Two New Exhibits Open at University of Wyoming Art Museum

Two new exhibitions will open Saturday, Sept. 6, at the University of Wyoming Art Museum.

“Ralston Crawford: The Artist’s Eye” is a major exhibition of work by the American artist. The Pat Guthrie Special Exhibitions Teaching Gallery, which features four small exhibitions of work selected by UW faculty for use during the academic semester, also opens.

Crawford is classified with the Precisionist artists during the 1920s and early 1930s. However, he abandoned the simple, geometric urban and industrial landscapes of Precisionism in favor of more abstract imagery after World War II. As a result, most of the scholarship and exhibitions on Crawford have focused on his early work of the 1930s, and his association with the Precisionist movement.

“Ralston Crawford: The Artist’s Eye” provides an investigation beyond the Precisionist view of Crawford’s work in an all-inclusive framework. Previously unseen 16mm footage shot by Crawford in the last two decades of his life provide new information on his selection process and visual choices. This -- combined with his work in the more familiar media of painting, printmaking, drawing and photography -- offers a new understanding of the artist and his work.

“Ralston Crawford: The Artist’s Eye” is presented with three additional exhibitions: “Early Work,” “Drawings & Photographs” and “Contemporaries,” which provide a broader context within which to explore and understand Crawford’s artistic work.

The Art Museum continues the successful teaching gallery model in the Pat Guthrie Special Exhibitions Teaching Gallery.

This semester, the gallery features selections of art from the American West, including 19th and 20th century artworks; artist explorations of the female form; and a wide variety of other objects from the permanent collection. Faculty members in the UW departments of history, art history, and gender and women’s studies use the works for specific courses.

The installation is divided into four sections, one exhibition per wall for each class. The artwork is available to students throughout the semester for use during the museum’s public hours. While the gallery is designed to meet the needs of the academic community, it also is open to the public to demonstrate connections between the Art Museum and teaching across the curriculum, supporting UW’s academic mission.

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

Through its “museum as classroom” approach, the UW Art Museum places art at the center of learning for all ages. The museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 Willett Drive in Laramie.

Hours are Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday hours are extended to 9 p.m. February through April and September through November. Admission is free.