Nurturing Reverence

Char Norman
Apr 24 – Oct 31, 2021

Nurturing Reverence features environmental fiber sculptures created by Columbus artist, Char Norman. Combining found objects both man-made and natural, including fiber, paper, seed pods, and twigs, each sculpture serves as a relic and a tool to explore the symbiotic relationship between nature and humans.

Char Norman is an accomplished fiber artist specializing in papermaking and fiber sculpture. She received a Master of Fine Art from Claremont Graduate University and a Bachelor of Art from Scripps College. Throughout her career, Norman has lectured and exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. In addition to creating, she has developed workshops for all ages, serves as a consultant to area schools and community art organizations, and has held the positions of Associate Provost and Dean of Faculty at the Columbus College of Art & Design. Currently, Norman works as a full-time studio artist located in Columbus, Ohio.

Public Domain

Boryana Rusenova-Ina
May 15 – Sep 12, 2021

In this new series of silk dioramas and paintings featuring scenes of Mount Rushmore, Boryana Rusenova-Ina examines the connection between identity, belonging, and the ever-changing symbolism of familiar spaces. Using the landscape genre and techniques borrowed from scenography, her practice explores and subverts perceptions of what is familiar about national landmarks like Mount Rushmore in order to emphasize the multitude of narratives that comprise notions of homeland and collective identity.

Boryana Rusenova-Ina is a native of Bulgaria whose work focuses on the relationship between place and belonging within the landscape genre. She earned an M.A. in Art, Design and Architecture Education from the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland in 2009 and an M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from The Ohio State University 2016. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including at the City Gallery Plovdiv in Bulgaria and the Zanesville Museum of Art in Ohio. Rusenova Ina has also served as the Vice President of Roy G Biv Gallery For Emerging Artists in Columbus, was a founding member of the Couchfire Art Collective, and has previously received an Individual Excellence Grant from the Ohio Arts Council to support one of her current projects, Against the Constable Skies. Rusenova-Ina is an Assistant Professor of Painting at Texas Tech University and practices out of Lubbock, Texas.

Groundwork

John Benton
May 22 – Fall, 2021

In Groundwork, Chicago artist John Benton presents landscapes of overlooked, ordinary locations in a way that elevates them to places of intrigue. Each painting in this series serves as a conversation between the artist, the painting, and the landscape, portraying the extensive amount of preliminary planning Benton focuses on in his practice. Originally from Springfield, Benton and the Museum are excited to have his work featured in his hometown this summer.

John Benton is a practicing artist located in Chicago, Illinois. He received his BFA from Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His work has been featured in dozens of exhibitions, including group exhibitions at the Butler Institute of Art, The Swope Art Museum, and the Taubman Museum of Art. Additionally, his work has been displayed in juried shows at Prince Street, Blue Mountain, and the Bowery Gallery in New York.

Accessible Expressions Ohio 2021 (Beach Gallery)

Mar 27 – Apr 25, 2021

Curated by Art Possible Ohio, Accessible Expressions Ohio (AEO) features sixty works of art by Ohio artists with disabilities. AEO raises awareness by presenting the show in inclusive settings designed to change perceptions about disability and connects artists with peers and a statewide audience of potential patrons.

Virtually celebrate the opening of the exhibition during Art Possible Ohio’s Annual Day of Arts for All on Mar 27! Follow Art Possible Ohio on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @ArtPossibleOhio to learn more.

UnNatural History: Photographs by Diane Fox (McGregor Gallery)

Mar 20-Jul 11, 2021

Tennessee artist Diane Fox captures the perceived reality posed by dioramas in this series of photographs taken in natural history museums around the country and abroad. Traditionally, dioramas allow museum visitors to experience wildlife firsthand using staged animals and painted backgrounds to create realistic fabrications. Fox’s photographs, however, work to break the illusion of these constructed scenes and ask the viewer to reexamine their relationship with nature.

Fox is a Distinguished Lecturer Emerita in the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she taught photography and graphic design for over 20 years. She has a Master of Fine Arts from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Middle Tennessee State University. Her work has been shown in dozens of exhibitions both nationally and internationally including solo exhibitions at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art in California and Santa Reparata Gallery in Florence, Italy.

Who Tells Your Story? (Chakeres Gallery)

Feb 3–June 6, 2021

Who Tells Your Story? is the guiding question for a new exhibition in the Chakeres interactive gallery at the Springfield Museum of Art. Many people in our community, and across the nation, are asking questions about whose stories get told and who does the telling. Also, at this time of year many school children are studying early American History and current events. The gallery provides a thinking space for all ages to reflect on history, images, and personal stories by asking, Who Tells Your Story? The exhibition showcases 23 objects from the Permanent Collection, several of which are making their public debut.

…Does the Dream Dream the Dreamer? Unseen Works of David Catrow (McGregor Gallery)

Oct 31, 2020 – Feb 28, 2021

Showcasing never-before-seen work of Springfield resident, David Catrow, this exhibition reveals Catrow’s vision in a series of larger than life paintings and works on paper. Catrow is a New York Times bestselling children’s book author/illustrator and animator for films including Horton Hears a Who and Despicable Me. Additionally, he is an editorial cartoonist whose work has been published across the US and Canada. Catrow’s exhibited works reference his well-known illustrations but go further to reveal new and previously unimagined worlds that words can’t begin to describe.

Gary Birch: Paintings and Sculpture (Deer Gallery)

Nov 28. 2020-May 2, 2021

Milford, Ohio artist Gary Birch identifies as a Southwest Ohio painter and sculptor. His work seeks balance between disparate themes, especially those concerning domestic life, industry, and nature. This exhibit will feature both his expressive collage paintings and unconventional mixed media sculptures.

The Art of Watercolor – 46th Western Ohio Watercolor Society Exhibition (Halley & Klein Galleries)

Dec 19, 2020-Apr 11, 2021

The Springfield Museum of Art is excited to host the Western Ohio Watercolor Society’s 46th Annual Members’ show this winter. For nearly half a century, WOWS has engaged artists in our region through exhibitions and workshops. This juried exhibition will highlight an array of experienced, local artists working in a variety of watercolor techniques. Patrick Mauk of Lima, Ohio is this year’s juror. Mauk is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where he received his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1999.

The Western Ohio Watercolor Society was founded in 1974 for the purpose of furthering interest in, and adding stature to, the use of watercolor as a fine art medium, as well as to encourage public interest in the medium.

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Kusama’s Pumpkin

through Nov 1, 2020

The Springfield Museum of Art is pleased to present a major work of art by internationally acclaimed artist Yayoi Kusama. Pumpkin, a large bronze sculpture by Kusama is on loan to the Museum through the beginning of November from the collection of Angela and Scott Crabill.

Kusama, widely considered one of the most popular and important artists of our time, is known for her extensive use of polka-dots, Instagrammable mirrored infinity rooms, and her fascination of pumpkins. Pumpkin is on display as part of a larger installation of work titled Celebrating Women. This exhibition, celebrating the centennial of women’s suffrage, features both favorite and rarely seen objects from the Museum’s collection created by female artists.