Thursday, November 3, 6:30 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
Delivering an informative presentation on the Figge Art Museum's current exhibition Message from Our Planet: Digital Art from the Thoma Collection, special guest Jason Foumberg will host a November 3 Curator Talk at the Davenport venue, discussing and exploring the fascinating works found in this collection of 20 unique software, video, and light-technology artworks.
With the exhibition backed by supporting sponsor American Bank & Trust and the contributing sponsors of the Carolyn Levine & Leonard Kallio Trust, Message from Our Planet: Digital Art from the Thoma Collection is curated by the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation, and proposes that media technologies – from vintage devices to cutting-edge digital algorithms – offer distinct ways for artists to communicate with future generations. Organized like a time capsule, the exhibition’s artworks reflect the artifacts and ambitions of contemporary society. Inspired by the interstellar time-capsule containing examples of human culture sent with NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched into outer space in 1977, the exhibition recognizes that artworks may be theoretically reconstituted from their digital code by future worlds, to witness the multivocal message by this grouping of Earth’s artists who share the human desire to be understood.
Inspired to make contributions with wide-ranging yet personal impact, Carl and Marilynn Thoma founded the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation in 2014 to distinguish their initiatives in and support of the visual arts. The Thomas hold a strong belief that the arts play a seminal role in society, and the establishment of an arts-specific foundation allowed them to be secure in the knowledge that their passion in this area would be sustained for decades to come. In 2021, the Foundation was re-named to more broadly reflect our expanded efforts. The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation’s philanthropic reach extends beyond the art world to strengthen community, leadership, and education initiatives in under-resourced and rural areas.
Serving as presenter for the Figge's latest Curator Talk, Jason Foumberg is the Thoma Foundation Curator of Digital & Media Art. Since 2014, he has curated annual exhibitions at the Foundation’s public spaces in Santa Fe and Chicago, as well as touring exhibits of digital art with U.S. museum partners.
Foumberg's Curator Talk will take place at 6:30 p.m. on November 3, participation is free, and the Message from Our Planet: Digital Art from the Thoma Collection will be on display through December 31. For more information, call (563)326-7832 and visit FiggeArtMuseum.org.