Behind the Scenes of a Museum

Follow the progress of the HMA storage renovation and see what goes on behind the scenes to keep the Museum in working order and maintain the vast collection. (See the story behind the project)

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Press Releases Archive

Although the gallery doors at the Housatonic Museum of Art (HMA) have been closed this summer, a number of significant projects have been completed.

Immediately following the Annual Student Art Show in May the Burt Chernow Galleries went "dark" in preparation for a number of substantial summer undertakings.

“ It is a dream come true to see so many of these projects finished,” says HMA Director Robbin Zella. “Many of them have been in process for over five years, and to see them finally realized is a wonderful thing.”

The first is the renovation of the overcrowded storage area, a single room that houses a large portion of the HMA’s four-thousand-plus piece collection, packed to the rafters with objects that range vastly in size, age and condition.

Through a generous donation secured by Zella from the E. Louise Gaudet Estate the museum was able to install ten new racks on which to hang prints and paintings, donated by The Discovery Museum in Bridgeport, as well as purchase additional shelving and flat files necessary to store the continuing stream of new artwork donated by important collectors and artists, locally, nationally and internationally. This renovation will not only ease that gargantuan task of inventory, it will also help Zella conserve the artwork, allowing the HMA to continue to bring world-class art to generations of new viewers.

Conservation of its large permanent collection is an important part of the museum’s work. Many of the works were originally framed using inferior materials, in some cases damaging the artwork. Immediately after appointment as Director, Zella began assessing the condition of the collection and creating a priority list of artworks needing repair.

“ Thirty-five works have been reframed, replacing acid mats and cardboard backing that were eating away at the artwork,” says Zella. “In addition, ten important works on paper, by important artists such as Gustav Klimt, have been restored to their original condition.
An “adopt-a-painting” program will soon be put into place, according to Zella, allowing supporters of the arts to make a one-time donation to repair or maintain a work of art in the HMA’s permanent collection and receive a recognition plaque next to the restored artwork.

The HMA’s permanent collection is without a doubt world-class, and in order to highlight it, several new themed hallway installations have been put in place. Most notably, a hallway of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work has been established, chronicling their incredibly important forty-five years of work. A chronological presentation of their thought-provoking and controversial work will provide food for thought for students and visitors alike, says Zella.

Additionally, a hallway focusing on the work of Gabor Peterdi has been created, spanning the course of his career as a young avant-garde artist in Paris through to his mature years in Rowayton, Connecticut. Because Peterdi was a good friend of museum founder Burt Chernow, the HMA is fortunate to have an extremely large and diverse collection of his work.

Other installation projects are in progress, and a color-coded map will soon be available to guide visitors around the hallways of the college.

Many other pieces of art have been moved to new locations within the college, and a significant amount of new works have been hung in order to better utilize vast amount of wall space available throughout the hallways of the school.

Providing labels for the artwork has been an important and time-consuming aspect of gallery assistant Hillel Arnold’s work over the course of the last seven months. Under Zella's direction, Arnold has researched art and artists to develop educational labels that are not merely factual, but also interpretive, seeking not to put forward any one particular interpretation, but rather incite critical thinking and a diversity of perspectives.

During the course of the school year, many middle-, elementary-, and high-school students visit the museum, many through the Peer Docent Program. Modeled on a similar program at the Aldrich Museum in Ridgefield, the program trains middle-school students to act as museum guides for their own peer group. Zella has established a partnership with Luis Muñoz Marin School in Bridgeport, allowing the middle school’s students to view and interpret many of the works in the HMA’s permanent collection.

In addition to serving the local youth, the museum also reaches out to the elderly, offering guided tours to members of nearby assisted living facilities.

Self-guided tours are also easier now with the addition of the new didactics. But brochures and Family Guides are also available, providing activities, questions and facts helping families learn about the art in a relaxed and enjoyable way.

Weir Farm Visiting Artists 2003

September 5 - December 12, 2003

An Exhibition Of Their Exploration of Historic Site

Five artists who found inspiration in a National Historic landscape will be featured in an exhibition entitled, “Weir farm Visiting Artists 2003,” hosted by the the Housatonic Museum of Art from September 5 through December 12, 2003. An opening reception will be held on Sunday, September 14th from 1:00 until 3:00pm. This event is free and the public is cordially invited to attend. Participating artists include Barbara Allen, Sue Collier, Suzanne Howes-Stevens, Constance Kiermaier and Dorothy Powers.

Weir farm, originally purchased in 1882 by major pioneering figure in the American Impressionist movement J. Alden Weir is located in the towns of Wilton and Ridgefield. Weir spent nearly four decades there, often joined by many artists in his wide circle of friends including Childe Hassam, John Twachtman, Albert Pinkham Ryder and John Singer Sargent.

In 1990 Weir farm was designated a National Historic Site. It is Connecticut’s only National Park and the only one in the nation dedicated to American painting. The Weir Farm Trust, the Park’s nonprofit partner, provides opportunities for professional artists including the Visiting Artists Program now in its 13th year. Barbara Allen received her BA, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Bridgeport and her MS in Art education from Southern Connecticut State University. She is an art specialist at Danbury High School and a senior faculty member of the Brookfield Craft Center. Group and solo exhibitions include The Canton Museum of Art; HarperCollins, New York; The Paris New York Kent Gallery, and The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston among others. In addition, she has pioneered the visual literacy, cross-cultural exchange between students in Ghana and students from the Danbury High School to advocate Peace Education through the arts.

Dorothy Powers of Branford, CT is a professional artist and teacher. Solo and group exhibits have included the Yale University School of Medicine, The New Britain Museum of American Art, and Norwalk Community College. Her work is represented in corporate and private collections throughout the United States. In addition, she teaches drawing at the Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven.

Constance Kiermaier of Westport is a graduate of the Yale School of Fine Arts. She is the recipient of numerous awards among them a fellowship in painting from the New England Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts and a Faber Birren Award for Distinctive and Creative Expression in Color. Kiermaier’s work has been widely exhibited throughout the Northeast including the Portalnad Museum in Maine, the Woods Gerry Gallery at the Rhode Island School of Design, SOHO 20 in Chelsea and the Mills Gallery in Boston.

Suzanne Howes-Stevens of Storrs taught painting and drawing at Manchester Community College after completing her BFA at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and an MA from the Hartford Art School. After retiring in 1997, Howes-Stevens returned to her art making full-time. She is the recipient of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and a Greater Hartford Arts Council Individual Artists Fellowship. (Ms. Howes-Stevens work appears at the top of this page)

Sue Collier has been living and working in New York City for the past twenty years, and has taught painting and drawing for ten years and has lectured at Queens College and Dartmouth College. She has exhibited nationally and has had numerous one-person shows. Ms. Collier had received various grants including several Meritorious Teaching Awards from SUNY Purchase for outstanding teaching. Ms collier attended the Skowhegan School and was a graduate fellow at Boston Umiversity. Her work has been reviewed by The New York Times, Art Forum, ARTNews, Artspeak and Women’s Artist News, among others.

Gallery hours are Monday thru Friday- 8:30am until 5:30pm; Thursday evenings until 7pm; Saturday, 9am until 3pm and Sundays Noon until 4pm.

For additional information contact: Robbin Zella at 203.332.5052

Back to FREEDOM: A History of US Exhibit Page

Based on the 16-part PBS series that aired January 2003. Sponsored by GE

Photographs and Documents That Define American Freedom, 1776-1968 MARCH 13, 2003 THROUGH APRIL 18, 2003

Opening Reception Sponsored by General Electric: Thursday, March 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Special Music Performance by Cyd Slotoroff and Stacy Phillips HCC President Janis Hadley enjoys the entertainment with Gus Serra, Manager of Community Relations and Communications at GE. Cyd Slotoroff and Stacy Phillips perform American folk songs, past and present, reflecting the theme of freedom. Museum Director Robbin Zella with one of the exhibit panels in the background. Gus Serra joins guests of the Museum during the musical entertainment. Janet Luongo, educational consultant for the Museum, discusses the project with Gus Serra of GE and Lynn Dodson of Creative Lines.

FREEDOM: A History of US

Based on the 16-part PBS series that aired January 2003. Sponsored by GE

Return to Genesis by Lois Goglia & Grain by Janet Passehl Exhbit Info

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Genesis, Lois Goglia

Genesis is a series of eighteen collages created from exposed X-ray film. These images are wall mounted, illuminated on light boxes. They chronicle the beginning of life from the growth of individual cells in petri dishes to the development of a full-term fetus. DNA sequencing gels, human and animal X-rays, a mammogram, and fetal ultrasound radiographs are incorporated into this work.
Apart from the broader social and bio-ethical content this artwork implies, these collages also explore the X-ray's relationship to photography, an art historical issue that, to my knowledge, has never been thoroughly examined. Genesis is the result of a number of synchronous events that occurred this past spring. A Yale Medical School physician/researcher who had seen my antecedent artwork that incorporated X-rays, furnished me with films which been exposed to radioactive DNA. These images were generated when film was placed adjacent to petri dishes covered with bacteria. This researcher also supplied me with the DNA sequencing gels that I have used throughout this series. These films are relatively rare because this method of record keeping, although used just a few years ago, is already obsolete. Furthermore, scientists who have used X-rays for documenting their research have either discarded their films, or are keeping them as records of earlier work. The human and animal X-rays, a mammogram, and fetal ultrasound radiographs were donated by medical health care professionals only with the promise that no personal identifying labels would be left on the artwork.

Studying artworks which emphasized documentation, repetition, and serial progression in the Noncomposition: fifteen case studies exhibition at The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut to write a review for Art New England's April/ May 2002 issue gave me the impetus to present the DNA and petri dish images in a straightforward manner.

The collages from The Synthetic Century-Collage from Cubism to Postmodernism at the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut for Art New England's following issue, reinforced the idea of using appropriated cultural detritus such as X-rays in my own work. Genesisis a distillation of ideas from all my artwork for the past eighteen years: the relationship between art, science, and the metaphysical. Simultaneously, this artwork reframes scientific advances in light of twentieth century research. Cloning, gene mapping and altering, organ transplants, and medical protocols give physicians the potential to control survival and death. Children can be planned, produced artificially, and checked for defects before birth. What are the ethical considerations inherent in having the ability to control our genetic destiny?

Intrinsic to the meaning of this series is the worry that radioactive materials might be used in weapons of mass destruction; that, the information from sequencing gels might provide terrorists with knowledge enabling them to produce even more lethal forms of smallpox and anthrax. Consequently, this artwork evokes to fore the good/evil conflict inherent in electromagnetic radiation and DNA sequencing.

Genesis hovers between photography, scientific documentation, and the metaphysical. At the same time, these collages illuminate some of today's most critical issues.

Genesis by Lois Goglia & Grain by Janet Passehl 2003

January 24 - February 28, 2003
Genesis Lois Goglia		Genesis Artist's Statement Genesis Image Gallery
Grain Janet Passehl		Grain Image Gallery About Grain
Genesis Gallery Talk - Wednesday February 19, 12 noon - 1 pm The aesthetics of experimental genetics Lois Goglia and Dr. Leonard Milstone, Professor, Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Dermatology Catalog Available Upon Request, $5

Gallery Hours:
8:30 am - 5:30 pm: Monday through Friday
Thursday Evening until 7:00 pm
9:00 am - 3:00 pm: Saturday
Noon - 4:00 pm: Sunday

Robbin Zella, Director 203-332-5052

MICHAEL HAFFTKA A RETROSPECTIVE: LARGE OILS 1985-2003 2004

MICHAEL HAFFTKA
A RETROSPECTIVE: LARGE OILS 1985-2003

October 21, 2004 - January 14, 2005

Opening Reception November 20 from 2-4 pm

Lecture by the Artist December 9 at Noon

Catalog available: $25.00

These events are free and the public is invited to attend.

Housatonic Museum of Art will present a retrospective of Michael Hafftka's work, containing 23 large oil paintings. A Retrospective: Large Oils 1985-2003 will be shown October 21 through January 14, 2005, accompanied by an 80 page catalogue with full color reproductions of all the paintings.

Hafftka's work is represented in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Housatonic Museum of Art and many other museums.

Some have seen that work as depicting a deeply disturbing, chaotic world of existential suffering and despair mitigated only by the unflinching compassionate eye of the artist and the beholder. Others have viewed the work as a "revealing," amid that very suffering, as passages to the possibility of the experience of an ecstatic, transcendent vision. Among the more unsettling works shown are the four major triptychs "The Selecting Hand," "The Observer And The Observed," "Deposition" and "Dead End." In :Too Late," Hafftka's emotions are transmitted onto canvas, which captures both the anguish of a friend who committed suicide and the grim reality of life for the people left behind. Those paintings hinting at the possibility of ecstatic vision include "Christ Of Avignon," "Total Submission," "Survivors," and "Forty Years."

As revealed by this catalogue and show, a number of Hafftka's paintings make reference not only to a tortured world of suffering but also to the experience of harmony and beauty. Among such paintings are "Forty Years," "Bird," "Covenant of the Pieces" and the remarkable portraits, "Man Sitting" and "Igor and Romulus." All of his paintings, in fact, are notable for the exuberance and freedom of his manipulation of paint.

The work embodies subtle moral values born of human suffering or joy, yet is free of propaganda or political hypocrisy. Hafftka's work leaves the spectator with many possible interpretations, all demanding urgent response. Though his work embodies a highly personal vision, the emotions it arouses are universal.

As Housatonic Museum of Art director Robbin Zella put it, Michael Hafftka's work is both historical and prescient. His work has not fluctuated with the various trends of contemporary art or been influenced by images produced from the mass media. Rather, it reflects a steadfast commitment to painting as a medium through which to address fundamental human emotions and concerns.

The catalogue accompanying the show will include an introduction by Robbin Zella and critical essays by Michael Brodsky and Sam Hunter. Michael Brodsky is a well-known and highly respected novelist, the author of 12 published works of fiction and winner of the Hemmingway prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction. Sam Hunter is Professor Emeritus of Art History at Princeton and the author of numerous monographs, including works on Francis Bacon, Isamu Noguchi, and George Segal. Among his books published by Harry N Abrams are "American Art of the 20th Century," "Hans Hofmann," and "Robert Rauschenberg." Prior to his appointment to Princeton, Professor Hunter was the director of the Jewish Museum in NY, Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.

The opening reception for the artist will be held November 20 from 2-4 pm in the gallery. A lecture will be offered by the artist December 9 at Noon in the gallery. These events are free and the public is invited to attend.

Charles Peterson: Touch Me I'm Sick

September 8 through October 8, 2004 in the Burt Chernow Galleries

Rock My Religion, Dan Graham

Rock My Religion           Dan Graham           1982-84 55:27 min, b&w and color, sound

Rock My Religion is a provocative thesis on the relation between religion and rock music in contemporary culture. Graham formulates a history that begins with the Shakers, an early religious community who practiced self-denial and ecstatic trance dances. With the “reeling and rocking” of religious revivals as his point of departure, Graham analyzes the emergence of rock music as religion with the teenage consumer in the isolated suburban milieu of the 1950s, locating rock's sexual and ideological context in post-World War II America. The music and philosophies of Patti Smith, who made explicit the trope that rock is religion, are his focus. This complex collage of text, film footage and performance forms a compelling theoretical essay on the ideological codes and historical contexts that inform the cultural phenomenon of rock ‘n’ roll music.

Original Music: Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth. Sound: Ian Murray, Wharton Tiers. Narrators: Johanna Cypis, Dan Graham. Editors: Matt Danowski, Derek Graham, Ian Murray, Tony Oursler. Produced by Dan Graham and the Moderna Museet.

Dan Graham's provocative art and theories analyze the historical, social and ideological functions of contemporary cultural systems, including architecture, rock music, and television. In performances, installations, and architectural/ sculptural designs, he investigates public and private, audience and performer, objectivity and subjectivity. Deconstructing the phenomenology of viewing, he manipulates perception with time delay, projections, closed-circuit video, and mirrors.
Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix On-Line Catalogue: www.eai.org

Dan Graham
Urbana, Illinois, 1942
Skowhegan Medal for Mixed Media, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, New York, 1992

Solo Exhibitions
Dan Graham, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal, January 30-March 2001;
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France, July - September 2001;
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Holland, November 2001 - February 2002;
KIASMA, Helsinki, Finland, April - June 2002
Dan Graham: The Complete Film Works, The Whitney Museum of Art, New York, New York, March 30, 2001

Group Exhibitions
Flashing into the Shadows: The Artist Film in America 1966-76, The Whitney Museum of Art, New York, New York, December 7, 2000-April 1, 2001

Rock My Religion by Dan Graham will play continuously in the Gallery from September 8 - November 1, 2004.
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 9, 2004 from 5 to 7 pm.

charles peterson: touch me

charles peterson:
touch me i'm sick

Charles Peterson: Slide Show and Lecture, time to be announced

Poised at the epicenter of an explosive underground scene, photographer Charles Peterson witnessed the birth of a brash new era in music that grabbed the world by its throat and refused to let go. Grunge, the bastard child of ‘60s garage and ‘70s punk, revived the original gritty spirit of rock and roll: rebellion ain’t pretty but it sure is fun.

Peterson’s photography documents the raw power of live performances by the soon-to-be-famous artists and their dedicated fans. Yet, Peterson’s photographs do not rely on the cult of celebrity to tell this compelling tale of angst, anxiety, and acoustics. Rather, they capture the cathartic ritual between musician and fan played out in seedy clubs reeking of sweat and stale beer. Bored, alienated youth with nothing better to do than bash their instruments and mosh their bodies in a barrage of sound, song, and furious energy are mirrored with his signature style of wide-angle intimacy, swirling lights, and a strange sense of grace.  

Peterson, who became known mostly for his signature style “blur,” exploited by use of the open shutter flash technique, capturing bands at the height of their intensity. Marvels of controlled chaos and swirling lights, his live photographs plucked spontaneous beauty from the tumult of a rock show, revealing the depth and honesty of its most unguarded moments.

Charles Peterson was born in 1964 in Longview, Washington. He received a B.F.A. in photography from the University of Washington in 1987. At that time he met up with a group of musicians (future members of Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, etc.) and the journalist/record promoter Bruce Pavitt. He decided Charles’ gritty, populist look was the perfect element to showcase the bands on his new label, Sub Pop. The rest is contemporary pop history — grunge, Nirvana, Seattle. 

Peterson’s photographs have graced hundreds of record covers, and appeared in publications worldwide including the Village Voice, NME, The New York Times, Newsweek, Mojo, People, Rolling Stone, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, Rockin’ On, Guitar World, and Newsweek. He has two previous monographs, Screaming Life: A Chronicle of the Seattle Music Scene (Harper Collins) and Pearl Jam: Place/Date (Rizzoli/Vitalogy, with Lance Mercer) His images have appeared in numerous other books, including The Blue Jean, 1001 Record Covers, Cobain, This Band Could Be Your Life, and Come As You Are, and feature prominently in the feature film “Hype,” as well as numerous other video documentaries. The exhibition was organized by The powerHouse Gallery and his book Touch Me I’m Sick was published in 2003 by powerHouse Books.

charles peterson:touch me i'm sick appears in the Gallery from September 8 - November 1, 2004.
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 9, 2004 from 5 to 7 pm.
A Slide Show and Lecture will be presented by Charles Peterson, time to be announced

Izzy and Places of the Spirit Exhibitions

Exhibitions June 10 - July 23, 2004