Art Carts: Family Fun

Curious about art?

There are many centuries of art to discover here at WAM. Our new Art Carts: Family Fun activities take art, as well as the cultures and history of that art, and offer a new way of seeing and experiencing it. From discovering how the Hunt Mosaic was made and how it got to WAM to looking at shards of pottery and discovering the puzzle that real world archaeologists face every day, there’s so much to explore. Look at Early America portraits, try on the clothes they wore, and discover how they lived. Study Roman faces to discover gods and emperors and how, sometimes, they were the same. Or, learn to write like an Egyptian. There are many more opportunities to interact with art and the past – or even the present. Led by our knowledgeable—and fun—educators, these lively gallery get-togethers are for all ages!

Art Carts are located around the Museum. Ask at our Information Desks for more on times and locations or see our website.

Art Cart: Family Fun Hours

Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays: 1-2pm and 2:30-3:30pm

Saturdays and Sundays: 2:30-3:30pm

Learn more about Art Carts

- Neal Bourbeau, Knights Education Programming Coordinator

Lifetime Achievement Award - Dr. Jeffrey L. Forgeng

I was surprised and honored this week to learn that I have been selected for a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the 2015 HEMA Scholar Awards. I’ve been researching Historical European Martial Arts since about 1990, before the field truly came into being. My work on Royal Armouries Manuscript I.33, the oldest surviving swordfighting treatise, played a big part in my appointment as Paul S. Morgan Curator at the Higgins Armory in 1999. Since then I’ve seen HEMA burgeon into a major international phenomenon—I can recognize at least four different countries on the panel responsible for the awards. Our world-class historical combat program at the Armory was among my proudest achievements during my time there, and I’m happy to say that we are continuing to build on that legacy in the Higgins Collection’s new home here at the Worcester Art Museum. Swordplay classes are currently offered here every weekend, and this summer we will offer a rare opportunity for visitors to see both an original copy of Joachim Meyer’s combat treatise of 1570, and a fencing longsword of the type illustrated in Meyer’s book.

Learn more about Jeppson Idea Lab: The Art of Combat
Browse The John Woodman Higgins Collection online
Learn more about the 2015 HEMA Scholar Awards

- Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Curator of Arms & Armor and Medieval Art

Nature Unfolded: Korean Art from the Collection

Every few months the display of Asian art works on paper in the Arts of Japan Gallery has to rotate out with new works to preserve the quality of ink, colors, and paper of such light sensitive pieces. Working together with the museum’s dedicated team of conservators, exhibition designers, and art handlers, we recently completed the new installation featuring two outstanding works of Korean art from the collection, the eighteenth-century Moon Jar and the early nineteenth-century screen ink painting, Grapevine, by Choe Sokhwan. The spontaneous virtuosity of the brush that dances across the eight panels of the screen complements the quiet simplicity of the pure white moon jar. Yet don’t forget to also look closely and notice the moon jar’s imperfections, such as its asymmetrical form and the slightly bulging seam in the middle that were created during production. Rather than trying to conceal such “imperfections,” these characteristics are highly-prized for the elegant naturalness they add to the moon jar. Enjoy these new works on view on your next visit to WAM!

Learn more about Nature Unfolded: Korean Art from the Collection

- Vivian Li, Assistant Curator, Asian Art

Annual Faculty Exhibition

The Higgins Education Wing will exhibit artwork created by faculty members of the Studio Class Programs department from November 2015 – February 2016. Our Annual Faculty Exhibition presents 45 works of art by 28 artists who currently teach and assist at the Museum in the areas of painting, sculpture, graphic design, mixed media, printmaking, and photography. The exhibition features a wide range of visual practices, spanning many genres and media.

 As working professional artists and educators who balance their own art making with teaching at WAM, the faculty exhibition allows students, the community, and the public the opportunity to experience the diversity of approaches each artist employ. WAM’s Studio Class Programs faculty is a strong and diverse group, exploring a range of traditional and contemporary mediums and themes. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

The Higgins Education Wing is open Sunday–Saturday, 9am–5pm

For more information, about faculty and their classes visit worcesterart.org/classes

- Ashley Occhino, Manager of Studio Class Programs

Above: Ella Delyanis
Below [left to right]: Jill Pottle, Donalyn Schofield, Elaine Smollin, William Griffiths

Copley Portrait Reunion

An affecting reunion in the American art galleries: John Singleton Copley’s portraits of Boston-based merchant, Samuel Phillips Savage (1718–1797), and his wife, Sarah Tyler (1717/18–1764), are together at the Worcester Art Museum for the first time since 1963. Though companion paintings were often commissioned to celebrate a wedding, these portraits do not mark the beginning of the couple’s marriage, but rather commemorate its sad end. Sarah died in childbirth in February 1764, and various cues—such as her mask-like expression and rigid pose—suggest that her likeness was completed posthumously.

Copley’s portraits passed through different branches of the Savage family and have been reunited only occasionally, first at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and, later, at the 1963 exhibition at WAM. Thanks to the generous loan of Samuel’s portrait by the Wunsch Americana Foundation, the companion paintings will be together through the spring of 2016.

View more American Art in our Collection Highlights

- Justin M. Brown, Curatorial Assistant, American Art

 

Video: MY ART STORY

As part of its 50^th Anniversary, the National Endowments for the Arts (NEA) commissioned a series of videos to celebrate arts and culture activities that NEA programs support in each of the 50 united states.

Worcester Art Museum was selected by NEA’s partner Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC)  as one of three institutions in the Commonwealth to be featured in the Massachusetts edition of this video.  WAM has received funding directly from the NEA or indirectly through the MCC virtually every year for the past 25 years.

Thank you NEA and MCC!  We wish you another great 50 years of support for the arts and cultural community.

Click here to learn more at arts.gov

- Trip Anderson, Grants Officer

Academic Collaboratives at WAM

In addition to curating the Higgins Collection of Arms and Armor, I’ve been teaching in the Humanities Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the past decade and a half, so I’m especially happy to announce the launch of WAM’s new Academic Collaboratives webpage. The museum has long been a destination for both professors and students, and now their work with the WAM collection has a home on the Academic Collaboratives at the Worcester Art Museum page. Check out the multimedia tour of the galleries by Holy Cross students, what Worcester State physicists learned about our Niccolò di Bartolomeo Pisano from infrared radiation, and the Virtual Joust by a team of WPI game designers!

Learn more about Academic Collaboratives at the Worcester Art Museum 

- Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Curator of Arms & Armor and Medieval Art