WAM News and Events Blog http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wampr/wamnewsmain/ Breaking news, upcoming events, and periodic musings from the Weisman Art Museum. en Copyright 2009 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:40:34 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.25 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss They got WAMmered: ceremonial groundbreaking 10/26 "Get WAMmered" was the theme of the ceremonial groundbreaking celebration at the Weisman Monday, October 26. It marked the beginning of construction on the museum's 8,100 square foot expansion project, which will add five new galleries by fall 2011.

Watch a video:


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Visitors lifted a hammer and tested their strength on the High Striker. (Those who hit the bell at the top won a limited-edition t-shirt.)

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University president Robert Bruininks noted the importance of the occasion in his remarks to attendees. "This is an exciting moment for the Weisman," he said. "But it is exciting for the University of Minnesota as well, as we contemplate our enormous cultural and artistic resources, and as we work to integrate arts and culture more closely into the life and curriculum of the University."

Museum volunteers raised more than $10 million from private sources for the expansion project. Target Corporation committed an additional $2 million, and the University of Minnesota contributed $2.5 million.


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Joan Dayton, who co-chaired the project's capital campaign, also spoke at the event. (Carol Bemis and Karen Bachman were the other campaign co-chairs.) University vice president Steven Rosenstone and Target Corporation vice president Minda Gralnek made additional remarks.

Officials marked the occasion by raising a silver sledgehammer and pounding a steel stake into the ground where the construction will take place.

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]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wampr/wamnewsmain/2009/11/they_got_wammered_ceremonial_g.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wampr/wamnewsmain/2009/11/they_got_wammered_ceremonial_g.html Events Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:40:34 -0600 New late-night series at WAM launches with Mates of State mates5.jpg




































Music is at the center of WAMplified!, a new late-night series at WAM. Offered three times a year, WAMplified! presents a live performance by a band or musician with a thematic connection to the major exhibition in the galleries.

In conjunction with the WAM exhibition To Have It About You: The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection, Mates of State--featuring husband-and-wife team Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner--headline the inaugural installment on December 12, 2009 (doors at 9 p.m.). Anders Ponders opens. The event also includes food, drink, a video game lounge, and a midnight tour of the exhibition led by curator Diane Mullin and artist Lisa Bradley. Tickets ($22; $18 students and Weisman members) available here or by calling 612-624-2345.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wampr/wamnewsmain/2009/10/new_late-night_series_at_wam_l.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wampr/wamnewsmain/2009/10/new_late-night_series_at_wam_l.html Events Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:57:42 -0600 Ordinary collectors, extraordinary collection You'd never suspect they are movers and shakers in New York's insider art world. She's a no-nonsense retired librarian, and he's an ex-postal worker who wears deliberately mismatched clothing. For decades, they've lived in a modest Manhattan apartment with their turtles, fish, cat--and more than 4,000 pieces of conceptual, minimalist, and other contemporary art. Meet Dorothy and Herbert Vogel, whose art collection has been called (by their friend, artist Sol Le Witt) "the most important in the U.S."

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A portion of the Vogels' collection is now part of the Weisman Art Museum's permanent collection. Through a gift program designed by the National Gallery of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, works by 50 different artists from the Vogels' collection found a new home at the Weisman this fall. See a slideshow and hear more about the art that came to the Weisman here.

The national gift program has distributed the Vogels' collection of contemporary art throughout the nation, with a hand-picked assortment going to a selected art institution in each of the fifty states. The Weisman was chosen as the Minnesota institution. Artists whose work came to the Weisman include Lisa Bradley, Mark Kostabi, Lucio Pozzi, Alan Shields, Edda Renouf, Richard Tuttle, and many others.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wampr/wamnewsmain/2009/10/youd_never_suspect_they_are.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wampr/wamnewsmain/2009/10/youd_never_suspect_they_are.html Exhibitions Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:03:25 -0600 2009-10 exhibition season focuses on art and the everyday Home videos posted on YouTube. Personal photos shared with the world on Flickr. The widespread appeal of the Do-It-Yourself cable channel. America's fascination with "everyday" life is clear. Beginning this fall, the Weisman Art Museum (WAM) will launch a yearlong exploration of the idea of the everyday in art and culture.

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This fascination with the everyday-and its relationship to art-isn't unique to contemporary times. American artists have explored themes of the everyday for decade. For example, in the early 20th century, American painters founded the Ashcan School and depicted the street life of New York City. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Joseph Beuys questioned the distinctions between art objects and everyday objects.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wampr/wamnewsmain/2009/09/2009-10_exhibition_season_focu.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wampr/wamnewsmain/2009/09/2009-10_exhibition_season_focu.html Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:29:12 -0600