Davenport, Iowa (February 28, 2013) - Beginning Saturday the Figge Art Museum will present the exhibition: Marking Territory: Cartographic Treasures of the Mississippi River and the World Beyond in the second floor print gallery.  

Curated by Rima Girnius, PhD, the exhibition features a selection of more than 25 historic maps that range from early representations of the world to more detailed examinations of America's vast interior west of the Mississippi. The exhibition explores how maps communicate highly complex ideas about identity, politics and culture.

American identity coincided with the evolution of maps. From the late 17th through the 19th centuries, cartographers and explorers recorded what they were learning about the United States interior west of the Mississippi. Never innocent of broader political objectives, these maps of the New World function as exercises in power, attempts on the part of one nation and race to exert control over another. For example, the shifting boundaries of Iowa in the 19th century demonstrate the American government's interest in solidifying borders and publicly laying claim on territories.

In documenting the fluidity and continuity between territories, maps suggest that the West is capable of being traversed and thus inhabited, conquered and exploited. Informed by political agendas and underlying values, maps function as important historical and cultural documents that offer a compelling look into the past. They remind the exhibition viewer to look for what is not only present in an image but also what has been hidden from view.

According to Girnius, "The featured maps contribute to our growing knowledge of the physical world by functioning as essential navigation and information-gathering tools and thus providing insight on what people knew (or thought they knew) about their environment."

The exhibition will be on display through June 16 and is sponsored by Humanities Iowa.

Companion Programming:

Collecting and Curating Reception and Talk

Thursday, March 7

6 p.m. Reception • 7 p.m. Talk

Presenters: Rima Girnius, PhD, and H. Dee Hoover

Introduction to the exhibition by Curator Rima Girnius followed by a gallery talk with map collector H. Dee Hoover about the maps featured.

Artist Talk

Personal Geography: Charting a Course

7 p.m. Thursday, March 21

Presenter: Maureen Bardusk

Join studio artist Maureen Bardusk for a presentation of her unique stitched paper work, during which she will discuss her ideas and technique. Bardusk also will describe her creative life in Galena, Illinois, after which she will provide audience members with a hands-on display of her work in various stages.

Free Family Day

Maps: Adventure, Fun & Family

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Saturday, April 13

Find the fastest route to the FREE Figge Family Day, "Maps-Adventure, Fun and Family." Make a treasure map, learn about maps of all kinds, chart your family tree and more as you explore the wonderful world of maps!

Docent-led Tours

3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2, 9, 16 and 23

6 p.m. on Thursdays, March 7 and 21

1:30 p.m. on Sundays in April 7, 14, 21 and 28

Interactive Workshop

Given Space: Writing Your Own Cartography

6-8 p.m. Thursday, June 6

Presenter: E. Marie Bertram

Join poet and Augustana Professor E. Marie Bertram for this interactive workshop combining visual art and the written word. This workshop is free, but space is limited so registration is required. To register, contact Heather Aaronson at 563.326.7804 x2045 or haaronson@figgeartmuseum.org .

X Marks the Spot

March 9-June 16

Families can visit X Marks the Spot in Studio 1. Chart a route to learning and adventure, exploring everything from the trusty road atlas to genealogical maps that trace your family history. 

About the Figge Art Museum 

The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays 12-5 p.m. Thursdays the museum is open until 9 p.m. Admission to the museum and tour is $7. Admission is free to Figge members and institutional members. To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit www.figgeartmuseum.org.

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Davenport, Iowa (February 21, 2013) - The Figge Art Museum will again present an exhibition of current works by members of the University of Iowa Studio Art faculty beginning Saturday and running through May 5, 2013.

The University of Iowa Faculty Biennial exhibition is curated by UIMA Director Sean O'Harrow and includes graphic design, 3D design, sculpture, painting, printmaking, intermedia, ceramics, photography, jewelry and metalwork, drawing and multimedia.

The last biennial, which was hosted by the Figge in 2011, was popular with audiences, and this year's show is guaranteed to be equally enticing. Participating faculty include : Hartmut Austen, Isabel Barbuzza, Anthony Castronovo, Peter Chanthanakone, Thomas Christison, Chunghi Choo, Ronald M. Cohen, Monica Correia, Brad Dicharry, John Dilg, David Dunlap, Laurel Farrin, Robert O. Glasgow, Ab Gratama, Sue Hettmansperger, Anita Jung, Sarah Kanouse, Amanda Lee, Vinicius Lima, Jeremy Lundquist, Steve McGuire, Virginia Myers, Mat Rude, James Snitzer, Margaret Stratton, Heidi Van Wieren, Susan Chrysler White, Rachel Marie-Crane Williams, Jon Winet and Kee-ho Yuen.

The school's studio arts program, which dates to the establishment of the Department of Graphic and Plastic Arts in 1910, is considered one of the best public offerings in the country and has hosted a number of famous artists on its list of faculty.

University of Iowa students, faculty, and staff receive free admission to the Figge with their UI ID cards; UIMA donors get in free with their Donor Courtesy Cards.

Companion Events:

Artists Reception

3-5 p.m. Sunday, February 24

Meet the artists and enjoy hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar.

Single Speed Geography on The Continental Divide–

Designing, Building, Riding

7 p.m. Thursday, April 4

Artist: Steve McGuire

Steve McGuire, professor of 3D design and metal arts, will present a lecture on his current work which centers on titanium hand-built bicycles and the stories of time-trialing them, self-supported, in unforgiving locations such as the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

About the Figge Art Museum

The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays 12-5 p.m. Thursdays the museum is open until 9 p.m. Admission to the museum and tour is $7. Admission is free to Figge members and institutional members. To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit www.figgeartmuseum.org.

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Davenport, Iowa (January 17, 2013) - For a limited time only, Quad-Citians will have a wonderful opportunity to view a rarely exhibited Arts and Crafts period punch bowl. The sterling silver bowl is on loan courtesy of The Cliff Dwellers, a Chicago arts club and gathering place for artists and people interested in the arts.

The Punch Bowl is an excellent example of Arts and Crafts period hollowware. The bowl's decoration was taken from Ancient Pueblo pottery designs at Chicago's Field Museum and is an example of how Midwestern Arts and Crafts and Prairie School architects and craftsmen incorporated Native American motifs into their designs.

The Cliff Dwellers, founded in 1907 as "The Attic Club" by the author Hamlin Garland in consultation with prominent Chicago artists Ralph Clarkson, Lorado Taft and others, was intended to be Chicago's answer to the legendary Players Club in New York City.  In 1909, The Cliff Dwellers moved into a space designed for it on the top floor of what was then known as Orchestra Hall.

In 1910, club member Charles L. Hutchinson on the occasion of the club's second anniversary in its new location commissioned a silver punch bowl crafted by renowned Chicago Arts and Crafts metal-smith and fellow "Cliff Dweller," (as members are known) Robert Riddle Jarvie, U.S., 1865 - 1941.  Hutchinson, was one of the founders of the Art Institute and served as the second President of Cliff Dwellers.  On the occasion of the bowl's presentation, a short play, The Masque of Quetzal's Bowl, written by Thomas Wood Stevens and Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, was performed.  The New York Times reviewed the "Masque" and characterized it as "slight," but acknowledged that its authors had considerable knowledge of southwest legends.

Jarvie's works can be found in a number of important decorative art collections including the Art Institute, the L. A. County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The bowl will be on view in the Figge's Frank Lloyd Wright / Western themed permanent collection galleries through April 14, 2013.

About the Figge Art Museum

The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays 12-5 p.m. Thursdays the museum is open until 9 p.m. Admission to the museum and tour is $7. Admission is free to Figge members and institutional members. To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit our website, www.figgeartmuseum.org.

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Davenport, Iowa (December 2012) - The Figge Art Museum is pleased to announce it has received a grant from Humanities Iowa. The Figge was recently awarded a $5,000 grant for its upcoming exhibition Marking Territory: Cartographic Treasures of the Mississippi Valley and the World Beyond which will be on display from March 3, 2013 - June 16, 2013.

Marking Territory is a Figge-curated exhibition that draws upon the map collection of the University of Iowa Libraries as well as a private collection. Featuring a selection of 25-plus historic maps that range from early representations of the world to more detailed examinations of America's vast interior west of the Mississippi, the exhibition explores how maps communicate highly complex ideas about identity, politics and culture. The exhibition will be part of the Figge's ongoing exhibition series Visions of Iowa. Established in 2009, the series provides a platform for showcasing art that provides a historical and contemporary perspective on the people and places that make up Iowa.

The exhibition will be supplemented with extensive educational programming such as lectures, gallery talks and family events. Funding from Humanities Iowa will be used to support educational programming for the exhibition.

Humanities Iowa is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and brings the humanities to the public through grant making, publications, and through interactive programming and events; www.uiowa.edu/~humiowa.The views and opinions expressed by the exhibition and its educational programming do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities Iowa or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information and museum hours, contact the Figge at 563.326.7804 or visit www.figgeartmuseum.org.

 

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