Grand Rapids Art Museum

CONNECTING PEOPLE THROUGH ART, CREATIVITY, AND DESIGN.

MATHIAS J. ALTEN: AN ENDURING LEGACY IN THE EARLY TO MID-20TH CENTURY, ALTEN WAS NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FOR HIS LANDSCAPES, STILL LIFES, AND PORTRAITS THAT DREW ON TRADITIONAL EUROPEAN PAINTING AS WELL AS MORE CONTEMPORARY STYLES, LIKE IMPRESSIONISM. ALTEN EMIGRATED FROM GERMANY TO MICHIGAN AS A YOUNG MAN, SETTLING WITH HIS FAMILY IN GRAND RAPIDS IN 1889, WHERE HE LIVED FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. DRAWN FROM REGIONAL ART COLLECTIONS BOTH INSTITUTIONAL AND PRIVATE, THIS EXHIBITION CELEBRATES ALTEN'S ONGOING LEGACY ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS BIRTH. AS AN IMMIGRANT TO THIS COUNTRY, ALTEN WORKED HARD TO ESTABLISH HIMSELF IN A NEW HOMELAND. IN THE DECADES LEADING UP TO THE 20TH CENTURY, THE UNITED STATES EXPERIENCED RAPID ECONOMIC AND URBAN GROWTH, DRIVEN BY INDUSTRIALIZATION AND IMMIGRATION. ALTEN WAS PART OF THIS WAVE OF NEW IMMIGRANTS, DRAWN TO MICHIGAN BY LUMBER PRODUCTION AND THE MANY FACTORIES AND JOBS IT SUPPORTED. HIS FIRST WORK IN GRAND RAPIDS, AT THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN, WAS AS A FURNITURE DECORATOR IN LOCAL FACTORIES. HE CONTINUED TO SEEK OPPORTUNITIES TO FURTHER HIS ARTISTIC SKILLS AND TOOK ON LOCAL COMMISSIONS TO DECORATE PUBLIC BUILDINGS. DESIRING TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST, HE TOOK PAINTING LESSONS AND PAINTED WHENEVER AND WHEREVER HE COULD, EVEN WHILE RUNNING HIS FATHER-IN-LAW'S PAINT AND WALLPAPER STORE. IN 1899, ALTEN ESTABLISHED A STUDIO AND SCHOOL IN DOWNTOWN GRAND RAPIDS WITH ANOTHER LOCAL ARTIST. HE WENT ON TO WIDELY EXHIBIT AND SELL HIS PAINTINGS, AND TO BECOME ONE OF THE REGION'S MOST RESPECTED - AND SUCCESSFUL - ARTISTS. THE BREADTH OF ALTEN'S ARTISTIC APPROACHES AND INTERESTS ACROSS HIS CAREER ARE REFLECTED IN THE RANGE OF PAINTINGS AND OTHER WORKS ON VIEW IN THE EXHIBITION. THERE ARE FAMILY PORTRAITS AND SELF-PORTRAIT STUDIES, FLORAL STILL LIFES, MURAL-SIZED ALLEGORICAL WORKS CREATED FOR PUBLIC SPACES, AND SCENES OF THE NATURAL WORLD, FOR WHICH HE IS BEST KNOWN. INCLUDED ARE HIGHLIGHTS FROM GRAM'S PERMANENT COLLECTION, THE GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY, THE GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY, AND RARELY SEEN WORKS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS.

AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES: STORIES FROM THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM COLLECTION TELLS THE UNFOLDING STORY OF AMERICA, FROM ITS INCEPTION TO THE PRESENT, THROUGH THE WORK OF AMERICAN FOLK ARTISTS. FOLK ARTISTS, SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS SELF-TAUGHT ARTISTS, ARE INDIVIDUALS WHOSE TALENTS EMERGED FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE RATHER THAN FORMAL TRAINING. THEIR CREATIONS ARE BEAUTIFUL, DIVERSE, TRUTHFUL, OFTEN UTILITARIAN, AND ROOTED IN THEIR INDIVIDUAL HERITAGE OR COMMUNITY. THE EXHIBITION FEATURES OVER 80 FOLK ART OBJECTS, FROM PAINTINGS AND POTTERY, TO QUILTS, NEEDLEWORK, AND SCULPTURE. THESE FASCINATING ARTWORKS SPAN THE ENTIRETY OF OUR NATION'S HISTORY, OFFERING FIRSTHAND TESTIMONY TO THE PEOPLE, PLACES, AND EVENTS OF OUR CULTURE. THE EXHIBITION REVEALS BOTH THE DIVERSITY AND SIMILARITY OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE ACROSS TIME AND PLACE. IT REINFORCES HOW MANY OF OUR SOCIETY'S CURRENT ISSUES - IMMIGRATION, POLITICAL TURMOIL, ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY, AND LOSS OF PERSONAL LIBERTIES - HAVE BEEN CONCERNS IN THE PAST. VISITORS WILL SEE THE VITAL ROLE THAT FOLK ART PLAYS AS MATERIAL EVIDENCE OF AMERICAN HISTORY. THE ARTWORKS BROADEN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNITED STATES, EXPANDING UPON AND PERSONALIZING OUR NATIONAL NARRATIVE. IT GIVES VOICE TO INDIVIDUALS OUTSIDE THE SOCIAL MAINSTREAM. MANY OF THE WORKS PRESENT THE PERSPECTIVES OF MARGINALIZED GROUPS, SUCH AS ENSLAVED PEOPLE, IMMIGRANTS, AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. THE WORKS ARE ORGANIZED INTO FOUR SECTIONS - FOUNDERS, TRAVELERS, PHILOSOPHERS, AND SEEKERS - THAT RESPOND TO SUCH THEMES AS NATIONHOOD, FREEDOM, COMMUNITY, IMAGINATION, OPPORTUNITY, AND LEGACY. THE EXHIBITION IS ORGANIZED BY THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM, NEW YORK, WITH SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ART BRIDGES. ORIGINALLY CURATED FOR INSTALLATION AT THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM, FEBRUARY 11, 2020 - JANUARY 3, 2021, BY STACY C. HOLLANDER, INDEPENDENT CURATOR. TOUR COORDINATED BY EMELIE GEVALT, CURATOR OF FOLK ART, THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM.

ARTPRIZE 2021 AT GRAM: MY DEAREST FRIENDS PROJECT THE GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM IS COLLABORATING WITH ARTIST OAKLEE THIELE AND THE GRAND RAPIDS BASED DISABILITY ARTS ORGANIZATION DISART TO BRING THE MY DEAREST FRIENDS PROJECT TO GRAND RAPIDS DURING ARTPRIZE 2021. ABOUT THE EXHIBITION CREATED BY AND FOR THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY, MY DEAREST FRIENDS WAS LAUNCHED BY THIELE AND DISART IN MARCH 2020 WITH AN INSTAGRAM POST INVITING DISABLED PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES OF MARGINALIZATION, ISOLATION, AND DISCRIMINATION DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. TO DATE, THE PROJECT HAS RECEIVED OVER 350 SUBMISSIONS FROM THE U.S. AND AROUND THE WORLD. THIELE RESPONDS TO EACH SUBMISSION BY CREATING A BLACK AND WHITE IMAGE, SOME OF WHICH INCORPORATE THE RESPONDENTS' OWN WORDS. FOR ARTPRIZE AT GRAM, A SELECTION OF THIELE'S STRIKING ILLUSTRATIONS WILL BE TRANSFORMED INTO DRAMATIC, LARGE-SCALE BANNERS AND PANELS THAT WILL BE INSTALLED ON ALL FOUR SIDES OF THE MUSEUM'S EXTERIOR. THIS OUTDOOR PRESENTATION BRINGS THE PERSONAL AND POLITICAL PRESENCE OF THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY TO THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN GRAND RAPIDS. SYMBOLICALLY, THE MONUMENTAL SCALE OF THE PROJECT WILL ACT AS AN EXAGGERATED, AESTHETIC COUNTERBALANCE TO THE LACK OF DISABILITY PRESENCE IN CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. MY DEAREST FRIENDS PROJECT SEEKS REACTION AND RESPONSE. DISABLED PEOPLE ARE OFTEN SPOKEN FOR, PROMPTING THE PHRASE "NOTHING ABOUT US, WITHOUT US." THE GROWING COLLECTION OF TESTIMONIES FROM DISABLED PEOPLE FOR THIS PROJECT OFFER INSIGHT INTO THE COMPLEX AND VARYING EXPERIENCES OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DIFFERENCES. THE PROJECT AIMS TO CREATE A SENSE OF SOLACE AND TOGETHERNESS IN THE COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCES OF THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY. OAKLEE THIELE AFTER ACQUIRING MULTIPLE DISABILITIES IN HER EARLY TWENTIES, OAKLEE THIELE BEGAN UTILIZING HER ARTISTIC PLATFORM TO CHRONICLE LIFE FROM THE DISABLED PERSPECTIVE. HER WORK CENTERS ON INVISIBLE CHRONIC ILLNESS, THE INTIMATE BOND SHE HAS FORMED WITH HER SERVICE DOG, COCO, AND COMING TO TERMS WITH THE EARLY DETERIORATION OF MIND AND BODY. AS HER HEALTH CONTINUES TO DECLINE, THIELE DEVELOPS CUSTOM-MADE TOOLS TO ALLOW HER TO CONTINUE CREATING LARGE-SCALE ABSTRACTED WORKS. DISART DISART IS A PRODUCTION COMPANY AND ARTS AND CULTURE ORGANIZATION THAT FOCUSES ITS ENERGY ON CREATING PUBLIC ART EVENTS THAT CULTIVATE AND COMMUNICATE A DISABILITY CULTURE. ALL OF THIS WORK PRESENTS THE HIGHEST QUALITY, CONTEMPORARY ART DONE BY DISABLED ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. DISART BELIEVES THAT EXPRESSIONS OF A DISABILITY CULTURAL IDENTITY CAN TRANSFORM SOCIETY FROM AWARENESS TO UNDERSTANDING TO BELONGING, CREATING A COMMUNITY THAT ENJOYS THE FULL AND EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION OF ALL DISABLED PEOPLE.

OTHER EXPENSES RELATED TO THE CARE AND CONSERVATION OF THE PERMANENT COLLECTION AND THE EXHIBITIONS SHOWN DURING THIS YEAR AND EXPENSES RELATED TO PREPARATION OF EXHIBITIONS SCHEDULED FOR THE FISCAL YEAR. THIS INCLUDES CURATORIAL, CATALOGING AND RESEARCH, AS WELL AS THE PURCHASE OF ART FOR THE PERMANENT COLLECTION.