On Thursday, June 7th Governor Terry Branstad will proclaim June 11-17, 2012 as Iowa Museum Week.  During this week, Iowa's museums will raise awareness of their programs and celebrate what makes them unique community assets.  Iowa's ninety-nine counties are home to hundreds of historical societies and specialized museums as well as to major regional collections in art, history, agricultural, botanical and living collections.  Iowa's museums are important community assets, attracting  visitors to area hotels, restaurants, and recreational areas;  providing education and outreach for all ages; driving both incoming tourism revenue and job creation; and contributing to the overall quality of life that makes Iowa's communities great places to live, work, and raise a family.

Governor Branstad has recognized the importance of Iowa's museums in his proclamation, stating that Iowa Museum Week will celebrate the crucial role of Iowa's museums in preserving the historical fabric and memory of our state through preservation of artifacts and archives; in providing educational resources and programs which expand learning opportunities for all ages; in contributing to a vibrant community and state economy through job creation, purchase of goods and services, and by attracting tourism revenue to the community and state; and in their significant role in enhancing community quality of life.

A 2011 survey of 174 Iowa museums (about half of all Iowa museums) found that they maintain 5.4 million artifacts of all types.  They employ 1,464 individuals and depend upon 28,416 volunteers.  Surveyed Iowa museums served 4.2 million visitors in 2010 and provided 11,105 public programs.  Those museums participating in the survey had a total operating budget of $57 million in 2010, portions of which derived from individuals, community, county, state and federal sources.

Brucemore, Iowa's only National Trust Historic Site, will offer buy one get one free mansion tours in honor of Iowa Museum Week June 12 through 17. Mansion tours are offered March through December, Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 3:00 p.m. Tours begin on the hour and last approximately 50 minutes. Admission is $7.00 for adults, $3.00 for children between the ages of 6 and 18, and free to Brucemore members. Purchase tickets in the Brucemore Store and Visitor Center. Please contact Brucemore at (319) 362-7375 or visit www.brucemore.org for more information.

Iowa's museums are supported in their missions by the Iowa Museum Association, a statewide association of museums including art centers and art museums, botanical gardens, children's museums, historic sites, historical societies, living history sites, nature centers, natural history museums, planetariums, science and technology centers, and zoos.

The mission of the Iowa Museum Association is to provide quality training and development to Iowa museum professionals and volunteers, advocate for support of Iowa's museums, and build a strong community of museums and museum supporters in Iowa.

The public is invited to join the Muscatine Art Center in welcoming Carol Ehlers, art history speaker, as she presents a 45 minute lecture on the art of French painter and sculptor Henri Matisse. The lecture will take place Thursday, May 24 at 5:30 pm in the Muscatine Art Center's Music Room. Admission is free.

Henri Matisse was an artist known as a draftsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter and for his use of color. Matisse was one of the leaders of the "Fauves", a group of painters united by their use of fresh color, pure pigments and distortion of form. Years later he would be hailed as a champion of the classical tradition in French painting. His mastery of the expressive language of color and drawing, displayed in a body of work spanning over a half-century, won him recognition as a leading figure in modern art.

Henri->mile-Benoît Matisse was born December 31, 1869 in France. He first started to paint in 1889, after his mother brought him art supplies while he recovered from appendicitis. He discovered "a kind of paradise" as he later described it, and decided to become an artist, deeply disappointing his father, who wanted him to study law.

In late 1890's Matisse was introduced to Post-Impressionism, which changed his style completely. Many of Matisse's paintings from 1898 to 1901 make use of the pointillist technique he adopted from Georges Seurat and Paul Signac.

Later in life and wheelchair-bound, Matisse started creating cut paper collages, called gouaches découpés. He called this technique "painting with scissors". In 1951 he finished a four-year project of designing the interior, the glass windows and the decorations of the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence, often referred to as the Matisse Chapel. Matisse died of a heart attack at the age of 84 in 1954.

In 1992 the Muscatine Art Center's collections were significantly enriched by a gift of twenty-seven works of art by Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse, Degas, Boudin, Chagall, Renoir, and other European artists. The collection was a gift from the estate of Mary Musser Gilmore in honor of her parents, Richard Drew Musser and Sarah Walker Musser. The paintings are on permanent display in the Laura Musser Mansion.

EVENT DETAILS:

Lecture: "The Wonderful World of Color: Henri Matisse"

Who: Carol Ehlers

When: Thursday, May 24, 2012

Time: 5:30 PM

Where: The Muscatine Art Center's Music Room

Admission to this program is FREE.

Please contact Katy Doherty, Program Coordinator, with any questions or concerns at  563-263-8282 or by email at kdoherty@muscatineiowa.gov.

The Muscatine Art Center is open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday from 10 AM to 7 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 PM Admission is FREE.

Davenport, IOWA (May 2012) In celebration of National Bike Month, the Figge has re-installed Lance Armstrong, a photograph by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.  The photo, taken in 1999, depicts the seven time Tour de France champion nude on his bike riding through rain.  The photo is on view in the museum lobby and there is no admission fee to view the work.  The museum encourages bikers on the Mississippi waterfront trail to make a stop at the Figge a part of their ride. A bike rack is available on the east side of the Figge Plaza on 2nd Street.

This installation is offered in partnership with Bicycle Friendly Quad Cities and Bike Month. To learn more about Bicycle Friendly Quad Cities and Bike Month activities, visit www.qcbikemonth.com.

About the Figge Art Museum