In connection with the current PENCIL exhibit at the German American Heritage Center and Museum, the Book Discussion Group will discuss the book "The Pencil" written by Henry Petroski. The discussion will be led by St. Ambrose University Professor Michael Hustedde.

 

Petroski's witty and unexpected history of the pencil includes a wide range of characters: from the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, and Toulouse Lautrec, who declared, "I am a pencil", to the great nineteenth-century manufacturing families, such as Dixon and Faber. Petroski charmingly celebrates the design history of one of mankind's most essential, and yet undervalued tools.


 

The program will be held at the German American Heritage Center and Museum, 712 West 2nd Street. Davenport, at 2:00 on Sunday, August 28th.

 

Free to members, free to non-members with museum admission.

 

See the pencil art and collections on display at GAHC.

Watch for information regarding the visit to the Quad-Cities of the author Henry Petroski.

Information session offered Wednesday, August 24

The Figge Art Museum is offering an information session on the museum's Candidate Docent Training Program at 10:30 am Wednesday, August 24. Docents are volunteers who lead exhibition tours for schoolchildren and adults. Museum staff will explain the program requirements and answer questions prospective docents may have about the program. The information session will last about an hour.

The Candidate Docent Training Program consists of art history talks, gallery talks, and group activities to learn how to talk about and help visitors appreciate works of art on display in the Figge galleries. The program runs 9:30-11:30 Wednesday, September 14-December 7. The program is taught by Figge Curator of Education Ann Marie Hayes-Hawkinson, guest lecturers, and Figge docents who serve as mentors.

For more information about the Figge's Docent Program, please visit the Figge website at www.figgeart.org.

-end-

 

WHAT:   Quad   City   Arts Art @ the Airport

WHEN:          September 1- October 26, 2011   

WHERE:       Quad City International Airport Gallery,   2200 69th Ave. ,  Moline ,  IL    

WHO:             Michael Johnson, photography and Donald Noon, sculpture  

In September and October, Art @ the Airport features photography by Michael Johnson and sculptures & drawings by Donald Noon.

Michael Johnson of   Mount Carroll  Illinois   is a photographer that has forty continuous years of studying the landscape of  Northwestern Illinois . He spends most of my time looking at the land and planning the finished image before photographing his image. His beautiful large prints emphasize the rich complexity and specific qualities of light. When planning the appropriate motif, Johnson requires a suitable pattern of shadow and light which can take weeks or months to evaluate and find in the right combination to resolve the composition.

Donald M.  Noon  of   Streator  Illinois   is a sculptor whose work strives to evoke the viewer through reflection and the use of amorphous shapes that stem from Native American culture.  Noon  will be exhibiting his dramatic sculptures based of Monoliths, which have carried spiritual, religious and scientific significance throughout the course of mankind. His sculptures and drawings aim to conjure the significance of this beyond the formal aspects of composition.

Both artists focus on the history and significance of life. One artist addresses the natural beauty and journal of  Northwestern Illinois  landscapes, and the other on the spiritual and human significance of the Native American culture.

Don't miss this is exhibit just because you don't have a plane to catch-the lights in the gallery are always on and the airport offers free parking for the first hour. Meet a friend for lunch and enjoy the art! Quad City International airport gallery is easy to access with one hour of free parking to allow plenty of time to browse the exhibit.

Quad City Arts is a nonprofit local arts agency dedicated to the growth and vitality of the Quad City region through the presentation, development, and celebration of the arts and humanities. All Quad City Arts programs are funded in part by Festival of Trees, Quad City Arts Partners and operating grants from the Illinois Arts Council (a state agency) and the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs. This gallery and exhibit is generously sponsored by the Quad CityInternational Airport.

-30-

In connection with the current PENCIL exhibit at the German American Heritage Center and Museum, the Book Discussion Group will discuss the book "The Pencil" written by Henry Petroski. The discussion will be led by St. Ambrose University Professor Michael Hustedde.

 

Petroski's witty and unexpected history of the pencil includes a wide range of characters: from the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, and Toulouse Lautrec, who declared, "I am a pencil", to the great nineteenth-century manufacturing families, such as Dixon and Faber. Petroski charmingly celebrates the design history of one of mankind's most essential, and yet undervalued tools.

 

The program will be held at the German American Heritage Center and Museum, 712 West 2nd Street. Davenport, at 2:00 on Sunday, August 28th.

 

Free to members, free to non-members with museum admission.

 

See the pencil art and collections on display at GAHC.

Watch for information regarding the visit to the Quad-Cities of the author Henry Petroski.

The work of two local artists will go on display at the Phoenix Gallery in Moline in an opening reception scheduled for Friday, August 26.  Artists Zachary Cleve and Emma Farber are proud to present "Stepping in, Looking Through," a two-person fine arts exhibition with paintings that explore themes of isolation, obstacles, communication and personal development. The opening reception will be held from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, and is open to the public.

The work will be up from Friday, August 26 to Saturday, October 29. The gallery hours are Wednesday, 6-9pm, Thursday 6-9 (for viewing only), and Friday and Saturday, 6pm to midnight. The Phoenix Gallery is at 1530 Fifth Avenue, Moline, Illinois.

"In Praise of the Pencil"
an  exhibit honoring 250 years of the first pencil factory in Germany

Sunday, August 21  2:00 pm.

Grand opening of the exhibit and prize ceremony for winning entrants.

  • Featuring: Local Pencil Art Show
  • The Fantastic Pencil Sculptures of Jennifer Maestre
  • Pencil History and Design Timeline
  • Famous Pencil Fans
  • Pencil Collections
  • How Pencils are Made DVD and Illustrated Steps
  • Pencil Trivia and more!

ENTRY DEADLINE FOR THE PENCIL ART COMPETITION:  JULY 18, 2011

 

The German American Heritage Center (GAHC) invites you to submit works of art for an exhibition entitled "In Praise of the Pencil."  The purpose of the exhibit is to enrich public understanding of the role of Germany and German-Americans in the development and manufacture of the pencil as an artistic medium, a common tool in many trades, and a useful everyday object.  The pencil celebrates its 250th

anniversary of mass manufacture in Germany in the year 2011.

 

 

"In Praise of the Pencil" is a juried exhibition open to artists living within a 250 miles radius of the Quad Cities. Works may be submitted for showing in two media, pencil sketches or sculpture in which pencils or pencil pieces are the primary construction material.  It is not necessary to feature the pencil itself as subject of the work. Pencils used may be graphite or colored. Artists may submit in one or both media and may have work exhibited in one or both media. Prizes will be awarded in two age divisions - junior artists in grades 6-12 and adult.

 

Specifics:   Sketches and sculpture must be original, created in the last two years and not previously exhibited at GAHC.   All work must be framed or supplied with a base and otherwise be ready to display with the artist's name, age division and title of the work on the back or under the base. Signed reproductions are excluded. Sketches have no size restrictions; sculpture should not exceed 27" in height.   Only three cases can accommodate a 25"width; most have shelves 16" wide. GAHC can refuse works which do not meet these requirements or are found unsuitable for exhibit. Prices should reflect a 35% commission retained by GAHC in event of a sale.

 

Entry: Fill out the entry form and list the title, size, medium and year created for each entry.  Note if a detail image is included.   Repeat process for each additional entry.  Submit images on a CD as jpg files with a minimum of 300 dpi resolution. Each file must be less than 5 MB. Label each file with a number that corresponds to the number on your entry blank and the title. To maintain anonymity for the blind jury, your name must not be included in the file's name, but do write your name on your disc.

 

Entry fee: $10 per entry; unlimited.

 

Awards and Prizes: Best of Show, First Place, Second Place and Third Place in each age division.

 

Jurors:   Work will be juried by Quad City Arts Public and Visual art Committee, the German American Heritage Center and a professional art educator in the local community.

 

Questions?    Contact Janet Brown-Lowe at GAHC (563) 322-8844 or director@gahc.org.   Additional entry blanks are available at GAHC or may be downloaded from the QC Arts website atwww.quadcityarts.com.

Funding for this exhibit through October 30 provided by the 

Riverboat Development Authority and Wenger Truck Lines.

During our summer break we are working on getting the Go Loopy bus completed and ready for tours to the Artist's studios, so collectors can buy directly from the Artists as well as to Art Galleries in the towns and cities along the Mississippi where the river flows west, i.e from Muscatine to LeClaire on the Iowa side and Illinois City and Port Byron in the Illinois side. Of course we will need to adjust to restrict ourselves to where there are art galleries and artists who have studios which they want to open up to collectors.
This Go Loopy bus is a joint project between The Institute and Johannes Bus Services. 7 area Artists are painting a yellow school bus, no longer yellow, to be converted to an Art Bus for an Art Open tour.  The art work on the bus flows beautifully. It is the only example of a moveable art installation in our area thus far. I trust there will be more that will follow.

More news and details of the Art Open tour will be circulated as the art venues firm up.  The bus is almost done, getting clear coated this week.
We will post the photos on our website and also, physically, at the Institute itself, so you can see hard copies of the photos of the art work, as well as about the artists.
The other part of our summer is the continuing work on the Herb and Spice food plate. At the beginning of  the new semester we will be circulating what we have completed for open commentary.
We are looking to resume our Independent Scholars' Evenings on September 1st. 2011. The first Thursday of the month.  We will be resuming earlier since supporters are requesting and missing the evenings.

Items include cameo brooch worn in American Gothic

Davenport, Iowa - August 2011 - Now on view at the Figge Art Museum is a selection of treasured artifacts that once belonged to Grant Wood, the artist of one of America's most famous paintings American Gothic (1930). Included in the new display is the "Persephone" cameo broach, worn by his sister who posed for American Gothic, Wood's trademark glasses along with those belonging to his father, Francis Maryville Wood, a copper picture frame made by Grant Wood containing a photo of Wood in his WWI army uniform, the Wood family bible and Wood's paint brushes and palette, easel, and other artifacts from Wood's life.

In addition to the artifacts from the Grant Wood Archive, a recently re-discovered oil sketch by Wood of an Italian village can be viewed in the Regionalist gallery. The painting, on loan from a private collection, was a gift from Wood to John Naughton, then the WPA administrator for the State of Iowa who oversaw several of Wood's mural commissions.  Earlier this year, the Figge's Andrew Wallace received an inquiry from someone who believed that they might be in possession of a Grant Wood painting. After studying a photograph of Grant Wood's Cedar Rapids studio, it was confirmed that the painting was the same as one visible in the studio photograph.  The atypical oil sketch is thought to have been painted during Wood's visit to Italy in 1923-24 and may, in fact, depict a bordello.  This is the first time this painting has been on view to the public.

The Figge's Grant Wood Archives have been a source of study and research by several Grant Wood scholars including R. Tripp Evans, professor of art history at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, whose Grant Wood: A Life, was published last year and is now on sale in the Figge Art Museum store.

Associate Curator, Rima Girnius along with the Collections Department worked diligently to present these artifacts and the rediscovered painting to the public. The artifacts and the painting join several other Wood's paintings, including his only painted self-portrait on view in the Figge's American Regionalist Gallery.

Nan Wood Graham collected her brother's artwork, ephemera and memorabilia for 60 years. In 1964, the Davenport Museum of Art purchased Grant Wood's personal collection of paintings, drawings, artist materials, family photographs, and a complete set of all 19 of Wood's lithographs from Nan Wood Graham. The Figge is also home to 18 scrapbooks and what is believed to be Wood's last sketch, Iowa Landscape. The Grant Wood Collection and Archives are now comprised of 249 objects from her collection.

For more information, contact the Figge Art Museum at 563.326.7804.  The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in Downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, Sunday's noon to 5pm and Thursdays 10 am to 9pm.  To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit www.figgeartmuseum.org.

-end-

WHERE: Quad City Arts Center Gallery,   Rock Island    

  

EXHIBITION DATES: September 9- October 14, 2011

RECEPTION: Friday, September 9th, 7-9 pm

FREE

From September 2nd through October 9th, 2011 Quad City Arts presents "You Are Here" pastel paintings by Rock Island artist Audrey Brownand photography by Randy Richmond of MuscatineIA. The public is cordially invited to attend the opening reception on September 9th from 7-9 pm at Quad City Arts' Rock Island Gallery. The reception is free and open to the public.

You Are Here depicts the rural landscape as seen by contrasting perspectives.  One is more literal, yet thickly layered in color and atmosphere.  The other is more literary and layered in ambiguity and atmospheric histories.  Both communicate an appreciation of the mid-western landscape and the stories that sometimes go unnoticed and untold.

Pastel artist Audrey Brown creates timeless pastoral scenes that take the viewer on a daydream-like journey to the countryside where one can begin to relax simply by gazing at her paintings.

Photographer Randy Richmond will provide a three-dimensional aspect to the exhibit with photo based assemblages created around brass mounted, unique photographs. The small photographs' historical feel are supported by the antique boxes that are used to "frame" them. These will be in addition to his landscape photographs.

Join us for the opening reception on September 9th from 7-9 pm, in the gallery. Refreshments will be served and artists will be on hand to answer questions about their work.

The Quad City Arts Center Gallery is located at 1715 Second Avenue in the Arts and Entertainment District of Rock Island.  Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. All Quad City Arts programs are funded in part by Festival of Trees; Quad City Arts Partners; and operating grants from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; and the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs. Quad City Arts is a nonprofit local arts agency dedicated to the growth and vitality of the Quad City region through the presentation, development and celebration of the arts and humanities. For more information, contact Dawn Wohlford-Metallo 309-793-1213 X108.

Davenport, Iowa - August 2011 -The Figge Art museum will host River ARTS Live, a free walk-in art project at River Roots Live on Saturday, August 20 from noon to 6pm.  Event attendees are invited to stop by the Figge's art tent in the Junior Jam area to create sculptures out of plastic materials recovered from the Mississippi River during Living Lands and Waters' XStream Cleanup. This art activity is inspired by the work of artist Aurora Robson, whose intricate and colorful sculpture Up Drop is currently on display in the Figge lobby. Robson up-cycles everyday waste to create intricate and brilliantly colored hanging sculptures. The Figge's fall exhibition, Everything, All at Once, Forever, will feature additional original plastic debris sculptures by Robson.

The outreach program is sponsored by Iowa American Water, and is offered in partnership with Living Lands and Waters and the QC Chamber.

The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in Downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, Sundays noon to 5pm and Thursdays 10 am to 9pm.  To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit www.figgeartmuseum.org.

River Roots Live is a free event in Le Claire Park in Downtown Davenport and is presented by the Downtown Partnership, a division of Quad City Chamber.  

-end-

 

Pages