The Worcester Art Museum, which opened to the public in 1898, is world-renowned for its 35,000-piece collection of paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, photography, prints, drawings, and new media. The Permanent Collection spans fifty-one centuries of art and culture.
View paintings by Cassatt, Gauguin, Goya, Monet, Sargent and Whistler; admire mosaics from the ancient city of Antioch; see cutting-edge contemporary art; and discover the Museum’s many other treasures. Special exhibitions showcase masterworks, seldom-seen gems, and important works on loan. Enjoy a delectable lunch in The Museum Cafe, and browse The Museum Shop for unique gifts and exhibition catalogues.
Dedicated to the promotion of art and art education, the Museum offers a year-round studio art and art appreciation program that enrolls over 7,000 adult and youth students each year. Public tours are offered Saturdays at 11am and Sundays at 1pm, September through May. Audio tours featuring highlights from the Permanent Collection are available in English and Spanish.
EXHIBITIONS
Two Chinas: Chen Qiulin & Yun-Fei Ji
Through September 21, 2008
This exhibition considers the rapidly changing conditions in China through the lens of new acquisitions created by two young Chinese artists, Chen Qiulin (b. 1975) and Yun-Fei Ji (b. 1963). Both artists have responded to the altered landscapes and human displacement caused by flooding, which is a result of China’s Three Gorges Dam project. Chen Qiulin uses video in Bei Fu (Farewell Poem), from2003, to revisit her childhood memories and China’s past amidst the rubble of Wanzhou, her hometown and one of the cities flooded by the dam project. In Yun-Fei Ji’s monumental scroll-like painting, Below the 143 Meter Mark, from 2006, allusions to classical landscape painting are transformed by grim contemporary details—houses and hillsides crumbling, a ghost town littered with abandoned bundles and bicycles.
Heavenly and Earthly Delights: The Essence of Nature in Brush and Ink
Through October 26, 2008
Folding screens have long offered Japanese artists a challenge to create large-scale painting compositions. These works highlight the differences between subdued Chinese-inspired ink paintings favored by samurai, monks and literati—depicting the spiritually symbolic tiger-and-dragon and idealized landscape scenes—and colorful, decorative Japanese-style paintings, commissioned by wealthy middle-class patrons—depicting pleasurable pursuits, seasonal customs and stylish kimono. Making a dramatic appearance across the expanse of a pair of folding screens, the dragon and tiger both confront and complement each other. Respectively symbolic of heavenly and earthly power, the beasts were often depicted on screens that were used as backdrops for powerful warlords and Buddhist abbots, when receiving guests in castles and temples.
Sepia Memories: Nineteenth-Century Photographs
August 30 – November 30, 2008
Since we are all surrounded constantly by photographic images, modern viewers relate effortlessly to photography. It is exciting to see old photographs, for the subjects’ relationships to the camera are so well known to us. Glimpses of a schooner’s deck, a busy street in Canton, and the deserted commons of New England towns will reveal worlds long vanished. Some of the earliest photographic landscapes of the Egyptian desert and the jungles of India will hang near views of Boston, New York, and Paris. There will be images from the Crimean front along with those of the American Civil War, the first conflict to be extensively documented in photographs.
Authors were among the celebrities of the era, and the show will include portraits of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Walt Whitman. This installation of about sixty works from the Worcester Art Museum collection, created from about 1840 to 1900, will transport visitors to times gone by and exotic places. The exhibition will include many of the earliest photographic media, from daguerreotypes and paper prints from calotype negatives, to albumen prints from wet collodion negatives, the photographs that give these images their distinctive sepia hue.
EVENTS & PROGRAMMING
Around every corner of the Museum there are stunning masterpieces spanning 5,000 years of human creativity. Enhance your Museum experience by joining a tour, lecture, gallery talk, concert, performance, family day, party or other event offered throughout the year.
August Workshops for Adults and Youth August 4-15 Join us in August to explore new approaches, new projects, and even new art forms. There are classes for novices as well as for students with an art background. Plus, if you’ve been looking for a class but not sure what your kids will be doing, bring them along! We’ve got a great selection of concurrent workshops for children as well. Learn more by calling 508.793.4333 or 508.793.4334, or browse the Classes brochure online. Register early as classes fill quickly! Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury St., Worcester, 508.799.4406, www.worcesterart.org
Art and Language Week at WAM!
August 11 – 15, 10am—noon
Take one last trip this summer—head to the Spanish-speaking world, France or Japan, right here in Worcester at WAM! Spend a week exploring the art, culture, and language of these diverse and exciting cultures. Let's Go To France! for kids 5-7, The Art, Culture, and Language of Japan for 8-10 year olds, and Spanish Art, Culture, and Language for 11–13 year olds. Learn more by calling 508.793.4333 or 508.793.4334, or browse the Classes brochure online. Register early as classes fill quickly! Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury St., Worcester, 508.799.4406, www.worcesterart.org
A Conversation with Chen Qiulin and Yun-Fei Ji
Thursday, September 4, 6:30pm
Working in radically different formats—video and watercolor—and from distinct points of view, Chen Qiulin and Yun-Fei Ji engage in a dialogue between China’s history and its future, responding to the altered landscapes and human displacement caused by China’s Three Gorges Dam Project. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear both artists speak about their work. In connection with the exhibition Two Chinas. Reception will follow. Free with Museum admission. Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury St., Worcester, 508.799.4406, www.worcesterart.org
Adult Classes Open House
Wednesday, September 10, 5:30–7pm
Meet with our faculty, attend demonstrations, and find out all about our exciting fall offerings. Discuss your artistic interests and goals, sign up for classes, and enjoy light refreshments. Free. Learn more by calling 508.793.4333 or 508.793.4334, or browse the Classes brochure online. Register early as classes fill quickly! Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury St., Worcester, 508.799.4406, www.worcesterart.org
WAM 101: College Student Night
Wednesday, September 17, 5:30–8pm
FREE for all college and graduate students from any discipline who are interested in finding out about all the great things happening at the Worcester Art Museum. The Museum is closed to everyone else, but the doors are opening just for you! Venture off campus and join Museum Director Jim Welu as he takes you on a tour of special exhibitions. Enjoy munchies, beverages, and free museum stuff! No RSVP required. Registration in Lancaster Lobby, through the Lancaster Street entrance. Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury St., Worcester, 508.799.4406, www.worcesterart.org
September Third Thursday: LIVE MUSIC with Johnny Dollar Expreiment Thursday, September 18, 5:30-8pm
The Museum is open late the third Thursday of every month until 8pm. In September, enjoy the sounds of Johnny Dollar Experiment in the courtyard. Also enjoy a tour with Museum Director Jim Welu. Always great company. Wine tastings and a cash bar. Free with Museum admission. Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury St., Worcester, 508.799.4406, www.worcesterart.org
Adult Fall Classes Begin Starting September 22 Join the Museum for new classes and workshops, or sign up for an old favorite. The fall session of classes offers something for everyone, and all of our adult classes are offered for PDPs. Dynamic program combines viewing authentic art objects in the galleries with art-making experiences in the studios. Workshops and classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, computer arts, creative writiting as well as exciting off-site programs here and abroad. -- www.worcesterart.org
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