Valparaiso University’s Brauer Museum of Art Features New Exhibitions

Opening Receptions Held April 16, April 23, and April 25

The Brauer Museum of Art at Valparaiso University will premiere its spring exhibitions, which run from April 16 through May 11, with an opening reception on Wednesday, April 16, at 7 p.m.

New exhibitions include “Classical and Popular School Japanese Paintings from the Walter and Dörte Simmons Collection” and “Paintings by Jeanette Pasin Sloan,” as well as select works by Valpo art students and faculty. In addition, works from the Brauer Museum’s permanent collection will be on display in various galleries throughout the Museum, including Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Rust Red Hills,” which returns to the Museum after having been on tour since September 2012.

“We are pleased to present these new exhibitions that offer a variety of styles of art for viewers to enjoy. The Brauer Museum’s permanent collection has been growing in exciting ways, and we are delighted to showcase these lovely new objects as well as favorites that viewers have based on their previous visits,” said Gregg Hertzlieb, director and curator of the Brauer Museum.

On display in the Wehling and McGill Galleries, the annual student art exhibition features a variety of media including paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, and video. The pieces are hand selected by Valpo’s studio instructors, and the April 16 opening reception includes an award ceremony to honor the students’ work.

“Classical and Popular School Japanese Paintings from the Walter and Dörte Simmons Collection” in Gallery 1212 will showcase fine Japanese ink paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Paintings from the Museum’s permanent collection by the noted realist artist Jeanette Pasin Sloan will be on display in the Ferguson Gallery in an exhibition curated by Valpo art history professor Nina Corazzo. The show is accompanied by a catalog featuring original research and essays by Corazzo, as well as essays by several of Corazzo’s art history students.

In the Museum’s Education Room, Corwin Leverich ’14 will present a video art project that is the culmination of his work toward the studio-intensive Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts degree. Leverich will participate in the University’s Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17. An opening reception featuring a screening of the video in its entirety will be held Wednesday, April 23, at 7 p.m. in the Duesenberg Recital Hall.

Presented in the West Gallery, the biennial art faculty exhibition highlights works by each of the nine accomplished studio professors. The original artwork includes paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and digital and video art. An opening reception for this exhibition will be held Friday, April 25, at 7 p.m.

The Museum’s summer exhibitions will be on display from May 16 through Aug. 10. “Parallel Pursuits: Tom Brand — Finding Form, Carole Stodder — Shaping Space” in the Museum’s Wehling and McGill Galleries offers an opportunity to compare and contrast the abstract works of two Michigan City, Ind. artists. Brand’s art features carefully composed shapes with an expressive or painterly surface, while Stodder’s paintings feature geometrical patterns with hard edges.

Rounding out the exhibitions will be ink drawings in the Museum’s Ferguson Gallery by Fred Frey, a retired Valpo sculpture professor; paintings by Valparaiso artist and educator Eleanor Lewis in the Brauer’s Gallery 1212; and new acquisitions to the Brauer Museum’s permanent collection in the Museum’s West Gallery. Featured pieces in the New Acquisitions exhibition include Greek and Roman carvings, a work by the New York artist Romare Bearden, and modern prints by the acclaimed printmaker Letterio Calapai.

Throughout the season, the Brauer Museum hosts coffee hours and gallery talks with artists, curators, and collectors. Visit valpo.edu/artmuseum for more information about all exhibitions and upcoming events.