Columbus Museum of Art https://www.columbusmuseum.org Columbus Museum of Art Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:44:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/favicon.png Columbus Museum of Art https://www.columbusmuseum.org 32 32 Wonderball 2024 Photo Gallery https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2024/02/09/wonderball-2024-photo-gallery/ Fri, 09 Feb 2024 15:51:28 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=41993 Read More...]]> This celebration of creativity featured a wide range of artistic experiences and collaborative performances including live music, dance, visual art, cuisine, fashion and more.

Save the date for next year:
January 25, 2025

Wonderball 2024 raised nearly $312,000! Funds raised at Wonderball support the Museum’s effort to nurture creativity and lifelong learning with inspired programming that foster play, imagination, and curiosity to encourage us all to think like an artist.

Check out tons of fun images from the unforgettable evening below! Thank you to our photographers Megan Leigh Barnard, JToland Photo, Mallory Landis Photographing, and Bishop Chilton.

 

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Wonderball 2023 Photo Gallery https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2023/05/25/wonderball-2023-photo-gallery/ Thu, 25 May 2023 22:11:59 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=40332 Read More...]]> This celebration of creativity featured a wide range of artistic experiences and collaborative performances including live music, dance, visual art, cuisine, fashion and more.

Wonderball 2023 raised nearly $240,000 to support the Museum’s efforts to provide inspired and creative programs for the community all year long.

Check out tons of fun images from the unforgettable evening below!

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Every Day is Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson’s Birthday at Columbus Museum of Art https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2023/02/16/every-day-is-aminah-brenda-lynn-robinsons-birthday-at-columbus-museum-of-art/ Thu, 16 Feb 2023 21:49:14 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=39573 Read More...]]>

Deidre Hamlar, CMA’s Curator at Large, reflects on her daily experience stewarding the legacy of one of America’s most prolific artists.

I have a dream job. I work every day to preserve the life, art, and legacy of one of America’s most profound and prolific artists of my generation, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson. Aminah was born February 18, 1940, and this year would be 83 years old.

Every day I am a witness to, and a re-teller of Aminah’s storied life, anecdotes of her ancestry, and rich family history. Her background served as fodder for the shapes, colors, textures, and tales related through seven decades of sensitive portrayals, intricate drawings, and complex button laden works of art.

Aminah lived during a generation that witnessed the Great Migration of Blacks escaping the Jim Crow south, three wars, the American Civil Rights Movement, the assassinations of JFK, MLK, Jr. and RFK, the moon landing, Woodstock, Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O’Connor integrating the Supreme Court, the advent of color TV and the internet. While the world was changing so did her life. She won a MacArthur Fellowship, raised her son, Sydney, then suffered his death. Towards the end of her life Aminah felt fortunate to see the election of the first Black US President, Barack Obama.

Anthony Peyton Young, 2022 Artist in Residence

These life events and more inspired her vast research, writings, and her art.

I enjoy quick forays through the galleries to visit her on the walls of the Columbus Museum of Art. And when I make it to my desk, I greet her to my right, my left, and over my left shoulder and say, “Thank you, Aminah. I am so happy you chose me to do this work to celebrate you.”

Yes, I feel special, and we as a museum community feel special and honored to steward the legacy of Aminah Robinson. We do not take it for granted. She entrusted the Museum with this responsibility and we have created a way to see it forward, or, as she would say, “Stay on the Path.”

Darlene Taylor, 2022 Writer in Residence. Photo by Ian Alexander Photography

We will celebrate her every day, in many ways through:

○ Maintenance of her home studio in the Shepard Neighborhood,
○ Support of African American artists and writers, through the Aminah Robinson Fellowship and Residency programs,
○ Traveling exhibitions, such as Art Bridge’s Aminah Robinson: Journeys Home, A Visual Memoir,
○ The Aminah Robinson Legacy Endowment and Resource Fund,
○ Partnerships with Greater Columbus Arts Council, Denison University Museum, The Ohio History Connection/African American Museum and Cultural Center, the King Arts Complex, and many more.

Though Aminah passed away in 2015, we consider her life a forever gift to the Columbus Museum of Art, the Midwest region, the country, and the world. Inspired by her belief and trust for us, we give thanks for her and celebrate her birth, her life and her lasting artistic legacy each and every day.

Richard Duarte Brown, 2022 Local Fellow

About Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson

Known for works inspired by the Ghanaian concept of Sankofa, which means to retrieve the past, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson lived and worked in Columbus, Ohio creating sculpture, large multimedia works she called RagGonNons, paintings, drawings, prints, button-beaded dolls, handmade books and illustrated journals. She also published children’s books grounded in African American ancestral legacies.

When Robinson passed away in 2015, she left her estate to the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA). In 2020, the Museum established the Aminah Robinson Legacy Project to increase awareness of her work and place Robinson in the pantheon of the most important 20th and 21st century American artists where she deservedly belongs. To learn more about Aminah and the Columbus Museum’s efforts to steward her legacy, visit https://www.columbusmuseum.org/aminah-robinson-legacy-project/.
 

Deidre Hamlar
Director, Aminah Robinson Legacy Project
Curator at Large

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Bringing Back Memories: A Personal Look at the Maurice Sendak Exhibition at Columbus Museum of Art https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2023/02/02/bringing-back-memories-a-personal-look-at-the-maurice-sendak-exhibition-at-columbus-museum-of-art/ Thu, 02 Feb 2023 15:34:00 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=39543 Read More...]]>
For many of us, Columbus Museum of Art’s latest exhibition, Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak, brings back fond memories of childhood reading books such as Where The Wild Things Are and In The Night Kitchen. For Linda Mulligan Alfano, the memories the exhibition brought back were more than just reading Maurice Sendak’s beloved books.
 

Read her story below:

My husband and daughter had the privilege of visiting the Museum recently. When they saw the Sendak exhibit, they were happy to relive some of their favorite memories of his books. Little did I know, there was a poster for Cunning Little Vixen an opera that Maurice Sendak did the production design for. I was in that production when I was 8 years old as a Caterpillar in 1981.

Growing up in Wayne, NJ, I was enrolled in a local gymnastics program called AcroPats. Our instructor, Ms. Pat, was an ex-Rockette and still had many connections in the New York City theater scene. When Hansel & Gretel was set to take the stage at The Metropolitan Opera House, Ms. Pat was asked to help fill the roles of all the forest animals. For four years, I participated in rehearsals and performances as a Squirrel, and it was so much fun. All the acrobats were all in elementary and middle school and loved getting pulled out of class to go to rehearsals and performances. We even got paid a very minimal amount, but it was still exciting to be “working actors.” Our parents would drop us off at the high school and we would take buses into the city. We knew all the songs and would sit in the dressing room listening and performing along until it was our turn to take the stage.

Then, Ms. Pat was asked to find three girls who could be cast in The Cunning Little Vixen. I was tiny and very flexible back then, and I won the part of the Caterpillar. I had to inch along the ground and the costume was skin-tight, with hours of face paint done too. We performed at Lincoln Center and then were told the show was going to L.A.! I was 8 or 9 at the time and had only ever been on a plane once before. When we got there, it was amazing. We stayed at a nice hotel (or so this 8-year-old thought) with a pool! I even complained to the L.A. director about the smoke in one of the scenes as it was making me cough. The smoke was eliminated from the scene. It would become an AcroPats story for years.

All of these memories are so dear to me, and when my husband sent me a text of the Maurice Sendak exhibition poster, I squealed with excitement at my desk at work in New Jersey. I highly recommend visiting Columbus Museum of Art to see this wonderful exhibition and relive your own memories of Sendak’s beloved books.

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4 Ways to Celebrate Black History Month 2023 at CMA https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2023/02/02/4-ways-to-celebrate-black-history-month-2023-at-cma/ Thu, 02 Feb 2023 15:22:25 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=39535 Read More...]]> Celebrating the work of Black artists is not simply for a month, but a lifetime. While we will continue to uplift Black art and creativity all year long, here’s a list of programming celebrating this year’s Black History Month along with opportunities to reconnect with Black artists on view now in our permanent collection.
 

1. Film Screening and Community Discussion: Still Waters Never Crash
February 2, 5:30–8:00 PM

Attend a film screening for “Still Waters Never Crash,” a riveting story that follows Dr. Sharrica Miller as she visits motels she used to call home and reflects on her first foster care placement at the age of five.

More Information

 

2. Pop-up Performance by the Columbus Cultural Orchestra
February 12, 2–3:30 PM

Join us for a free performance by the Columbus Cultural Orchestra. This small chamber ensemble will showcase a diverse range of music, including jazz, hip hop, R&B standards, and classical infusions.
 

3. Family Book Event: You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!
February 25, 11:00 AM–2:00 PM

Celebrate the life and work of beloved Columbus artist Elijah Pierce at an event highlighting a new children’s book. Written by local authors Chiquita Mullens Lee and Carmella Van Vleet, this drop-in program features a live reading, author meet-and-greet and a fun woodblock printing activity.

More Information

 

Dean L. Mitchell, No Way Out, c. 2003. Oil on canvas. Gift of Kathryn Flynn

4. Reconnect with our Permanent Collection

Our permanent collection is home to hundreds of works by Black artists. Discover 10 artists whose work is currently on display including Benny Andrews (Gallery 1), William Hawkins (Gallery 2), Jacob Lawrence (Gallery 1 & 4), Dean Mitchell (Upper Atrium), Elijah Pierce (Gallery 4 & Wonder Room), Aminah Robinson (Center for Creativity), Hughie Lee Smith (Gallery 1), and Wyze (Big Idea Gallery).

Our Collection

Blog image: Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, To Be A Drum [Daddy Wes, Mat, and Martha Lying in the Grass], 1998, Mixed media. Gift of the Artist
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What gratitude looks like to the CMA Docents https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2022/11/23/what-gratitude-looks-like-to-the-cma-docents/ Wed, 23 Nov 2022 17:36:44 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=39119 Read More...]]> The Columbus Museum of Art Docents volunteer their time and talent by leading tours and roaming in the galleries. We’re grateful for their ongoing commitment to providing great experiences with great art, and we asked several current docents to share what CMA works make them think of gratitude this Thanksgiving.
 

Albert Bierstadt, King Lake, California, c. 1879-1875

“America has bounty far beyond what the eye can see.”
—Pat Filiatraut
 

Clarence Holbrook Carter, Smoldering Fires, 1941

“I grew up beside the coal coke ovens from the Dupont factory in Belle, West Virginia. Every night as a child the flames danced through my bedroom window when the coke ovens opened, I felt I would be burned alive and the nightmares it triggered lasted many years. Later, I would describe it as living in Dante’s Inferno. Also, the black coal dust was always in the air we breathed. You do not have to be a miner to have black lung disease.

My high school sweetheart’s father was in the Governor’s cabinet as WV State Coal Mine Chief. We travelled with him to Hollows and saw where the miners and their families lived in conditions we would never imagine for ourselves. But what I learned was to find the beauty in their culture of survival that was filled with love, always dignity, creativity for music, art, and poetry. They accepted their hardships through values passed from generation to generation. The family is everything. The daily threat of the whistle that alerts to trouble in the mines ever present. It is a war with nature every day.

The economies of the entire world rely on the sacrifices the coal workers and their families make. Because of their sacrifices we live privileged lives. Our prosperity is rooted in their living on the edge of disaster and fatal health issues. Now the world needs smoldering coal fires to cease and once again these fine people will be forced to sacrifice for the greater good for others. I ask you to feel gratitude with me for them.

I am so grateful that Portsmouth, Ohio artist Clarence Holbrook Carter acknowledged these noble human beings!”
—Carole Dale
 

Claude Monet, View of Bennecourt, 1887

“The View of Bennecourt always makes me thankful for the beauty of nature and what a peaceful, soothing escape it is to imagine myself in a lovely French landscape.”
—Donna Royalty
 

Columbus Museum of Art Docents, Schokko (After Schokko with Red Hat by Alexj von Jawlensky), 2015

“I’m grateful for the museum’s volunteer docents who support our community by providing great experiences to all CMA’s visitors and who lovingly re-imagined Schokko for the Lego exhibit.”
—Sheryl Brown
 

Charles Burchfield, October, 1922-24

”Ever since we started having October skies I’ve been meaning to look at Burchfield’s October. Your email gave me an opportunity to put into words why that happens every October. Usually I just wordlessly steep myself in the painting or a reproduction of it. That makes me grateful the seasons are changing, and grateful for Burchfield’s skill in making flesh the wildness of the horses as they dash through the woods on their way to the hardships of living outside in winter. 

As a kid I rode my cousin’s horses on rare occasions. And it felt like this!  I had no training to ride, but from the first time I got on a horse at age 7 I just wanted to go fast. I’d urge the horse to go ever faster even though my feet couldn’t reach the stirrups.  So this painting puts me in those reckless kid moments, grinning and feeling like a wild horse myself under an October sky. Thank you Charles Burchfield.”
—Becky Lowther
 

Joseph Hirsch, Supper, 1963-64

“This is a “Last Supper” styled painting with down-and-out-looking types eating dinner at a table set with fine glassware and linens.

What I always noticed about it was their mannerly behavior, as though they appreciated the sumptuous food – a hint to us, maybe, that they also deserve it.”
—Mary Gahbauer

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Museum Store 2022 Gift Guide https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2022/11/17/museum-store-2022-gift-guide/ Thu, 17 Nov 2022 23:17:34 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=39093 Read More...]]> Shop the Museum Store to check off all your holiday gift lists!

These are just a sampling of all the wonderful ideas we have for the holidays. This year you will find lots of Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are items in addition to our usual selection of creative goods that feature good design. Our holiday décor, cards and calendars are in stock and ready to get your festivities started!

The Museum Store will be open normal hours for in person shopping – you can always call us if you need assistance over the phone with gift ideas – (614) 629-0314. We are happy to ship gifts to you. Gift wrap and parking are always FREE when you shop. Our Museum Members always get 10% off their Museum Store purchases, and during the month of December they get 20% off!
 

Zafferano – Cordless Lamps
These Zafferano cordless lamps were recently described in The New York Times as, “The Lamp That’s Taking Over New York”. These lamps are small, but powerful, and we have them available in an assortment of colors and styles including the Pina Pro ($195), and the Poldina Pro Micro ($150).
 

Cookbooks
Cookbooks make great gifts, and the museum store has a great selection of them, including new titles from Chrissy Teigen, Ina Garten, and Yotam Ottolenghi.
Prices – $16 – $40+
 

54 Celsius Candles
Check out our variety of uniquely creative candles by 54 Celsius, including scented candles, candlesticks and Pyro Pets, which have a hidden skeleton that will emerge as the wax melts away!
Prices – $32.95 – $49.95
 

Dragon Books by Mindy Galik
Dragon Books implores the ancient Japanese aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi, simply meaning: The beauty of things imperfect and incomplete. These Journals are handmade by a long time CMA staff member with 100% archival materials.
Prices – Small – $25, Medium – $45, Large – $85
 

Gilbert Jewelry
These Friendly Jewels are handmade by a local best friend duo, with sterling silver or 14k gold filled brass. Check out our selection of bracelets, necklaces, and rings, guaranteed to put a smile on your face, or at least on your finger!
Prices – $50 – $130
 

Apostrophe Puzzles – Pull up & Piece out
This curated collection of modern, vibrant jigsaw puzzles put fine art right at your fingertips. Each design is an original artwork by a contemporary artist of color aimed at making art consumerism more inclusive, accessible, and sustainable. You are what an art collector looks like.
Price – $39.95
 

Maurice Sendak – Wild Things Are Happening
The Holidays can be crazy, so why not make them wild with our custom product for special exhibition Wild Things Are Happening – The Art of Maurice Sendak currently on view at CMA. These products, like the Wild Thing throw pillow and Endpapers shawl are only available at CMA while supplies last, so don’t miss out!
Prices – Pillow – $39.95, Shawl – $48.95
 

Maurice Sendak Product for Kids
We have curated a selection of product for all ages to go along with our special exhibition: Wild Things Are Happening – The Art of Maurice Sendak. Check out the dozens of Sendak titles we have available, including Where the Wild Things Are and The Nutcracker with pictures by Maurice Sendak, as well as our first ever kid’s t-shirts in youth sizes small – large ($24.95).
 

Jellycat London
These adorable plushy friends have been a long-time store favorite and not just for kids! Jellycat continues to combine luxurious fabrics with designs that are sometimes quirky, sometimes cute, but always with a little something different that makes them stand out from the crowd! Stop by and check out our ever-rotating selection, you might just fall in love.
Prices – $18.95 – $50+

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Anthony Peyton Young on Feeling the Energy of Aminah Robinson https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2022/11/16/anthony-peyton-young-on-feeling-the-energy-of-aminah-robinson/ Wed, 16 Nov 2022 22:20:42 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=39089 Read More...]]>

In August of 2022, The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) awarded the Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Artist Residency to Anthony Peyton Young, a Boston-based artist who specializes in drawing, bleaching, ceramics and collage. Since then, Young has been hard at work in the home of the late Aminah Robinson. For the young artist, this experience has been a challenge and blessing he will never forget.

The residency program, founded in the name of Robinson’s legacy at the Columbus Museum of Art and generously supported by Greater Columbus Arts Council and CoverMyMeds, supports African American visual artists, writers, and scholars from across the country. Young’s work, like Robinson’s, is founded on the meaning embedded within materials. To him, the residency has been a chance to push his use of materials and try something completely different.

Known for his multimedia work involving painting, drawing, bleaching, ceramics and collage, Young’s work tells stories of the black experience. He addresses themes of Black Americana, identity, ancestry and community.

One of the many products of Young’s 90-day residency is a series of head jugs. Head jugs originated from enslaved African Americans who used them for warding off spirits, pickling, and grave marking. In Young’s work, head jugs represent vessels of healing and are a callback to their extensive cultural past.

Using fabrics from Robinson’s own personal collection, these cloth head jugs are an extension of his original ceramic project. Made to store alcohol popularized in Black and Brown communities, they represent the brown paper bag often used to cover bottles. Working with textiles, as well as learning how to sew, has been a challenge for Young and an opportunity to explore new artistic limits outside of his comfort zone.

Living and working in the spirit and home of Aminah Robinson has brought Young a sense of motivation throughout his stay. Young says, “Aminah possessed a sense of alchemy in the way she turned trash into treasure. As an artist, she had a power to transform materials past what they were originally intended to do.”

Inside of the house, he has found inspiration among the fantastic portraiture, furniture, and artistic spaces. He especially found comfort on the living room couch, where he spends most of his time. “The house has a certain energy,” he says, speaking on the countless wonders to explore. During his stay, Young has also had the opportunity to connect with previous Aminah Robinson residents while exploring Columbus.

Young holds a bachelor’s degree from West Virginia State University and a master’s degree from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. During his undergraduate studies, Young often visited Columbus for artistic inspiration. His previous awards include the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University Traveling Fellowship and the Walter Feldman Fellowship for Emerging Artists. His work is held in several collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Juliet Art Museum.

On November 19, 11:00 AM—2:00 PM, visit the Columbus Museum of Art to work alongside Anthony Peyton Young for an Open Studio session on printmaking. To learn more, click here.

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Cat Ramos and Adriana Ernst discuss Día de los Muertos https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2022/11/08/cat-ramos-and-adriana-ernst-discuss-dia-de-los-muertos/ Tue, 08 Nov 2022 16:08:20 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=39047 Read More...]]> We asked artist Cat Ramos to tell us more about the origins of Día de los Muertos. Listen in on a lively conversation between artist Cat Ramos and community member Adriana Ernst, as they discuss the origins of Día de Los Muertos, the traditions that come with the celebrations, when it is celebrated, and how it should be celebrated. They also discuss the importance of appreciation versus appropriation of these indigenous celebrations.

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Keeping Memories Alive through Ofrendas https://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2022/11/01/keeping-memories-alive-through-ofrendas/ Tue, 01 Nov 2022 14:57:39 +0000 https://www.columbusmuseum.org/?p=38995 Read More...]]>
 
I have lived in Columbus for 30 years! Living in Central Ohio and working in Columbus has exposed me to the beautiful celebration of Día de los Muertos through the community I serve as part of Proyecto Mariposas and Martin de Porres Center. While remembering the souls of those have moved on has been important in my family in Puerto Rico. The tradition of Día de los Muertos was a beautiful way to celebrate their lives and their memories here in United States.

The ofrenda allows us to share the beautiful stories left behind helping us continue our lives supporting each other. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was taking the lives of many in our immediate community and relatives in our countries without the possibility of mourning close to each other. Those who passed are alive in our memories. At the Martin de Porres, we wanted to provide a space for our close community to have an ofrenda a way to honor those are forever in our hearts.

Our two leaders: Citlali Perez and Jimena Torres (Mexico) took on the task to create our first ofrenda at the center. They coordinated the decoration, the literature to share with our community. That ofrenda was very significant for our community because it allowed us to come together in a safe space while keeping social distance. It allowed us to share support for the families that are part of our center throughout the year and have come to trust the space as a space of peace. We knew we had to keep this practice for our families. That year, like many, I was faced with mourning the life of a very close member of our family.
 

 
The beauty of this celebration is the colors, the stories, the community that is built. Sugar skulls, marigolds, papel picado, monarch butterflies, pictures, pan de Muertos and catrinas create the wonderful setting for families to honor, reflect and share the life of others.

This year (2022), we are creating our ofrenda for the community and providing individual spaces for anyone that would like to create their ofrenda. The Martin de Porres Center is dedicated to be a safe haven for community, spirituality, education and the arts. The Día de los Muertos provides all of this through a celebration of life and dead.
 

 
This day has become very important to me personally and as a community member. Death is part of the cycle of life and through this celebration, we can be connected to the creative and the reflective spiritual tradition.

In reflecting on the ofrendas, and those who are close to us, how have their stories stayed with us and influenced us now? How can we keep their memory alive by re-telling their stories?
 

 
The ofrendas will be on view through November 2, 2022 at the Martin de Porres Center. Please check the website or call 614-416-1910 for hours.

Yahaira Rose is Director of the Martin de Porres Center. as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Proyecto Mariposas (Project Butterfly), whose mission is to empower, mentor and support Latina women and girls with the tools, knowledge and leadership skills necessary to lead brave, strong lives. Click here to learn more about Yahaira and her organization.

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