Jenna Gilley, Associate Curator of Exhibitions We all know the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Working in an art museum, I ascribe to this idiom, believing that the images on our gallery walls speak just as (if not more) to our human experience than words on a page. Images can convey meaning based on their cultural context, personal connection, and be infinitely recombined to change their meaning. Today’s Now on View post explores an artist who is a master of pictorial language. Jane Hammond, American, b. 1950. Full House. Etching, screenprint, and lithograph with collage on pap ..read more

Tariq Gibran, Curator of Art & Exhibitions, Museum of Art – DeLand Tariq Gibran, Curator of Art & Exhibitions at the Museum of Art-Deland. Photo courtesy of Tariq Gibran. Gabriela Gonzalez Dellosso is an artist of impeccable skill with a deep love and knowledge of art history.  In fact, Dellosso’s paintings almost seem to summon the ghosts of her favorite painters.  Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Goya are all here.  In one respect, Dellosso’s paintings are like a time machine, transporting us to a bygone era through rich luminous colours and delicate details reminiscent of the ..read more

We’ve asked FWMoA staff the hardest question you can ask art museum people: so, what is your favorite artwork currently on display? As “art museum people”, we often get asked about our favorite artists, artworks, and the art we choose to hang on our own walls. Since not all of our staff are front-end, and not all of them write for the blog, this series gives everyone a chance to get to know them, too. Taking advantage of our rotating exhibitions of artworks, from painted portraits to sculpted bronzes, FWMoA staff from all departments are choosing artworks that enthrall and enchant them; or, in ..read more

Sachi Yanari-Rizzo, Curator of Prints & Drawings Born in 1951 in Pendleton, Oregon, James Lavadour is a descendant of the Walla Walla tribe and grew up on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.  In his early twenties he began painting abstract landscapes using food coloring and watercolor. Lavadour credits the land with providing his education; long hikes around the foothills of the Blue Mountains on the reservation honed his skills of observation and heightened his awareness of the physical forces coursing through nature and his body.   In 1990, the Rut ..read more

Alyssa Dumire, Director of Education Spring is in full bloom and, if you’re anything like me, you might be spending these sunny days amazed at the ever-changing selection of showy flowers, emerging from bare dirt almost as if by magic. Enter Fantastic Realms, our current exhibition of artworks inspired by myth, magic, and folklore. Today in the studio, we’re looking to two of the featured artists who set their fantastical scenes in the beauty of nature. Kirsty Mitchell, British, b. 1976. The Fade of Fallen Memories. Archival pigment print on paper, 2014. Purchase with funds provided by the Jun ..read more

Katy Thompson, Associate Director of Education If you’ve ever taken an art history course, or read a label in an art museum, you’ve probably come across the term “Old Masters”. When considering master painters and sculptors, what name(s) pop into your head? It’s probably the ones that, even if you haven’t thought of art in years, everyone knows: Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Dürer, or Caravaggio. What makes these predominantly white, male painters and sculptors the masters of their crafts? Nothing more than the years in which they worked. A catchall, “Old Masters ..read more

Amanda Shepard, Vice President & COO Contemporary art is a moving target, enjoying its title only as long as the life and recent memory of its practitioners. What is contemporary will become past, and living artists compete for a role in this story of art as it is written. And yet, the art of history is never really history. Its influence and effects on successive generations can be just as powerful, if not more, than when it was contemporary. This is certainly true of the art and artists that have taken root in the heart and mind of Gabriela Gonzalez Dellosso. Moved by the lives of unsung ..read more

April is National Poetry Month! Founded in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, National Poetry Month seeks to remind the public that poets serve an integral role in our cultural and literary history. Often labeled as the “difficult” writing genre, National Poetry Month works to encourage both the reading and writing of poems, provides resources for students and teachers, and raises awareness of practicing poets in local and national media. This year, the Poet Laureate for Indiana is our own Curtis Crisler, Professor of English at PFW! A judge for the regional Scholastic Writing Awards, Cris ..read more

Sue Slick, Collection Information Specialist In March of 1925, just as the Fort Wayne Art School and Museum marked the third anniversary of its formal founding, another Indiana arts entity, which would enjoy a century of longevity, was born.  In May of 1924, a group of Indiana women living in Chicago, who called themselves the Daughters of Indiana, put on an Art Tea featuring a program on Hoosier painters. This compelling presentation spurred these proud Hoosier gals to ensure that Hoosier artists received the recognition and exposure they deserved. A lavish showcase was needed! Shortly t ..read more

We’ve asked FWMoA staff the hardest question you can ask art museum people: so, what is your favorite artwork currently on display? As “art museum people”, we often get asked about our favorite artists, artworks, and the art we choose to hang on our own walls. Since not all of our staff are front-end, and not all of them write for the blog, this series gives everyone a chance to get to know them, too. Taking advantage of our rotating exhibitions of artworks, from painted portraits to sculpted bronzes, FWMoA staff from all departments are choosing artworks that enthrall and enchant them; or, in ..read more