The public is invited to two events this weekend that are part of the celebration of the opening of the new Art Museum of WVU.

The Art Museum Opening Party, to be held Friday, Aug. 28, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the museum, is an opportunity for adults age 21 and over to don festive attire and come out for a glass of wine, meet friends, and see the new building and the first exhibition.

The second event is Family and Community Day, to be held Saturday, Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the museum. Bring the entire family out for this fun event, featuring world music, mandolin player Tristan Dennis, face painting, chalk art, printmaking T-shirts, refreshments, and tours of the museum.

Titled “Visual Conversations: Looking and Listening,” the museum’s opening exhibition will be in both galleries of the new building and will present works by many of the artists represented in the WVU Art Collection. There will be special sections featuring landscape paintings, prints and contemporary works, as well as a section on the works of Morgantown-area artist Blanche Lazzell (1878-1956). Lazzell is recognized as one of America’s leading abstract painters and print makers.

WVU currently has the largest collection of works by Lazzell, including the cleaned and restored WPA mural from the 1930s, known as “Justice over Monongalia County,” that used to hang in a courtroom in the Monongalia County Courthouse for many years. The mural will be on view as part of the opening exhibition.

Other artists represented in the exhibition include Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein, Mary Cassatt, Andy Warhol, Polly Apfelbaum, George Bellows, Diego Rivera, Thomas Cole, Maurico Lasansky and West Virginia artists Grace Martin Taylor, James Edward Davis, and David Hunter Strother.

In addition, a large graffiti-style mural by New York artists How and Nosm is being unveiled during the dedication week. The mural takes up an entire wall at the museum entrance facing Patteson Drive.

According to Art Museum Director Joyce ice, the exhibit was planned to showcase the range of the WVU Art Collection and to encourage communication among museum-goers as they make connections with the works of art, the artists, and one another.

Both the Art Museum Opening Party and Family and Community Day are free and open to the public, but those who plan to attend the Opening Party are asked to RSVP, by calling 304-293-7790, or online at the Art Museum website: http://artmuseum.wvu.edu.

The Art Museum of WVU would like to thank the sponsors of its opening week program, including Mylan Inc., Friends of the Art Museum, Steptoe and Johnson PLLC, Beth and Joe Hestick of Bridgeport, West Virginia, Lotus McDowell of Artworks in Bridgeport, West Virginia, and The Kroger Co.

-WVU-

cl/08/26/15

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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