MAE Summer Landscape Workshop

Ellen Wagener    Cloudscapes in Pastel    August 20-22, 2010

This three-day summer landscape workshop with Ellen Wagener is geared to both beginning artists and "seasoned masters."  The workshop will cover working processes including photography, sketching, idea-generation, compositions, and color palettes. Special emphasis will be given to pastel technique in the creation of cloudscapes.

Workshop participants will also have the opportunity to join Ellen on Thursday, August 19th in Cedar Rapids for a visit to the Cedar Rapids
Museum of Art for the Marvin Cone exhibit, "The Sky's the Limit." Throughout his entire career, Marvin Cone (Grant Wood colleague
and Stone City member) was fascinated by clouds and he demonstrated his awe of and reverence for cloud formations in his many paintings and
drawings.  In some of his works, majestic clouds are so much of the subject that those paintings are more correctly called, "cloudscapes"
than landscapes.  This exhibition of thirty works from the 1910s to the 1940s traces the many ways and styles Cone used to capture the ethereal
and transitory qualities of clouds, as well as their majesty and power.  We will also visit the studio of Grant Wood, called Turner Alley, near the
Cedar Rapids Museum, and dinner in CR will follow. The fee for the workshop is $295. Visit the Maquoketa Art Experience website for more information or call 563-652-9925.

Ellen Wagener - Cloudscapes in Pastel - August 20-22, 2010

This three-day summer landscape workshop with Ellen Wagener is geared to both beginning artists and "seasoned masters." The workshop will cover working processes including photography, sketching, idea-generation, compositions, and color palettes.Special emphasis will be given to pastel technique in the creation of cloudscapes.

Workshop participants will also have the opportunity to join Ellen on Thursday, August 19th in Cedar Rapids for a visit to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art for the Marvin Cone exhibit, "The Sky's the Limit."

Throughout his entire career, Marvin Cone (Grant Wood colleague and Stone City member) was fascinated by clouds and he demonstrated his awe of and reverence for cloud formations in his many paintings and drawings. In some of his works, majestic clouds are so much of the subject that those paintings are more correctly called, "cloudscapes" than landscapes. This exhibition of thirty works from the 1910s to the 1940s traces the many ways and styles Cone used to capture the ethereal and transitory qualities of clouds, as well as their majesty and power.

We will also visit the studio of Grant Wood, called Turner Alley, near the Cedar Rapids Museum, and dinner in CR will follow. The fee for the workshop is $295. Visit the Maquoketa Art Experience website for more information or call 563-652-9925.

Also available: A Fall Landscape Workshop
Terri Ford - Landscapes in Pastel - October 8-10, 2010

Come work with Terri Ford and experience the orderly rows of pristine farmlands and hills that inspired Grant Wood's landscapes and the birthplace of Regionalist art. This will be a unique opportunity to work with a master pastel artist in an equally unique location. Space is limited, so register today!

Terri Ford, a native Californian, has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Mexico. Her pastel paintings include landscapes, portraits, the splendors of Paris, the back roads of France, and Italy Cortona, Tuscany, Florence, and Venice. Although a studio artist for many years, she now focuses on painting en plein air. The fee for the workshop is $295. Visit the Maquoketa Art Experience website for more information or call 563-652-9925.

Regan Hatfield, abstract artist and musician, announces the opening of the new Star Dog Gallery and Studio for Regan, Suite 102, Bucktown Center for the Arts, 225 East 2nd, Davenport. Regan has remodeled the spacious gallery space, formerly occupied by Unique Art, adding new lighting and additional studio workspace. The Star Dog Gallery is open Wed. - Sat. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the public is invited to a grand opening celebration on Friday, May 28th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. during Bucktown's Final Friday event.

In addition to Regan's work more than 12 painters, photographers, ceramic and mixed media artists are represented in the sales area.  The gallery features two and three-dimensional artwork by Marty Kiser and Dee Schricker, photography by Dee Oberle, Heidi Brandt and Ashley Razo, and paintings by Gene Brack, Judy O. Gray, and Karen Grabowski.

"We hope everyone will help us celebrate the opening of our new gallery on Friday, May 28th." The party theme for the evening is wine and Roses,  "Refreshments and music are planned, TBA as well as a chance to meet a group of talented artist and learn more about them and their work.

For more information on Regan Hatfield and his work go to. http://www.reganart.net/.  For information about the Star Dog gallery e-mail stardog66@live.com or call (563) 514 - 5886.

Awarded Re-Accreditation from the American Association of Museums

Davenport, IA (3/31/10) - The Figge Art Museum has achieved re-accreditation from the American Association of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition for a museum. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.

"Our original museum was one of the first accredited museums in the US in 1973. This 2010 re-accreditation of our new facility, operations, and structure is confirmation that the Figge is well-run and providing a superlative service to our constituency," stated Sean O'Harrow, Executive Director of the Figge Art Museum.

AAM Accreditation is the field's primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation, and public accountability, and earns national recognition for a museum for its commitment to excellence in all that it does: governance, collections stewardship, public programs, financial stability, high professional standards, and continued institutional improvement. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for 35 years, AAM's Museum Accreditation program strengthens the profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and to provide the best possible service to the public.

"Accreditation assures the people of the Quad Cities that their museum is among the finest in the nation," said Ford W. Bell, president of AAM. "As a result, the citizens can take considerable pride in their homegrown institution, for its commitment to excellence and for the value it brings to the community."

Accreditation is a rigorous process that examines all aspects of a museum's operations.  To earn accreditation, a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers.  AAM's Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, review and evaluate the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.  While the time to complete the process varies by museum, it generally takes three years.