Actions for the Earth resources

Thanks to docent-in-training Deepthi for sending along a link to curator Sharmila Wood and artist Katie West discussing the museum’s current exhibition Actions for the Earth:

Curator Sharmila Wood Interviews Artist Katie West The Artist’s Digest

There is also a video of Sharmila talking on the museum’s digital guide, scan the QR code here to access.

And if you would like to read all the labels for this exhibition, here is a PDF of those:

Labels for Actions for the Earth from ICI (PDF)

Actions for the Earth resources

We are so excited about our upcoming exhibition, Actions for the Earth opening tonight, Aug 9th!

Installation image and program schedule (PDF)

This is the first in a series of posts about resources and references for this exhibition.

The artists Ackroyd and Harvey have a small photograph in the exhibition titled “Beuys’ Acorns, 2007”. Find out more about the artist Joseph Beuys and his project “7,000 Oaks – City Forestation Instead of City Administration” in this article:

Joseph Beuys: Healing a Wounded World – Artland Magazine

This quote is on the label for the work: “We must continue along the road of interrelating socioecologically all the forces present in our society until we perform an action which extends to the fields of culture, economy and democratic rights.” – Joseph Beuys

Additionally they have a link to the Culture Declares Emergency
movement (co-founded by Ackroyd and Harvey):

www.culturedeclares.org 

Developing Inclusive Tours – resources from other institutions

There are a lot of great resources from fellow arts institutions on developing and implementing inclusive tour practices. Here are just a few that have been recommended to us:

Inclusive Language Guide (PDF)

Tour Toolkit (artsmia.github.io) extensive guide to developing inclusive tours from the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Creating Inclusive Tours: Five Strategies for Engaging English Learning Visitors in Museums – American Alliance of Museums (aam-us.org)

Art Vision tour program continues to serve JCCC healthcare students

Katherine leading JCCC nursing student tour

We had a blast leading tours for JCCC Nursing students yesterday evening, continuing our tour programming specifically designed for healthcare professionals to help them hone their observational skill through looking at art.

We’ve hosted many Art Vision tours and programs over the years, if you haven’t had a chance to attend or lead a tour, here is some additional information you can check out:

Art Vision symposium guest speaker M. Jordan Love: watch video

University of South Florida, Contemporary Art Museum: watch video

Yale Center for British Art and dermatology: watch video

Artist Bridget Stewart: Observation Mindfulness PDF

Art21 Video Resources

Did you know that the popular series Art21 features numerous videos about artists in the Nerman Museum’s collection? There are videos about artists Louise Bourgeois, Nick Cave, Do Ho Suh, Keltie Ferris, Kerry James Marshall, Arlene Shechet and more.

Amy Sillman: To Abstract | Art21

New this week there is a video about Amy Sillman, an artist whose work, Elephant, is often feature on tours at the museum. Check it out!

Kahlil Irving Exhibition closes July 7

It seems like only yesterday that the exhibition AnticKS & MOdels + My theater to your eyes: Kahlil Robert Irving opened at the museum, but somehow it has actually been four months and it is closing in just a few weeks. Make sure to come see the exhibition again before July 7!

A great review of the exhibition was published in KC Studio Magazine: A show of intellectual and creative force – KC STUDIO

And the word game we created to engage visitors with the exhibition has been a hit. Feedback from many groups has been overwhelmingly positive. One written note I received read, “the words you handed out really helped me in getting a new perspective and searching for deeper meaning in the artwork.”

Dyani White Hawk video online

When Dyani White Hawk visited fall 2023 (just before she won the MacArther Genius grant!) we were able to sit down and chat about her work in the museum’s collection. A video of her speaking specifically about Untitled (All the Colors), and the transcript, are now available online:

All the Colors Dyani White Hawk video transcript (PDF)

New Installation of Artworks in Museum

Hallway installation 2024 May (PDF of Labels)

Just outside of the museum’s studio classroom and administrative offices there is an installation of works on paper and a small weaving from the museum’s permanent collection now on view! These works take the place of the Prairie Printmaker works that had been installed in that space since last fall. Stop by and take a look sometime soon, as these works will likely only be on view through summer, getting swapped out in early fall (TBD).

There is also a new work on view in the adult classroom space, a work on paper by Dylan Mortimer (this takes the place of the Emmi Whitehorse). If you missed it back in 2017, we have video of Dylan speaking at the Dazzling Decade exhibition opening (he speaks second, starting at about minute 23).

 

Fun fact: the hallway is one of the best places to install these smaller scale light-sensitive works in the museum because it has almost no natural light exposure. It is also an area that gets a lot of foot traffic.

Zielinski sculpture on campus fully installed once more!

You may have noticed that in the last year the Andrzej Zieliński sculpture on campus, ὀμφαλός (Omphalos) Syndrome (2017), was incomplete – the wooden slab at the top and center of the sculpture was missing. This was due to an ongoing restoration effort to install the wooden portion such that it will be highly resistant to wind (this is something we need to be mindful of in Kansas!) The museum’s preparatory team re-installed the wooden portion of the work with a new system securing it to the stone base so that it will now stand the test of time – and 50mph winds!

Check it out next time you are over on that side of campus, near the sports fields and just outside the Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) building.

The title here ὀμφαλός (Omphalos) Syndrome references the belief (perhaps misguided) that a place of geopolitical power is the most important place in the world. Among the Ancient Greeks, it was believed that the city of Delphi held this central significance. According to myth, Zeus placed the sacred omphalos stone at Delphi, designating it as the center of the Earth. In this sculpture, the wooden slap is placed perpendicular to the large stone base that is perched atop a tangle of bright green metal zigzag lines. Technology is a common theme in Zielinski’s work, and here the arrangement of the parts of the sculpture could suggest a laptop with the screen open and the green maze of lines representing the electrical signals conveying information to and from the device. Is Zielinski suggesting that our devices have become portals to the most significant ‘place’ in our current moment – the online world?

For more information about Zielinski and his inspirations, check out the exhibition page from his 2015 solo exhibition at the Nerman Museum:  Andrzej Zielinski · Open Sourced | Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art