UW Art Museum Hosts Fall Exhibitions Opening Reception Sept. 9

The University of Wyoming Art Museum will celebrate the opening of its fall exhibitions with a free public reception Friday, Sept. 9, from 6-8 p.m.

The reception will include refreshments and live music by 10¢ Stranger.

The exhibitions on view this fall are “Audubon & Van Hoesen: Illustrating Animals”; “WASTE LAND: A Survey of Works by Brandon Ballengée, 1996-2016”; “Pat Guthrie Special Exhibitions Teaching Gallery”; and “Rural Images: The Cartoon Art of J.R. Williams, Ace Reid, and Jerry Palen.”

“Audubon & Van Hoesen: Illustrating Animals” is on view through Nov. 2. The exhibition presents animal illustrator artists John James Audubon, John Woodhouse Audubon and Beth Van Hoesen. The artists depicted animal subjects with scientific devotion, emphasizing the importance of craftsmanship and technique in the creation of their artwork. 

“WASTE LAND: A Survey of Works by Brandon Ballengée, 1996-2016” is on view through Dec. 17. The first U.S. survey to explore artist–biologist Ballengée’s extensive work, the exhibition presents more than 100 works and several site-specific installations that merge his scientific research with transdisciplinary artworks. Ballengée’s work is inspired by direct observation with amphibians, birds, fish and insect species found in today’s ecosystems and direct experience in scientific laboratory settings.

He works in diverse media that includes biological materials, large-scale scanner photographs, installations in both gallery and outdoor settings, and participatory community-based trans-species happenings. Ballengée draws titles of his work from literary and poetic sources.

“The Pat Guthrie Special Exhibitions Teaching Gallery” is on view through Dec. 17. The teaching gallery model integrates original art into coursework curriculum and presents exhibitions available to students and the public. Working closely with faculty, courses this semester include “American Indian Studies 2345 -- American Indians and Film”; “Art 3760 -- American Art History”; “Art/History/American Studies/Anthropology 2700 -- Introduction to Museology”; and a first-year seminar course, “Environment and Natural Resources 1101 -- Thinking Like a Mountain,” offered through UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.

“Rural Images: The Cartoon Art of J.R. Williams, Ace Reid, and Jerry Palen,” an American Heritage Center exhibition, is on view through Nov. 12. The exhibition presents works from the careers of Williams, Reid and Palen that span from the early 1920s to 2015. Each artist used his unique style to create poignant snapshots of rural life in America.

For more information, call the Art Museum at (307) 766-6622, visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum, or follow the museum on Facebook.

Through its “Museum as Classroom” approach, the UW Art Museum places art at the center of learning for all ages. Located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 Willett Drive in Laramie, the museum is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday hours are extended to 7 p.m. February through April and September through November. Admission is free.