Grant Wood Scholar to Talk about the Man behind the Artist

 Join us at the Figge Art Museum Thursday November 4th at 7 PM for a lecture and reading by R. Tripp Evans, author of Grant Wood: A Life.  Ever since Wood's now-iconic American Gothic caught the nation's attention in 1930, his work has become a blank canvas for audiences?who see what they will in his dream-like landscapes, unconventional history paintings, and forbidding portraits, with little sense of the man who created these images. In his lecture, Evans will discuss some of the sources for Wood's powerful imagery?including a number of important examples from the Figge Museum's extensive collection?and will examine Wood's public image as an uncomplicated "farmer-painter," a persona that has often obscured the far more interesting dimensions of Wood's life; his sexuality, artistic identity and relationship with his family.

R. Tripp Evans, PhD is Professor of Art History at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. He is the author of Romancing the Maya: Mexican Antiquity in the American Imagination, 1820-1915 (2004). He received his doctoral degree in the history of art from Yale University and has served as a visiting lecturer at Yale, Wellesley College, and Brown University.

Evans will be signing books in the store prior to his lecture; beginning at 5:30 pm. Copies are currently on sale in the Museum Store. Admission to the museum and lecture is $7. Admission is free to members, college professors and students. The Figge Arts Café and Bar will be open before and after the lecture.

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Informational meeting 10:30 am Wednesday, August 25

Share your knowledge and love of the visual arts with others by becoming a Figge Docent! Docent candidates are taught to look at, analyze and discuss works of art in order to engage visitors to the museum in conversations about selected works in the galleries. Candidates should have a strong interest in the visual arts, enjoy public speaking, and have a genuine appreciation for all visitors.

For more information, contact Dan McNeil, Director of Development, 563.326.7804 Ext. 2047; dmcneil@figgeartmuseum.org
www.figgeartmuseum.org

Maquoketa Art Experience will display all paintings and drawings that artists create of scenes along the Grant Wood Scenic Byway and will host a landscape painting workshop focusing on the region presented by renowned pastel artist Ellen Wagener.

Maquoketa , Iowa, July 30, 2010: In conjunction with the return of Ellen Wagener for a weekend landscape workshop, Maquoketa Art Experience (MAE) announces an upcoming exhibition that will consist of paintings and drawings that depict scenes along and near the Grant Wood Scenic Byway.

Exhibition Dates: August 23rd through September 19th, 2010

Location: Maquoketa Art Experience Studio and Gallery, 124 S. Main Street , Maquoketa , IA 52060

Hours: Monday-Thursday: 11-5pm, Friday-Saturday: 11-7pm, Sunday: 12-5pm

Workshop Dates: August 20th, 21st & 22nd, 2010

Location: Maquoketa Art Experience Studio and Gallery, 124 S. Main Street , Maquoketa , IA 52060

Cost: $295 for the weekend, $95 for Saturday the 21st at Tabor Home Winery.

For more information or to register: Call 563-652-9925.

Workshop deposits can be mailed to PO Box 993 , Maquoketa , IA 52060 .

The Grant Wood Scenic Byway Landscape Show will be on display from August 23rd through September 19th in the spacious galleries of Maquoketa Art Experience on Main St. in downtown Maquoketa.  Any and all artists are invited to tour and paint along the Byway from Stone City, the home of Grant Wood's summer art colony, through Anamosa, Maquoketa, the Maquoketa Caves, through Andrew, then Springbrook, and on to the beautiful Mississippi River views at Bellevue.  Paintings depicting scenes along and near the Byway can be brought to Maquoketa Art Experience at the close of Ellen Wagener's landscape workshop, from 5 to 8pm on August 22nd.  Artists, who cannot deliver their works at that time, can call MAE at 563-652-9925 to make arrangements for delivery prior to that time.  Owners of original paintings that show scenes from and near the Byway can also place those works on display.

A map of the Byway is available online at http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2183.

The paintings and drawings that are brought in for the exhibition do not have to be for sale, but a sales price can be listed if the artist so chooses.  Maquoketa Art Experience will take a 25% commission on any sales.  Only original paintings and drawing will be accepted.  No photography and no prints/reproductions will be accepted for the show.

Ellen Wagener's summer landscape workshop is the third of four seasonal workshops offered by MAE focusing on the natural resources and beauty of Eastern Iowa .  Dewitt native Ellen Wagener is best known for her large pastel landscape paintings of Iowa and Arizona , her new home.  She returns for a second year to MAE to share her masterful skill of the basics and fundamentals of pastel painting, focusing on working processes including sketching, idea-generation, composition, and color palettes.  Special emphasis for this workshop will be given to pastel techniques in the creation of cloudscapes and attention to atmospheric conditions leading up to a final composition.  All of the painting outings will occur along and near the Grant Wood Scenic Byway.

This three-day workshop is well suited for both beginning artists and "seasoned masters" and will also include an optional bonus afternoon on Thursday, August 19, to join Ellen in a trip to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art's Marvin Cone exhibit, "The Sky's the Limit".  This thirty-work exhibition, tracing Cone's work from the 1910s to the 1940s, will be used later in the workshop to explore and discuss the many ways and styles that Cone used to capture the majestic power of "cloudscapes" and his fascination with the sky that is portrayed in his paintings.  A trip to the studio of Grant Wood, Turner Alley, and dinner in Cedar Rapids will also follow.

In addition, artists who cannot attend the entire weekend workshop are invited to sign up for a single day, Saturday, August 21st.  From 9am to 5pm a plein air painting outing led by Wagener will be held at nearby Tabor Home Winery.  The fee for this single day is $95.

Participants in last summer's first annual MAE Ellen Wagener workshop had this to say:

"She (Ellen) is an excellent teacher. She is unusually willing to be open and sharing with all her techniques and methods that she has worked out for herself over a long period of time...To be able to interact with artists at (her) level of achievement is a real privilege."  - Marcia W.

"As an attendee at the Maquoketa Art Experience Workshop...The learning experiences were interspersed with opportunities abounding for participants to expand their horizons.  It was a truly worthwhile encounter."  - Grace Z.

"The (Maquoketa) Art Experience is a great space for a workshop, and you are most fortunate to have artists of such high caliber and skill to be working in your area - it is indeed exciting."  - Linda F.

Biographic Information:

Ellen Wagener received her B.F.A. from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington , D.C. in 1989.  Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums including the Des Moines Art Center , Phoenix Art Museum , Tucson Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, and Art in Embassies, Vilinus , Latvia , and J. Cacciola Gallery, New York City.  Her work can be found in many private and public collections, such as the Figge Art Museum , Davenport , Iowa , Tucson Museum of Art, MasterCard Corporation, New York City , and Iowa State University , Ames , Iowa .

Information about Maquoketa Art Experience:

Maquoketa Art Experience is dedicated to bringing accomplished artists to Maquoketa , Iowa for short- and long-term residencies, workshops, and exhibitions.  Springing up in one of the Grant Wood Scenic Byway communities, Maquoketa Art Experience exists to nurture artists and provide opportunities for developing art-related businesses in the area.  Recognizing what Grant Wood saw in Iowa , Iowans and the surrounding landscapes, the artists and board of Maquoketa Art Experience are dedicated to creating easily accessible resources for Midwest artists.  Similar to the Stone City Art Colony of the last century, Maquoketa Art Experience is committed to supporting arts and artists by creating local opportunities for artists to nurture and expand their talents and skills within the inspiring landscapes of Eastern Iowa .  This project is made possible by the Iowa Community Cultural Grants and the DNRBOG grants.

For more information: www.maquoketa-art.org or phone: 563-652-9925.