Past

The Huntington Museum of Art presents the work of high school senior art students in the Portfolio 2022 exhibit, which is on view from April 16 through May 15, 2022. A virtual awards program will take place on April 16, at 2 p.m. on HMA’s YouTube channel. Because of the pandemic, HMA has narrowed the focus of this year’s exhibit to highlight the work of high school seniors as it also did in 2021.

Twenty student artworks from 13 Tri-State high schools are featured in this year’s exhibit. Participating high schools include Cabell Midland, Huntington, Logan, Poca, Point Pleasant, Spring Valley, and Tug Valley in West Virginia; Ironton and Rock Hill in Ohio; and Greenup, Paul G. Blazer, Raceland-Worthington, and Russell in Kentucky.

HMA Senior Curator/Exhibition Designer John Farley selected Kendra Fischer as the winner of the 2022 Janet Bromley Excellence in the Arts Award for her textile collage work titled “Blue Jean Bull.” The award winner attends Spring Valley High School, where Sara Tess Hager is her art teacher. All student artists participating in the exhibit will receive small cash prizes and certificates for being chosen by their teachers to participate in the exhibit.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Illustrated storytelling is a primal form of human communication, believed integral to the development of language. In this sense, the visual and narrative styles beloved in contemporary culture as comic art are simply modern expressions of a collective impulse buried deep in our prehistoric past.

Nearer the present, comic art represents a natural evolution of the political cartoons and satirical caricatures which have been printed in European and American newspapers and periodicals since the early 1800s. Cleverly designed interplays of text and image allowed for effective communication with a wide audience, regardless of age or literacy, making this format ideal for delivering social critique, propaganda, and entertainment. Published compilations of cartoon reprints and newspaper comic strips foreshadowed what was to come and, in 1935, the first comic book featuring original cartoon artwork was released. However, the Golden Age of Comic Books truly began in 1938 with Action Comics, no. 1, when an extraterrestrial infant refugee with superhuman potential crash landed in the idyllic American Midwest. The boy’s adopted parents named him Clark Kent, but humanity came to know this archetypal superhero, champion of the oppressed, by his alter-ego: Superman. By the mid-20^th century, in addition to a growing number of mainstream comic creators, diverse independent artists, writers, and publishers were producing self-expressive comic art that commented on culture and politics from new perspectives. Barriers continue to be transformed into frontiers for creativity as artists and writers who once had limited voices in the traditional comic industry now enjoy a wider audience and larger platforms to tell their stories.

Once primarily an American art form, comic books and the pantheon of characters spawned within their pages now connect legions of devoted fans around the world through a common language. Comic sales have risen consistently for decades, and consumer demand continues to reach astonishing heights, a trend supercharged by the popularity of graphic novels and digital downloads. Free Comic Book Day – an annual promotional effort supported by participating comic book vendors – has spread to nearly sixty different countries. An undeniable pop-culture juggernaut, scores of commercially successful comic-inspired movies dominate at the box office, and critically acclaimed TV series stream directly into our living rooms. The original artwork for newspaper comic strips and comic books is coveted by collectors and exhibited by major museums.

No longer a niche hobby, comic culture is decidedly mainstream.

“POW!”: Comic Drawings from the Permanent Collection features original comic book art, comic strips, and sequential drawings created by some of America’s most noted comic artists, such as Bob Kane, Ernie Chan and Neil Adams, from the Huntington Museum of Art’s Michael Reynolds Collection of American Popular Culture.

This exhibit is sponsored in part by Truist WV Foundation.

This exhibit is presented with support from The Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Honoré Daumier (1808-1879) was a French artist renowned as a brilliant caricaturist with boundless imagination. For most of the artist’s life, he earned a living producing sharp-witted cartoons and provocative caricatures that satirized his countrymen.

Published in newspapers, periodicals, journals, and illustrated pamphlets, these striking images, often pointed and uncompromising, offer commentary on 19^th century France – a time of social, cultural, and political upheaval. From the July Revolution of 1830 and the ascendance of the upper middle class, or bourgeoisie, to the fall of the Second Napoleonic Empire in 1870, Daumier’s images engaged the French populace through the weekly press.

He was politically aligned with the working class, in antagonistic opposition to the French constitutional monarchy and those who profited from it. His convictions occasionally lead to retribution and censorship. Early in Daumier’s career he was charged, fined, and briefly imprisoned for a scathing caricature that depicted an indolent French King Louis Phillippe gobbling bags of coins extracted from the nation’s workers – many of whom lived in miserable poverty.

Honoré Daumier mastered the recently invented lithographic printmaking process, a faster and less expensive method of mass-producing prints compared to the traditional practices of engraving and etching. He was prolific and drew 3,958 lithographs before the onset of blindness halted his work. Despite his reputation for acerbic political statements, many of these prints were lighthearted satires of contemporary life in industrialized French society.

Through the Eyes of Honoré Daumier will present selections from the Huntington Museum of Art’s impressive collection of lithographs by this influential artist, most of them gifts of the Armand Hammer Foundation. Although these works reflect the culture of a particular country and era through the eyes of one keen citizen, Daumier’s astute observations about humanity echo into the present.

This exhibit is presented with support from The Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Ceramic artist and teacher Kathleen Kneafsey has served as Artist-in-Residence at the Huntington Museum of Art for the past 22 years. In addition to teaching various clay classes and maintaining the ceramics studio, she is responsible for inviting world-class clay artists to Huntington, West Virginia, through the Museum’s renowned Walter Gropius Master Artist Program.

This engagement includes an exhibit of the artist’s work, a public lecture, and an intensive multi-day workshop conducted in the Museum’s art studios designed by famed architect and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius.

Assembled from Kneafsey’s wildest imagination, the roster of ceramic artists who have visited the Museum includes both early vanguards of the studio pottery movement and next generation artists redefining what it means to work with clay. For more than two decades, Kneafsey’s efforts have earned this program national prominence.

A native Huntingtonian, Kathleen Kneafsey left her hometown at 17 years old and embarked on an exciting path of growth and discovery that ultimately, serendipitously brought her back to the place on the hill where it all began. “I had my first introduction to clay at the Museum, which led to a life choice that has been completely fulfilling,” Kneafsey said. “That first experience drove me to pursue study in clay, taking me to Clemson where I was fortunate enough to learn from a wonderfully gifted professor and mentor. I also met my husband there, and through his career travels, I was able to study clay in many different places with great artists. Then, we came back to my hometown, and the Museum and I became reacquainted.”

By chance, in 1997, Kneafsey saw an advertisement at Marshall University that the Huntington Museum of Art was looking for someone to teach children’s pottery. Perfectly suited for the role, her appointment soon expanded to include additional classes and, in 2000, after finishing graduate school at Miami University, the Museum offered her the position of Artist-in-Residence, a role she has cherished ever since. “My family has grown right along with this program,” Kneafsey said. “When I started in this position, I was expecting my first child, and the way I recall the dates of an artist’s visit is by how many children I had at the time or which child I was pregnant with. Many of the artists whom I asked to visit were chosen because they were parents themselves. I selfishly wanted to see how they juggled all the balls in the life of an artist, teacher, and parent. So, the growth of the program and the growth of my family, now three children in all, are completely intertwined.”

Kathleen Kneafsey’s lifelong commitment to ceramics education quietly underlies Serendipitous: A History of Clay at the Huntington Museum of Art. This sprawling exhibit, built from the Museum’s permanent collection, features contemporary ceramic artworks made by visiting artists in the Walter Gropius Master Artist Program. Brief recollections by Kneafsey, extruded from memory, accompany select artworks and enrich the gallery presentation. This is our history, and her story.

This exhibit is presented with support from The Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Between 1916 and 1965, Philippi, West Virginia, natives Arthur Spencer Dayton (1887-1948) and Ruth Woods Dayton (1894-1978) carefully developed a superb collection of American and European paintings, prints, sculpture, and decorative arts that speaks to their personal philosophy of beauty in art.

The couple began seriously building their collection during their years in Charleston (1923-1948). They purchased works from art galleries and, over the years, built a special relationship with MacBeth Gallery in New York City. They also bought from auctions, from prestigious exhibitions such as the Carnegie International, and purchased works directly from the studios of artists whom they admired – both in the United States and abroad. The Daytons bought what they liked and what they could afford. They also kept a detailed and valuable record of where and when objects were acquired.

They were well read on the history of art, especially 19^th and 20^th century American artists, sharing a love of landscapes. The strength of their collection lies in academically trained artists working in the various schools of realism and American impressionism, including masterpieces by Childe Hassam, J. Alden Weir, Emil Carlsen, John Twachtman, Willard Metcalf, Frank Benson, Charles Davis and works by “The Eight.” Early American modernists and the ideals expressed by those artworks were of little interest.

In 1929, Ruth purchased from MacBeth Gallery an etching titled Calvary Church in Snow by Childe Hassam and gave it to Arthur as a Christmas gift. Thus, began a collection of engravings, etchings, and lithographs by a literal “who’s who” of American and European printmakers. The Daytons also had a penchant for small bronzes, especially by women artists working in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, including Grace Helen Talbot, Harriet Frishmuth, Anna Hyatt Huntington, and Edith Parsons. A small collection of Lacy period glass was also part of the collection.

In May 1948, Arthur Dayton died suddenly at the age of sixty-one. With the goal of sharing the collection with the public, Ruth Dayton turned a building on the property adjacent to their home in Lewisburg, West Virginia, into a museum. She called it The Daywood Gallery, combining Arthur’s surname (Dayton) and her maiden name (Woods). The collection continued to grow through purchases and donations. The Daywood Gallery remained in operation from 1951 into 1966. The following year The Daywood Collection was donated to the Huntington Museum of Art.

This exhibit is presented with support from The Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

Keep the Light: Green Gardens & Growing Things features iconic works from the Huntington Museum of Art permanent collection that focus on horticulture and agriculture.

Among those iconic works in this exhibit are “The Garden Wall” by Winslow Homer; “Young Woman in a Landscape” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir; “The Harvester” by Julien Dupre; and “Love Tokens” by Jules Breton. “The works in this exhibit are all tied together by focusing on flowers, gardens, and other growing things,” said HMA Senior Curator/Exhibition Designer John Farley. “We will present works that express enjoyment of the sublime beauty of our world, as well as examples that reflect efforts to harness its life-giving elements. Sustenance of body, mind, and spirit is a common denominator. I hope that these themes will be uplifting for our visitors as we emerge from winter and look forward to the promise of spring.”

This exhibit will also include a new Huntington Museum of Art acquisition of a very rare and unusual color monoprint by West Virginia artist Blanche Lazzell. “We are pleased to showcase this new gift to HMA of art by trailblazing artist and teacher Blanche Lazzell titled ‘Hibiscus,’ ” Farley said. “We thank John A. Webb and Lazzelle W. Parker for this gift given in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Rufus G. Lazzell.” Blanche Lazzell is considered one of the most important women artists of 20^th century, having been an early adopter of modernism and cubism in her work, which can often be seen in her print-work. It was Lazzell who once remarked that “Originality, Simplicity, Freedom of Expression, and above all Sincerity, with a clean cut block, are characteristics of a good wood block print.”

Other works included in this exhibit include lithographs by Salvador Dali and Romare Bearden, and an oil painting by Herbert Meyer titled “Three Poppies,” which is part of HMA’s renowned Daywood Collection.

In conjunction with this exhibit, a Gardening for Pollinators Presentation by HMA Conservatory Director Dr. Mike Beck takes place on May 28, 2022, at HMA beginning at 10 a.m. Call (304) 529-2701 for more information.

This exhibit is presented with support from The Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

The Huntington Museum of Art is pleased to announce it will host Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art, celebrating the passion of an ordinary couple who spent more than 35 years as devoted connoisseurs, building a collection of vivid artworks that are both resonant and remarkably personal. Memories & Inspiration is on view at the Huntington Museum of Art from March 12 through June 12, 2022. This exhibit is sponsored at HMA by Leslie Petteys & William “Skip” Campbell.

Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art presents 67 selected works from a body of art amassed over 35 years. Kerry, a retired mailman, and Betty, a former television news producer, gladly gave up many ordinary comforts in order to live with extraordinary paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures as their principal luxuries. Their collection includes works by Romare Bearden, Beverly Buchanan, Elizabeth Catlett, Ernest T. Crichlow, Sam Gilliam, Loïs Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks, Alma Thomas, and Charles White, but Kerry and Betty do not search exclusively for well-known and/or documented artists. Rather, they focus on the more meaningful task of gathering and preserving a range of artistic approaches to the black image, in order to console the psyche and contribute to a more authentic articulation of the self.
The result is an eclectic gathering of pieces crossing different mediums, subjects, and styles by a group of artists of the African Diaspora who—in terms of training, experience, and expression—are strikingly diverse but unified in their use of cultural and historical narratives. As their collection has grown, so has the Davises’ storehouse of memories of discovering new works of art, building friendships with artists, and conversing with museum professionals and other collectors in their home. Memories & Inspiration brings together an awe-inspiring selection of works, but it is their personal resonance—their connection to the Davises’ hopes, passions, and everyday lives—that gives the collection its unique power.

Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art was organized and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC

Kerry Davis, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, is a former sergeant of the United States Air Force, a retired carrier with the United States Postal Service, and an ordained deacon. He began collecting in the mid-1980s in partnership with his wife, Betty, who shared his passion for art. Begun originally with the modest aim of enhancing the interior decor of their mid-century split-level home in suburban Atlanta, the Davises’ collection has grown to over 300 works by some of the most distinguished African American artists of the twentieth century.
Inspired by previous generations of African American art collectors, who understood the importance of preserving cultural expression, memory, and imagery, Davis has sought to contribute to this legacy and be a source of inspiration for others in the community. The Davis residence—dubbed an “In-Home Museum” by visiting neighbors, parishioners, and friends—serves as a meeting place and cultural hub for artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts. Kerry and Betty have two children and one granddaughter.

ABOUT THE COLLECTION

International Arts & Artists in Washington, DC, is a nonprofit arts service organization dedicated to increasing cross-cultural understanding and exposure to the arts internationally, through exhibitions, programs and services to artists, arts institutions and the public. Visit ArtsandArtists.org

Huntington Museum of Art

This exhibit is sponsored at HMA by Leslie Petteys & William “Skip” Campbell.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

For more information on exhibits at the Huntington Museum of Art, visit hmoa.org or call (304) 529-2701. HMA is fully accessible.

West Virginia residents may obtain a summary of the registration and financial documents from the Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305. Registration does not imply endorsement.

The opening reception for this exhibit is scheduled for April 26, 2022, at 7 p.m. as part of the 4^th Tuesday Tour Series at the Huntington Museum of Art.

Charles “Chuck” Burkart was a passionate collector of Asian art, military memorabilia, and books. A voracious reader with a keen intellect and a curious personality, Burkart spent more than four decades working in higher education with about 20 years at West Virginia University. Upon his passing in 2019, the Huntington Museum of Art received an astounding bequest of more than 350 artworks, nearly all 19^th and 20^th century Japanese woodblock prints. This survey exhibition, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation presents East to West: Japanese Prints from the Burkart Collection, highlights 40 woodblock prints by 11 Japanese artists whose work captured Charles Burkart’s attention. With a nod to West Virginia, the unlikely destination for this exceptional collection, this title evokes the cultural exchange that characterizes the history of Japanese woodblock printmaking.

The Huntington Museum of Art has partnered with Akiko Praylow, Japanese Outreach Coordinator for Marshall University, to present a community project, One Thousand Origami Cranes, in the museum’s Education Gallery. The crane, an important creature in Japanese folklore, is said to live for 1,000 years. According to tradition, the gods will grant a special wish to anyone who folds a group of one thousand origami cranes (senbazuru). Praylow worked with Marshall University and the Huntington community to fold 1,000 paper cranes for this project – no small task! Japanese calligraphy made by students in Marshall University alumna Emiko Hori’s calligraphy studio will also be featured in this display.

This exhibit is presented by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

The artist is scheduled to discuss her work in a free public presentation on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at 7 p.m. A three-day workshop titled “Pattern and Shallow Relief Carving—A Deep Dive” will be presented on March 11-13, 2022. Call (304) 529-2701 for workshop fee information.

Sarah Heimann is a studio potter in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and an instructor at Dartmouth College’s ceramic studio. Her work has been published in Lark’s 500 Cups, 500 Vases, 500 Teapots, Studio Potter magazine, and Surfaces, Glazes, and Firing by Angelica Pozo. She has been awarded a McKnight Artist Residency, Jerome Artist Project Grant, and a McKnight Artist Fellowship. She has an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

The following is her artist statement:

I am a potter. I work with clay, throwing and hand-building pots. I am passionate about weight and balance, questions of rim durability, how a foot meets a table. I intend my pieces to live in domestic spaces.

I spend hours with pieces cradled in my lap, raking light allowing me to see curves and planes of the evolving surface. As I carve into the pot, I consider how a ladder might stand in front of a vine, how a moon might overhang a building, and what would happen if a moon was on the ground. I improvise with myself each step of the way, trying to catch myself unawares. What would happen if I did this? Did that work? Is it clumsy? Can I make it more graceful? Does it still stand evenly?

These concerns are fundamental. I believe objects we live with should be made properly. The underside of a handle should be comfortable, curves should be confident. Feet should be well finished. Drawings should make sense within the context of the pot they live on.

When the pots are finished, people are often uncertain of their original material. They recognize time spent, and respond to the surface, but for comprehension, my pieces demand interaction. It is in handling that utilitarian underpinnings are understood. It is in carving that the drawing comes alive, and it is in use that the pieces come alive.

This exhibit is presented with support from The Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

The Huntington Museum of Art will present the exhibit titled InSights: Visionary Art by Artists who are Blind from Dec. 7, 2021, to Jan. 9, 2022. The public is invited to attend the “2021 American Printing House for the Blind Huntington Speaker Series Session: Inclusive Arts” event on Dec. 7, 2021, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Huntington Museum of Art. Admission to this Dec. 7 event is free.

The “2021 APH Huntington Speaker Series Session: Inclusive Arts” will begin with a reception and viewing of the exhibition in HMA’s Virginia Van Zandt Great Hall from 6 to 6:30 p.m., followed by a guided tour of selections from the APH InSights Art collection, an annual juried exhibition featuring artists who are blind or visually impaired from around the world, from 6:30 to 7 p.m. The event concludes with a panel discussion from 7 to 7:30 p.m.

Robert Guillen, Special Programs Coordinator at APH and curator of the Insights Art exhibition, will lead the 6:30 p.m. guided tour of two-and three-dimensional selections, including painting, sculpture, and craft, from the Insights Art exhibition and share information about the history of Insights Art, its featured artists, and the impact of this exhibition opportunity.

The 7 p.m. panel discussion on the impact of inclusive arts will take place in the HMA’s Grace Rardin Doherty Auditorium and will feature Guillen; Kathleen Kneafsey, HMA Visual Artist in Residence and teacher of the HMA clay studio class for people who are blind or visually impaired; and John Farley, HMA Senior Curator & Exhibition Designer. The “APH Huntington Speaker Series: Inclusive Arts” is free to attend and is presented in partnership with HMA.

Taking place throughout 2021-2022, the “APH Huntington Speaker Series” is pleased to present a diverse series of presentations and special guest speakers addressing the experiences, challenges, opportunities, and perspectives of people who are blind or visually impaired.

Founded in 1858 with a charter to provide accessible materials for all people in the United States who are blind, the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), based in Louisville, KY, has provided innovative products and essential services to people with vision loss for more than 160 years. The mission of APH is to empower people who are blind or visually impaired by providing accessible and innovative products, materials, and services for lifelong success. Today, APH is the world’s largest nonprofit organization creating accessible products and programs designed to support the educational, workplace, and independent living needs of people who are blind or visually impaired. Established in 2020, APH Huntington, a program of APH, provides access technology trainings and community learning opportunities addressing the needs of people with vision loss in Huntington.

Since 1992, the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) has hosted an art contest for artists who happen to be blind. Both amateur and professional artists from around the world enter their artwork in a juried art competition. Original works of two-dimensional art, sculpture, or craft are considered each year by a panel of artists, art educators, and others in the field of art. Winners receive prizes, experience their artwork displayed in an annual exhibit, and have a chance to travel to Louisville, Kentucky — the hometown of APH — to receive their award at the annual InSights Art awards celebration.

The APH Huntington 2021-2022 Speaker Series is supported in part by the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington and The James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust. Learn more about APH Huntington by contacting Lee Huffman at [email protected] or 304-634-1120. Learn about APH at www.aph.org.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.