 6 to 8 p.m. $12 MWPAI Members; $17 General Admission Tickets 315-797-0055. Space is limited to 20 each night.

Take a nighttime tour of the Museum of Art’s annual Victorian Yuletide exhibition in the Fountain Elms period rooms. Each year’s theme is different while highlighting Christmas traditions of the nineteenth century. Following the tour, linger at the Terrace Café with a fresh baked apple-pear crostata and homemade whipped cream, coffee, tea or punch

by Susan Sady Catering.

Docent Guided Tours Shadow of the Sphinx - Final Tours Saturday, December 1 at 1 p.m.

Sunday, December 2 at 2 p.m.

Free With Exhibition Admission

Victorian Yuletide Saturdays at 2 p.m.

Sunday, December 9 at 2 p.m.

Free and Open to the Public

Seeing the World Within: Charles Seliger in the 40s Sunday, December 9 at 3 p.m.

Free With Exhibition Admission

Free Family Tours Offered in Conjunction With the Film Microcosmos Thursday, December 27, at 3:30 and 6 p.m.

Sunday, December 30 at 3:30 p.m. (see For Families: Holiday Break)

For Families: Holiday Break Drop-in Craft The Visual/Poetic Journal Wednesday, December 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. $3 per person MWPAI Members;$5 per person General Admission Tickets sold at the door.

Recommended for ages 5 to adult.

Taught by Joyce Cabral, artist and former MWPAI Art Box Instructor.

Drop-in anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to make the craft.

Family Film Microcosmos Directed by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou, 1996 France, Rated G, 80 min.

Thursday, December 27, 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 30, 2 p.m. $3 per person MWPAI Members;$5 per person General Admission Tickets sold at the door.

Microcosmos captures the fun and adventure of a spectacular hidden universe revealed in a breathtaking, close-up view unlike anything you've ever seen! Utilizing special macroscopic photographic techniques, filmmakers Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou created this fascinating and visually spectacular look at the hidden worlds in the life cycle of an ordinary meadow in France. Insects become gigantic beasts, blades of grass turn into towering monuments and raindrops form puddles that resemble vast oceans. The filmmakers find humor, drama and beauty in the lives of these tiny flora and fauna as caterpillars transform themselves into butterflies, beetles struggle with their day's foraging, and snails reproduce their species.

• A Free Family Tour of the exhibition: Charles Seliger in the 1940s will follow each of the 2 p.m. film screenings, and at 6 p.m. before the 7:30 p.m. screening.

Art Story: Every Picture Tells a Story An Introduction to Art for Preschoolers

The Art of Eric Carle/Charles Seliger Friday, December 28, 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 29, 10:30 a.m.

Free and Open to the Public This program offers a preschool introduction to art through an Eric Carle picture book and artwork in the exhibition Seeing the World Within: Charles Seliger in the 1940s. Includes a simple take-home craft. A 45minute program for children ages 3 to 5 and their caregivers.

January Book Group Selection The Innocence of Objects

by Orhan Pamuk Discussion Date: Thursday, January 24, 6 to 8 p.m.

Suggested Donation $3 In The Innocence of Objects, (a catalog of his remarkable museum, The Museum of Innocence in Istanbul), Pamuk writes about things that matter deeply to him: the psychology of the collector, the proper role of the museum, the photography of old Istanbul (illustrated with Pamuk’s superb collection of haunting photographs and movie still), and, of course, the customs and traditions of his beloved city.

A limited number of copies are available for purchase at the MWPAI Gift Gallery. Registration is not required, but appreciated. Please contact the Museum Education Department at 315-797-0000, ext. 2158 to register.

Campus Store Holiday Sale Special Selection Of Fun Holiday Gift Items and Stocking Stuffers 25% Off Offer Good Friday, November 30 through Friday, December 14 The Campus Store Will be Closed Saturday December 15 through Monday, January 21.

The Campus Store will resume with regular hours 11 a.m to 4:30 p.m.

The Terrace Café will Close on December 30 and will Reopen June 2013

Wyant Work Currently on View

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ecent visitors to the Museum will have noticed the 19thcentury American landscape painter Alexander Wyant’s large, meditative painting of a forest interior, titled A Midsummer Retreat on display in the galleries. The picture was loaned to the Institute several months ago by a descendant of the original owner. The display of this work highlights the dramatic stylistic change that occurred in the Wyant’s painting technique between the mid-1870s, when he completed this work, and around 1880, when he painted another picture in the Museum’s permanent collection, Rocky Ledge, Adirondacks (or, Adirondack Ledge). The Museum’s painting was more than likely painted a year or so after the artist moved Alexander Helwig Wyant, American (1830-92), A Midsummer Retreat, 1874-75, around 1880 to the Keene Valley in Oil on canvas, 26 x 40in., Anonymous loan in honor of the Museum of Art’s 75th northern New York State.

Anniversary The debilitating stroke that Wyant suffered in 1873 is usually mentioned by the artist’s biographers as the reason he used a looser, more painterly style for the pictures he made during the years he lived in the Keene Valley. Luckily for Wyant, this change took place at a time when American taste was moving beyond the prevailing Hudson River School aesthetic, which featured tightly-painted, nearly scientifically accurate transcriptions of nature, toward a more fluid technique in which thick and broadly painted passages of pigment were intended to evoke poetic, atmospheric moods. This style of painting, called Tonalism, earned Wyant considerable financial success during the final years of his career.

This is the first time that Wyant’s A Midsummer Retreat has been on public display in almost 140 years. The artist initially exhibited the painting in 1875 at New York’s National Academy of Design, then the principal showcase for American artists to exhibit new work. The picture’s ambitious size reflects both the labor required to paint the canvas, and the likelihood that he regarded it as a major piece. Wyant sold the painting around that time to the Brooklyn, N.Y. merchant, Bryan Hooker Smith (18291912), an eighth-generation descendant of Thomas Hooker (1586-1647), the Puritan founder of the Colony of Connecticut.

Although A Midsummer Retreat is dated on the front, lower right of the canvas, “1874-75”—two years after Wyant’s stroke—the painting’s precisely painted highlights and linear details suggest that he may have started the picture before he lost the use of his original painting arm. On the other hand, even if the carefully executed touches of pigment that are visible on the surface of this canvas were painted a year or two after his stoke, the technique Wyant used to execute this work is closer to the traditional Hudson River School style of paint handling than it is to the more painterly, almost flamboyant technique he used to paint the Museum’s Rocky Ledge, Adirondacks.

Because Wyant dated so few of his pictures, the chronological evolution of his stylistic development is somewhat speculative. The date he added to A Midsummer Retreat, therefore, provides rare documentation about his paint handling skills around the time of his debilitating paralysis. The relatively tight painting manner Wyant used to execute this canvas also suggests the possibility that the painterly style he adopted in his later years may not entirely be due to his inability to paint the kind of minutely detailed canvases he executed at the beginning of his career but was, instead, motivated by changes in American taste.

One of the influential voices at the National Academy of Design when Wyant exhibited A Midsummer Retreat there was the American landscape painter Worthington Whittredge (1820-1910). A decade earlier, in 1864, Whittredge painted The Old Hunting Grounds (Reynolda House Museum of American Art), an interior forest scene that was famous in the United States and Europe for embodying the American transcendentalist notion that nature could bring humankind closer to its essential self through quiet self-reflection. Following Whittredge’s example, Wyant’s interior woodland scene is a metaphorical “cathedral of nature,” an intimate place where cool shadows, the sounds of flowing water and rustling leaves, and flickering, dappled light provides the viewer the opportunity for a transcendent encounter with nature.

Holiday Shopping at the MWPAI Gift Gallery

A CANDY CANE TREAT

Now through Sunday, December 23 Select a Candy Cane at checkout and Receive a 10% to 20% Discount on Your Purchases

Members Will Receive an Additional 10% Off Tuesday, December 18 through Sunday, December 30

• Works by 100 Regional Artists and Craftsmen • Convenient Parking • Free Gift Wrapping • Shipping • Gift Cards

Holiday Merchandise Boxed & Single Cards, Gift Wrap, Napkins, Ornaments, Holiday Books, Advent Calendars Holiday Jewelry and 2013 Calendars

35% Off • 45% Off for Members

Consignment Items and Manager Specials are excluded from all promotional offers.

Gift Gallery Hours for December Tuesday-Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. • Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.

Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, December 25 and January 1, 2013

Film Series Titles Available Online and By Phone Titles will be announced as they become available on our website at mwpai.org., Facebook (fb.mwpai.org) or by phone 797-0055, option 3. Become a part of our film series email list to receive the latest updates by contacting rfrable@mwpai.org. Advertisements will also appear on the last Monday of each month in the Observer-Dispatch. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, however, this helps ensure that you are presented with only the latest and finest films.

Films are shown on Wednesdays and Fridays at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

All films are shown in 35mm format, with a state-of-the-art Dolby surround sound system.

Comfortable seats give every patron an unobstructed view of our large screen.

Admission for Matinee screenings is $7 general admission and $5 for MWPAI Members.

Admission for Evening screenings is $8 general admission and $6 for MWPAI Members.

Admission for students with valid identification is $4 at all screenings. Tickets are on sale 30 minutes prior to each screening.

Film Passbooks for discounted admission to 10 screenings are available for MWPAI members for $45 and General Admission for $60. For information call the MWPAI Performing Arts Ticket Office, 797-0055, 800-754-0797.

This series is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

State of the Arts

NYSCA

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS (and renewing members providing additional support at higher levels)

Business Members 310 Genesee Street Utica, New York 13502

Leader Caruso McLean & Co., Inc. • Stephen Caruso Cathedral Corporation • Marianne & Peter Gaige Coca-Cola Bottling Company • Deb Shambo PJ Green Advertising Service • Rick Green

Members Fountain Elms Society

Family/Household

John C. Brown Rand Carter Mrs. Richard W. Couper Susan W. & B. Lees Divine Daniel & Anne-Marie Jones Daniel O'Leary & Kathy Bouchard

Bill & Jen Babula Roberta & Douglas Bardin Shyla & Bob Edwards Leah L. Fallis John & Kristin Friedel Jeff & Karen Katz Laura Kilty & Bruce Kramer Lisa & Amy Lopez Eugene & Christine Lozner Allison & Olivia Mundschenk Dr. Bahram & Ramona Omidian Colleen & Anthony Panebianco Louisa Ruffine Katie Vannicola & Mark Zsurka

President’s Circle Hugh and Liz Humphreys

Patron Harold Albert & Cheryl Morgan Ruth Berkowitz Joan Clair Gary & Bonnie Grossman

Individual

Contributor Arlene Aguam Scott & Judi Clippinger Frank & Carol Furno Mr. Thomas Hartman Edward & Sharon Rowan Dr. Mukesh & Dr. Paru Shah Dr. & Mrs. Daniel Uwah Bonnie & Darren Woods

Tamta Bolashvili JoAnn Colacicco Jessie DeLuco Katherine Kreisher Heather Marsh Olga Palczynski Shobha Rao Patricia Rumrich Barbara Wroblewski

FE Society Fresh Roots Makes Ideal Gift Looking for an ideal holiday gift for the young professional in your family?

An annual membership in the Institute's Fountain Elms Society Fresh Roots is available for those between age 21 and 35.

This special reduced rate membership of $500 in our leadership donor society includes special access to MWPAI events and exhibitions as well as exclusive receptions.

Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Information and Hours Museum Hours (including Fountain Elms): Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5p.m., Sun. 1-5 p.m.

Performing Arts Ticket Office Hours: Mon.Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., one hour before performances and 30 minutes before films. Phone: 797-0055 or 1-800-754-0797 Art Odyssey: Interactive Gallery Hours: Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 1-5 p.m., School of Art Gallery Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-noon. Library: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat. noon-5 p.m.

For information, call (315) 797-0000 (Voice and TDD) General program support for the Museum of Art, performing arts and film presentations is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute is a fine arts center serving diverse audiences through three program divisions— Museum of Art, Performing Arts, and School of Art. The Institute also offers art reference and music libraries, an active membership program, a Gift Gallery, and outstanding rental facilities ideal for public programs and private events.

Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute 310 Genesee Street Utica, New York 13502 Telephone (315) 797-0000 Fax (315) 797-5608 www.mwpai.org Free Parking

Contact the Development Office at 315-797-0000 ext. 2297.

DECEMBER EVENTS 1 Saturday

11 Tuesday

21 Friday

28 Friday

Workshop for Kids of All Ages Gingerbread House 9 a.m. Fountain Elms Terrace, preregistration required.

Candlelight Tour: Victorian Yuletide 6 p.m., Fountain Elms, preregistration required.

Film Series: Call or visit our website 2 and 7:30 p.m., Auditorium.

12 Wednesday

Art and Yoga 10:30 a.m., Museum Galleries.

Film Series: Call or visit our website 2 and 7:30 p.m., Auditorium.

Art and Yoga 10:30 a.m., Museum Galleries.

ArtStory: Every Picture Tells a Story, An Introduction to Art for Preschoolers 10:30 and 6:30 p.m., Art Odyssey Interactive Gallery.

5 Wednesday

13 Thursday

Closed to the Public

Bus Trip: New York City 6 a.m. to midnight, preregistration required.

Candlelight Tour: Victorian Yuletide 6 p.m., Fountain Elms, preregistration required.

26 Wednesday

Film Series: Call or visit our website 2 and 7:30 p.m., Auditorium.

14 Friday

7 Friday

Film Series: Call or visit our website 2 and 7:30 p.m., Auditorium.

First Friday Shorts Gallery Talk Victorian Yuletide 1:10 p.m., Museum of Art.

Ballet Performance: The Nutcracker 7 p.m., MVCC Theater.

Film Series: Call or visit our website 2 and 7:30 p.m., Auditorium.

Art and Yoga 10:30 a.m., Museum Galleries.

8 Saturday Concerts in the Court Hilary Cole 8 p.m., Edward Wales Root Sculpture Court.

ArtBreak Talk Some Enchanted Evening Concerts in the Court Intermission, Museum Galleries.

15 Saturday Ballet Performance: The Nutcracker 2 and 7 p.m., MVCC Theater.

16 Sunday Ballet Performance: The Nutcracker 2 p.m., MVCC Theater.

19 Wednesday Film Series: Call or visit our website 2 and 7:30 p.m., Auditorium.

The following areas are accessible to the physically challenged: Museum of Art galleries, Auditorium and Sculpture Court, Children’s Room, Gift Gallery, Art Reference and Music Libraries, Performing Arts Office, School of Art Gallery, Studio D, and the Pottery Studio, the Academic Center and Student Center.

22 Saturday 25 Tuesday For Families: Drop-in Craft 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Art Odyssey Interactive Gallery.

Film Series: Call or visit our website 2 and 7:30 p.m., Auditorium.

27 Thursday Family Film: Microcosmos 2 and 7:30 p.m. Auditorium.

Free Family Tours: Seeing the World Within: Charles Seliger in the 1940s 3:30 and 6 p.m., Meets in the Edward Wales Root Sculpute.

Film Series: Call or visit our website 2 and 7:30 p.m., Auditorium.

29 Saturday ArtStory: Every Picture Tells a Story, An Introduction to Art for Preschoolers 10:30 a.m., Art Odyssey Interactive Gallery.

30 Sunday Family Film: Microcosmos 2 and 7:30 p.m. Auditorium.

Free Family Tour: Seeing the World Within Charles Seliger in the 1940s 3:30 p.m., Meets in the Edward Wales Root Sculpute.

Docent Guided Tours Seeing the World Within: Shadow of the Sphinx - Final Tours Charles Seliger in the 40s Saturday, December 1 at 1 p.m.

Sunday, December 9 at 3 p.m.

Sunday, December 2 at 2 p.m.

Free With Exhibition Admission

Free With Exhibition Admission

Victorian Yuletide Saturdays at 2 p.m.

Sunday, December 9 at 2 p.m.

Free and Open to the Public

Free Family Tours Offered with the Film Microcosmos Thursday, December 27 at 3:30 & 6 p.m.

Sunday, December 30 at 3:30 p.m.