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Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art

Category: May 2019

Now Open!

Beyond Gravity: Selections from the Permanent Collection
April 2 – November 30, 2019
Apollo 11 mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin, both Americans, landed the lunar module Eagle on July 20, 1969. This exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing and complements the Manhattan Public Library’s summer reading theme, A Universe of Stories.

The signature work, Moon Landing, is by artist and designer Raymond Loewy, who worked for NASA from 1967 to 1973. Loewy was employed as a Habitability Consultant by NASA when it designed the Skylab space station, launched in 1973. One of NASA’s goals in hiring Loewy was to improve the safety and comfort of manned spacecraft.

Another body of work featured in the exhibition is by Indian artist Rm. Palaniappan. “During my schooling, interest on science made me imagine myself as a scientist,” the artist has said. “(A)lso my deep involvement in mathematics and astronomy gave me a doorway to see a new world of abstractions.” Palaniappan’s Alien Planet series, Space Drawings, and Flying Man all reflect his fascination with flight and space exploration. From John Steuart Curry’s illustration study for a Ralph Waldo Emerson essay to Wisconsin engineer Erhardt C. Koerper’s Sun Flares to Lee Chesney’s Nebula, this exhibition invites viewers to travel beyond gravity’s reach.

Related Programming
ARTSmart summer classes, June and July 2019
School tours, April 2 – October 19, 2019

Top image: Raymond Loewy (United States, 1893 – 1986), Moonlanding, detail, 1979, color screen print with embossing on paper, 19 1/16 x 24 in., Kansas State University, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, gift of Gilbert E. Johnson, 2017.99. Bottom image: R. M. Palaniappan, Flying Man-1982 (detail), 1987, lithograph on paper, 2017.560

Last week to see: Pete Souza: Two Presidents, One Photographer

Pete Souza: Two Presidents, One Photographer
February 5-April 27, 2019

The iconic photographs of Pete Souza are well known from his tenure as Chief Official White House Photographer for President Obama. Many people don’t remember that Souza was also Official White House Photographer for President Reagan.
Two Presidents, One Photographer showcases fifty-six of Souza’s photographs of two presidents. It includes Souza’s favorite images of Reagan and Obama, providing us with candid moments that are windows into their humanity. What we see in Souza’s photographs are two presidents who clearly respected both the office they held and the people with whom they interacted, no matter the circumstance.
Souza earned a master’s degree in journalism at Kansas State University. He is currently a freelance photographer in the Washington, D.C. area and professor emeritus of visual communication at Ohio University.

White House photographs by Pete Souza. This exhibition was organized by art2art Circulating Exhibitions. The exhibition is sponsored by Kansas State University Office of the President, Mary Vanier, Jackie Hartman Borck and Lee Borck, Jack Goldstein Charitable Trust, Holiday Inn at the Campus, K-State Department of Art, and other generous donors.

Top image: President Reagan working at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office (October 26, 1988). Bottom image: President Barack Obama works at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office (October 14, 2016).

A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State

Thursday, April 25, 5:30 p.m.
A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State
Documentary film screening and post discussion with filmmaker Kara Heitz

Heitz’s film, produced with Graham Carroll, documents the history of murals painted for Kansas post offices as part of New Deal arts programs. Join her after the screening for a conversation about the murals’ historic and contemporary significance. A New Deal for Public Art in a Free State is a film by Clio’s Scroll Productions LLC in conjunction with the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery and funded by a grant from Humanities Kansas. Kara Heitz is a lecturer in history in the department of liberal arts at Kansas City Art Institute.

This talk is in conjunction with the exhibition Celebrating Heroes: American Mural Studies of the 1930s and 1940s from the Steven and Susan Hirsch Collection, on view March 5 – June 15, 2019.

Mural by Birger Sandzen in the post office at Lindsborg, KS. Image by the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery.

Talk by Lara Kuykendall

Thursday, May 2, 5:30 p.m.
“Heroes for Hard Times: American Art During the 1930s and 1940s”
Talk by Lara Kuykendall

The global crises of the 1930s and 1940s compelled American artists to make art that fulfilled both personal and national needs for pride and hope. This talk will explore the ways in which artists used heroic characters to symbolize national ideals and aspirations during trying times. Lara Kuykendall is an associate professor of art history at Ball State University.
This talk is in conjunction with the exhibition Celebrating Heroes: American Mural Studies of the 1930s and 1940s from the Steven and Susan Hirsch Collection, on view March 5 – June 15, 2019.

Anton Refregier in the 1940s painting The Waterfront, one of twenty-seven mural panels for San Francisco’s Rincon Annex Post Office. Photograph courtesy Brigit Refregier

 

Current Exhibitions

Beyond Gravity: Selections from the Permanent Collection
April 2  October 19, 2019

Celebrating Heroes: American Mural Studies of the 1930s and 1940s from the Steven and Susan Hirsch Collection
March 5 – June 15, 2019

Pete Souza: Two Presidents, One Photographer
February 5 – April 27, 2019

Picturing Kansas
October 5, 2018 – June 1, 2019

Voices: Art Linking Asia and the West
December 4, 2018 – December 21, 2019

Image: Philo B. Ruggles (United States, 1906-1988) and John Ruggles (United States, 1907-1991), Steel Workers (detail), 1939, competition sketch for Section of Fine Arts mural, post office, Bridgeport, Ohio (unrealized), gouache, watercolor, and graphite on cardboard, 16 1/4 x 37 3/8 in., Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Gift of Susan and Steven Hirsch, class of 1971, 2015.23.4.2

Classes and Workshops

The Museum hosts a variety of classes and workshops throughout the year for all ages.

Click here to view Spring 2019 ARTSmart programs for families

ARTSmart Classes: East Meets West Part II
Travel the remainder of the Silk Road as part of the museum’s “Silk Road through Kansas” programming. We will visit India, China, Japan, and the Middle East. Next Class: May 22-25: Japanese Children’s Day, Koi Nobari Kites (traditionally celebrated May 5).

 Homeschool Tuesdays
Classes meet on the first Tuesday of the month and allow homeschool families a chance to participate in the museum’s school field trip program. Classes are appropriate for kids in kindergarten on up.
Next class: May 7, 1-2:30 p.m.
Intersection of Math and Art

Cost for all above classes is $3 per child, $1.50 for military families, and reservations are required. Call 785-532-7718 or email klwalk@k-state.edu for reservations. Children must be accompanied by an adult. If you need to cancel your reservation let us know so we can call those on the waiting list.

Special price for Military Families:  In conjunction with the Blue Star Museum program, the Beach Museum of Art offers military families half price on all workshops and classes!

Ways to Stay Connected

The museum is open Tues, Wed, Fri, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thurs 10 a.m.-8p.m., Sat, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free admission. Free parking.

Visit us online at beach.k-state.edu

See all upcoming events

Check out The Beach Blog for behind-the-scenes information, event info, and guest posts.

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Image: Elizabeth Layton, Untitled (business business business, you gotta have art), 1991, KSU, Beach Museum of Art