Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC, Closes Apr. 24 – 26, 2013, and Participates in Slow Art Day

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) Winston-Salem, NC, will be closed to the public on the following times:

Wednesday, April 24 — Main Gallery closed (from 10 am to 5 pm) however 2 galleries will remain open
Thursday, April 25 — SECCA closed to the public all day
Friday, April 26 — SECCA opens at noon. Will be open until 5 p.m.

SECCA is closing to prepare for its annual Gala Fundraiser that will be held on Thursday, April 25.

On Saturday, April 27, SECCA will participate in International Slow Art Day. This special event will be held from 11am – 2pm. It is free (lunch will be purchased at local restaurant).

SECCA is one of 200 museums internationally, which are participating in Slow Art Day, encouraging visitors to spend extra time with specific pieces of art and to discuss the experience with friends over lunch. Register at (http://slowartsecca2013.eventbrite.com/). Slow Art Day is a worldwide celebration of art that encourages people to look at art SLOWLY – and thereby experience art in a new way. You can see more about Slow Art Day and the mission behind it at (http://SlowArtDay.com).

SECCA is located at 750 Marguerite Drive in Winston-Salem. SECCA is an affiliate of the N.C. Museum of Art, within the NC Department of Cultural Resources and a funded partner of The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Additional funding is provided by the James G. Hanes Memorial Fund.

The North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (NCDCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state’s cultural resources to build the social, cultural and economic future of North Carolina. Led by Secretary Susan W. Kluttz, NCDCR’s mission to enrich lives and communities creates opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history and libraries in North Carolina that will spark creativity, stimulate learning, preserve the state’s history and promote the creative economy. NCDCR was the first state organization in the nation to include all agencies for arts and culture under one umbrella.

Through arts efforts led by the NC Arts Council, the N.C. Symphony and the N.C. Museum of Art; NCDCR offers the opportunity for enriching arts education for young and old alike and economic stimulus engines for our state’s communities. NCDCR’s Divisions of State Archives, Historical Resources, State Historic Sites and State History Museums preserve, document and interpret North Carolina’s rich cultural heritage. NCDCR’s State Library of North Carolina is the principal library of state government and builds the capacity of all libraries in our state; developing and supporting access to traditional and online collections such as genealogy and resources for the blind and physically handicapped.

NCDCR annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the N.C. Arts Council and the State Archives. NCDCR champions our state’s creative industry that accounts for more than 300,000 jobs and generates nearly $18.5 billion in revenues.

For more information call 919/807-7300 or visit (www.ncdcr.gov).

Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, Offers Free Community Day – Apr. 27, 2013

The Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, will host “Kings and Queens of the Silver Queen,” a free Community Day celebration, on Saturday, Apr. 27, 2013, from noon to 3pm. The afternoon will feature music, performances, and art activities inspired by the Hollywood glamour of the 1920s and ’30s.

In addition to exploring the historic house and enjoying the Aeolian pipe organ, which will play jazz tunes twice an hour, visitors are invited to tour the exhibition “Star Power: Edward Steichen’s Glamour Photography,” where Steichen’s work featuring the great stars of the ’20s and ’30s is on display alongside gowns and jewelry from the museum’s costume collection.

Michael Huie will perform “3 Hats,” a one-man show he wrote celebrating the great silent clowns Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton; and Winston-Salem Festival Ballet will perform on the front lawn.

Students from R.J. Reynolds High School who staged their own Steichen-inspired photography shoot in March will also participate in the day’s events. The students selected costumes, make-up, lighting, and props to create their own vintage-like portraits, a selection of which will be on view during Community Day. The student models, photographers, and designers will be on site to discuss their project.

The fun and festive day will also include a sidewalk-chalk walk of fame, a gallery scavenger hunt, and collage and origami art activities for children of all ages. Food vendors will be available outside.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation’s premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its collection.  Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features changing exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings and other events.  The museum is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails.

The event is free and open to the public, and will be held rain or shine. For more information about Community Day and other exhibition-related events, please call 336/758-5150 or visit (www.reynoldahouse.org).

SECCA in Winston-Salem, NC, Begins New On-Site Gallery Interpretation

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem, NC, is using technology to provide visitors with more of the story for its exhibitions.

SECCA is placing wireless tablets in the galleries loaded with extensive stories, film clips, and exhibition background to help viewers understand more about the artwork they are viewing. The tablets show exhibition synopsis and labels for the artwork prepared by SECCA’s curators.

SECCA, located at 750 Marguerite Drive, is an affiliate of the NC Museum of Art, within the NC Department of Cultural Resources. SECCA is open to the public with free admission Tuesday through Sunday.

SECCA’s Curator of Education Deborah Randolph says, “Our goal in providing this technology is to use a tool that is very familiar to most everyone to enable visitors to dig deeper into the context of what they are seeing. For example, if a person would like more information about the artist’s technique, they can simply touch a page to read more about it.

“In addition,” Randolph continues, “the tablets make learning more fun for all ages. We’ve kept the editorial content short but meaningful.”

The first show that the tablets will be used in is Afterlife: Jacco Olivier & Jennifer West, currently on view through May 26, 2012.

Jacco Olivier, Rabbit Hole (3 minute video work), 2011

In Afterlife a painter who stitches photos of unfinished canvases into dream-like animations meets a filmmaker who physically assaults her medium in painterly acts of performance and alchemy. At the intersection, Amsterdam-based Jacco Olivier and Los Angeles-based Jennifer West detach the mark of the artist from its expected physical location (a cotton canvas or a strip of celuloid film) – allowing the imprints of events, experiences, and their very actions/materials to float in a liquid state of limbo.

SECCA is also a funded partner of The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Additional funding is provided by the James G. Hanes Memorial Fund.

The NC Department of Cultural Resources annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state supported symphony orchestra, the State Library, the NC Arts Council and the State Archives.

For further info call 336/725-1904 or visit (www.secca.org).

Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, Offers Lecture by Art World Detective – Feb. 20, 2013

Can you tell the difference between an art masterpiece and a fake? James Martin can, and he has been hired by some of the world’s most prestigious art institutions to do just that. Martin, a renowned art world detective, will speak at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, on Feb. 20 at 2:30pm. The talk is free with museum admission.

Martin investigates the structure and chemical composition of works for the purpose of authenticating them for museums, auction houses, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His clients have included the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Christie’s, Sotheby’s and many private collectors. In his presentation, Martin will describe how he inspects art at a level of detail unimaginable to the original artists.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation’s premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its collection. Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features changing exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings and other events. The museum is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails.

For more information, please visit (www.reynoldahouse.org) or call 336/758-5150.

Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC, Offers Conversation with NC Artist Frank Selby – Jan. 31, 2013

Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem, NC, is offering a Talk @ SECCA – Conversation with NC Artist Frank Selby, on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public.

SECCA Curator of Contemporary Art Steven Matijcio and artist Frank Selby, whose work is featured in the current exhibition “Frank Selby: Misunderstanding,” will discuss Selby’s philosophy of art and art-making.

Frank Selby, Now on Now, 2011. Graphite on Myler. From the collection of Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman, NY.  Courtesy of the FLAG Art Foundation.

SECCA is located at 750 Marguerite Drive in Winston-Salem, NC.

SECCA is a part of the NC Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities, and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina’s social, cultural and economic future. SECCA is also a funded member of The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

For further information call the Center at 336/397-2107 or visit (www.secca.org).

Reynolda House in Winston-Salem, NC, Names Former Monticello Curator New Director of Interpretive Program

The Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, has named Elizabeth Chew the museum’s Betsy Main Babcock Director of the Curatorial and Education Division. Chew comes to Reynolda House from Monticello, the historic Virginia estate of Thomas Jefferson, where she serves as curator. She will begin her new position at Reynolda House Feb. 1.

“I am delighted to welcome Elizabeth to the senior leadership team of Reynolda House,” says Allison Perkins, Reynolda House executive director. “She is passionate about engaging visitors in museums; the superb results of her creativity, vision and scholarship in interpreting Thomas Jefferson’s home and collections are experienced by every visitor to Monticello. Her unbeatable combination of expertise and experience working with American art and historic houses is an ideal fit for Reynolda House.”

In her new position, Chew will provide direction and leadership for the development of interpretation, programming, education and research of the museum’s collections and exhibitions. The collections of Reynolda House are comprised of the nationally acclaimed American art collection; the historic house collection, which includes decorative arts and costumes; and the archives.

Perkins said the new senior level position is designed to advance the capacity of Reynolda House to serve local and national audiences. Chew, who holds a Ph.D. in the history of art, will lead the museum’s research and program development plans to honor the centennial of historic Reynolda House and the 50th anniversary of the museum of American art in 2017.

“The story of Reynolda is much more than a local or regional story; Reynolda is an American story,” Chew says. “I don’t see Reynolda as an art museum in a historic house – or as a historic house with an art museum. It is one seamless and unique experience, and I want to help push those identities closer together.”

Chew was recently featured on “CBS Sunday Morning” in a segment focused on the dichotomy of Thomas Jefferson as both champion of liberty and a slaveholder. She was instrumental in the creation of the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center at Monticello which opened in 2009 and was co-curator of the exhibition “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty,” on view at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture through October 2012 and opening at the Atlanta History Center in February.

Prior to joining Monticello in 2000, Chew was the assistant curator at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.  She was also the exhibitions assistant in the department of American and British art at the National Gallery of Art, and served as the curatorial assistant in the department of photography at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She is widely published on interdisciplinary scholarship ranging from family and gender to relationships between architecture and material culture.

“I have loved Reynolda since the first time I visited,” Chew said. “Its unique combination of stellar art collection, fascinating historic house and grounds, and engaging education and public programs make it an ideal environment for every visitor to find a personal connection.”

A member of the museum’s National Advisory Council from 2009-2012, Chew received a bachelor’s degree in history of art from Yale University and a master’s degree in history of art from Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She earned a Ph.D. in the history of art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000. She is married and has a 10 year-old son.

The director of curatorial and educational affairs is an endowed position at the museum, funded by the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation in memory of Betsy Main Babcock. Four staff members in this division will report to Chew: Director of Public Programs Phil Archer, Director of Archives and Library Todd Crumley, Director of Education Kathleen Hutton and Curator Allison Slaby.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation’s premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its collection.  Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features changing exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings and other events.  The museum is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails.

For more information, please visit (www.reynoldahouse.org) or call 336/758-5150.

Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC, Offers Lecture by Indian Artist Vibha Galhotra – Oct. 25, 2012

Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC, offers a lecture by Indian artist Vibha Galhotra on social changes in India, on Thursday, Oct. 25, beginning at 6pm. The event is free and open to the public.

The event is being sponsored by Wake Forest University Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Office of Sustainability, Department of Communication, Charlotte and Philip Hanes Art Gallery, Middle East and South Asia Studies Program.

Galhotra examines her country’s dramatic urban, industrial and social changes through re-imagined craft practices – creating soft forms with woven steel bells. In this talk she will trace the development of her practice, her collaborations with women “forbidden” to work, and the simultaneous challenges and opportunities of being a young female artist in her country. Her presentation is free and open to the public. Please join us for this conversation about current environmental and social trends.

For further information call SECCA at 336/725-1904 or visit (www.secca.org).

Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC, Offers Talk @ SECCA: Anne Kesler Shields Panel – Sept. 27, 2012

Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC, will offer a Talk @ SECCA: Anne Kesler Shields Panel, on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012, at 6pm. The even is free and open to the public.

Much has changed, and much has stayed the same over the 50+ years spanned in Anne Kesler Shields’ legendary career retrospective at SECCA. SECCA Curator Steven Matijcio and guest curator Tom Patterson will facilitate a colorful, anecdotal discussion about the evolution of the visual arts in Winston-Salem. Please join them, Anne Kesler Shields, and distinguished guests Marjorie Northup, Mitzi Shumake and Leigh Somerville, in a look back across time, technique, and the many people, places and events that have informed one of the city’s most important and enduring artists.

SECCA is a part of the NC Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities, and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina’s social, cultural and economic future. SECCA is also a funded member of The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

SECCA is located at 750 Marguerite Drive in Winston-Salem.

For further information call the Museum at 336/725-1904 or visit (www.secca.org).

 

 

 

Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, Offers Free Admission – Sept. 29, 2012

Admission to Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, will be free Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012, for visitors who present a Smithsonian Museum Day Live! Admission Ticket, available for download at the Smithsonian’s website, (www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday).

Reynolda House is one of many museums and cultural institutions nationwide participating in the eighth annual Museum Day Live!, presented by “Smithsonian” magazine. A celebration of culture, learning and the dissemination of knowledge, the day reflects the spirit of the magazine, and emulates the free-admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, DC-based properties.

Visitors must present the Museum Day Live! Admission Ticket to gain free entry to Reynolda House. Each ticket provides museum access for two adults, and one admission ticket is permitted per household. Admission to Reynolda House for children under 18 and students is always free. Tickets and more information about participating museums are available at (www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday).

Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation’s premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its collection.  Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features changing exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings and other events. The museum is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails.

For more information, please visit (www.reynoldahouse.org) or call 336/758-5150.

 

 

 

Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, Offers Tours of Reynolda Village – Sept. 15 and 22, 2012

Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC, will offer guided tours of the farm and working buildings of Reynolda Village on Saturdays, Sept. 15 and 22, 2012, at 10am. The two-hour tours will begin at the museum. Admission is $15, or $10 for museum members and students.

In 1917, Reynolda was seen as the experimental farm to which students of agriculture, dairy production and animal husbandry in the Piedmont Triad and beyond would look for the newest and best farming methods. The Reynolda Village tours will take guests on a walking tour of the barns, dairy and staff quarters, and share oral histories of the people who lived and worked on the estate.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation’s premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its collection.  Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features changing exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings and other events.  The museum is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails.

For more information, please visit (www.reynoldahouse.org) or call 336/758-5150.