Current exhibitions at WFMA:
     Romanticism, photographs by Lou Reed
     Serie Print Project @ WFMA
     Texas Oklahoma Art Prize Information
     Scroll down for more information about each

Current Exhibitions at the Museum
Lou Reed, Romanticism
Showing through March 20, 2010

"Romanticism," is an exhibition of new photographs by Lou Reed - stunning black and white images of landscapes and architectural motifs shot on the artist's travels to Scotland, Denmark, Big Sur and elsewhere. The photographs are taken with a digital camera that Reed had adapted to "see" in the infrared zone, which gives them as aura of strangeness, or otherworldliness.  They have a timeless quality but are simultaneously very modern, like Reed himself.


First with his group, The Velvet Underground and then as a solo artist, Lou Reed has been making innovations in music since the 1960s. His name has become synonymous with the New York avant-garde, and with the city itself.  With his photography, Reed has been moving out of New York; while his first collection featured portraits of the city, this new one focuses on more pastoral settings.

This collection of photographs takes its name from the 18th- and 19th-century art movement that sought a return to the emotion, beauty, and unknowability of the natural as a counterpoint to industrial era's emphasis on technological development and the pursuit of rational knowledge. Reed's images recall this impulse.  They focus on the aesthetic and the sublime; the splendor of a single tree against a cloudy Scottish sky, suffused with light. There is, however, also something uncanny and eerie about some of the photographs; the absence of human figures, a road leading over a bridge into a dense, shadowy forest.  Reed has recently adapted the poet and writer Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven.  The supernatural is a theme that underwrites much of his recent work. Perhaps, like the Romantics, Reed is commenting on another Industrial Revolution - the rapid developments of globalization are once again placing the natural into both literal and metaphoric danger - the beauty of his landscapes takes on a more urgent meaning.

Reed says of his work, "I love photography. I love digital. I love digital. It's what I'd always wished for. Being in the camera and experiencing the astonishing accomplishment of the creations of life sparked through the beauty of the detailed startling power of the glass lens. A new German lens brings a mist to me. The colors and light I come to see through the beauty of the camera. A love that lasts forever is the love of the lens of sharpness - of spirit warmth and depth and feeling. It makes my body pour emotion into the heartbeat of the world. A great trade and exchange. I think of the camera as my soul. Much like a guitar. My lovely Alpa has rosewood grips. What more could you need?"

Lou Reed has been working in multiple media for over thirty years. Along with his band, The Velvet Underground, he was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. He has acted in and composed music for a number of films, and is the recipient of the Chevalier Commander of Arts and Letters from the French government. He is the author of Pass thru Fire: The Collected Lyrics and the play The Raven. His previous books of photography, both published with Steidl, include Lou Reed's New York and Emotion in Action.

New Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection
Showing through- May 29, 2010


Cande Aguilar, Chrome World on Primavera Street, 2008

The Museum is currently exhibiting the newest acquisitions to its Permanent Collection, including works by the following artists:  Mark W. Anderson, Alice Leora Briggs, Franklin B. DeHaven, John Fincher, Marion Greenwood, James R. Pace, Andrew Raftery, Coreen Spellman, Judy Youngblood, Katherine Liontas-Warren, Philana Oliphant, Mark McDowell, Juergen Strunk, McKie Trotter, Karl Umlauf, Tim McDowell, Cody Lee Mason, and Allyssa Gaines.

Upcoming at the Museum

TXOK @

The 2nd Biennial Texas Oklahoma Art Prize

Wichita Falls Museum of Art

at Midwestern State University

 

Awards and Eligibility

$2000 non-purchase award for the winning Texas Oklahoma Art Prize selection by the juror.

$1000 non-purchase award each for one Texas and one Oklahoma representative selected by the juror.

All entries must be original works of art by artists 18 years or older residing in either Oklahoma or Texas and completed within the last two years.

 

Jurors

Janis Goodman, Professor of Fine Art, Corcoran College of Art + Design, Washington, DC
Arts Reviewer, PBS/WETA, Channel 26, Around Town, Washington, DC

 

Media

All media and sizes considered. 

The museum reserves the right to exclude any entry considered too fragile or unmanageable to safely handle, or if the facility is not able to provide the technology or requirements to properly exhibit the work of art.

 

Exhibition and Reproduction Agreement

Permission to reproduce works of art for publicity is considered granted when entries are submitted to the museum. 

Submission of entries constitutes agreement to these conditions as well as the following Shipment, Return and Liability and the Submission, Fee and Due Date requirements.  

Final decision for inclusion in Texas Oklahoma Art Prize 2010 at Wichita Falls Museum of art will be made by the juror and museum director. 

 

Calendar

Entry materials and fees due                             February 13, 2010

Notification of acceptance                                 February 26, 2010

Deliver work by                                                 March 20, 2010

Opening reception and award presentation          April 9, 2010

Exhibition closing                                             May 29, 2010

Pick up work by                                               June 12, 2010

 

Shipment, Return and Liability

Ship accepted works art to Wichita Falls Museum of Art at Two Eureka Circle, Wichita Falls, TX 76308, 940-397-8900.

All works of art must be shipped in reusable containers and delivered by hand or commercial carrier to the museum during hours of operation, 9:30 – 5:00 Tues. – Fri., or 10:30 – 5:00 Sat.

Works of art can be picked up between June 1 through June 12, 2010 during normal hours of operation.

If a commercial carrier is being used to return works of art, please make shipping arrangements directly with the carrier, not through the museum.

The museum will insure works of art while in the facility only and will not be responsible for damage to, loss or deterioration of any work of art while in transit.

 

Submission, Fee and Due Date

All entries must be submitted in JPEG format, approximately1MB preferred.

Each artist is limited to 3 entries.

The jurors will make selections for the exhibition from JPEGs.

Winning selections will be made from the actual works before the exhibition opens.

A nonrefundable fee of $10 is due for each entry.

Make checks or money orders payable to Wichita Falls Museum of Art.

Include the following information with each entry submission:

Artist name

Title

Medium

Dimensions

Date

Insured value

Also provide artist address, phone and e-mail address with each entry.

 

E-mail submissions to: wfma@mwsu.edu

E-mailed submissions will not be processed until payment is received.

Mail payment to:

Wichita Falls Museum of Art, Two Eureka Circle, Wichita Falls, TX 76308.

Or mail CD with images and payment to same address,


Ongoing Exhibitions
 
Serie Print Project  @ 

It is the mission of the Serie Project to produce, promote, and exhibit the work of Latino artists and others, and to make the production and sale of prints affordable to both artist and patron.

 

The Wichita Falls Museum of Art is hosting an exhibition of the Serie Print Project.  The Serie Project produces between 750 and 900 prints per year depending on the number of participating artists.  The focus is on the work of Latina/o artists, but is not exclusively so.  The artist keeps one half of the prints s/he produces, and the Serie Project keeps the other.  The work of all the artists is then shown at exhibits during the course of the year.  


Serigraph printmaking is a very specialized printing medium made available to Serie artists at its fine art printing facility in Austin, TX.  The artists are not charged for their participation in the program and they learn the basic process of fine art printmaking, as well as its technical aspects.  Serigraphy is the fine art process of printmaking commonly known as screen-printing.  In contrast to the commercial silk-screen pneumatic machine process, each color run in the serigraph printmaking process is hand-pulled by the master printer in collaboration with each individual artist.  This hand-pulled craftsmanship ensures the unique qualities of each edition.  Each artist is provided with the facility, materials, and master printer needed to complete the printmaking process.  This allows the artist to explore and create work in a medium they might not otherwise be able to, due to a lack of available resources.

Artists selected to participate in the program represent an array of experience, backgrounds, and techniques.  The artists are selected through a referral and juror system.  Artists that have participated in the program recommend two or more artists for the program.  The work of all the referred artists are reviewed by founder Sam Coronado, artists who have previously participated in Serie, arts professionals and organizations such as Mexic-Arte Museum and La Peña, Inc.

Sam Coronado initiated the Serie Project in 1993.  The project is modeled after Self-Help Graphics in Los Angeles, California, a 30 year-old community-based organization which works with 20-30 artists per year and whose prints have been exhibited nationally and internationally.  It was through Sam Coronado’s participation in Self-Help Graphics’ Atelier print project that he was inspired to create a similar print studio in Austin, Texas.  Prior to December 1999 the Serie Project was an umbrella project sponsored by La Peña, Inc., a local Latino non-profit arts organization.  In December 1999 the Serie Project, Inc., was formally organized and incorporated as its own non-profit entity.

To date, over 150 artists have participated in the Serie program.  It has gained the attention and support of museums such as the Art Institute of South Texas in Corpus Christi, Texas; the Austin Museum of Art in Austin, Texas; the McAllen International Museum in McAllen, Texas; the South Broadway Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico; the Guadalupe Cultural Center in San Antonio, Texas; the Hispanic Research Center at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona; and other venues around the United States and Texas.  Some of the prints have been featured in the PBS Series titled Art Journeys.  In addition, several artists that have participated in Serie have been featured in Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art, a two-volume book by Gary D. Keller, Mary Erickson, Kaytie Johnson, and Joaquin Alvarado, published by Bilingual Review/Press in 2002.  Several of the artists’ serigraphs were reproduced in the volumes. 


For further information about any of WFMA's exhibitions, video or concert schedules, please call the museum at 940-397-8900 or e-mail wfma@mwsu.edu.

Museum Hours Tue - Fri 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thur open until 7 p.m.
Sat 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.