Art Museum of WVU docent Betsy Mullett will discuss a painting by American artist William E. Schumacher during the next “Lunchtime Looks” program Wednesday, March 30.

West Virginia University, faculty and staff, and the general public are invited to bring a brown bag lunch to the Museum Education Center Grand Hall at noon and meet with other art enthusiasts to enjoy their midday meal. At 12:30 p.m., the group will move to the museum’s upper gallery for the 20-minute, in-depth look at Schumacher’s 1916 oil painting, “Floral Landscape.” The museum purchased the painting through the Myers Foundation Purchase Fund.

William Schumacher (American, 1870-1931) was a prominent artist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Belgium, he was raised and educated in Boston and studied art at the Dresden Academy in 1888 before transferring to the Acad�mie Julian in Paris the following year, where he came into contact with European avant-garde artists. He brought modernist principles with him when he returned to the United States in 1912 and set up a studio in New York’s Greenwich Village. From 1913 to 1931, he was artist-in-residence at the artists’ colony at Byrdcliffe in Woodstock, New York.

Morgantown area native Blanche Lazzell, who is also represented in the current exhibition, spent time at Byrdcliffe Colony in the summer of 1917, where she studied with Schumacher.

Audience members will have a chance to share their own reactions and questions about Schumacher’s artwork.

The session will end by 12:50 p.m., so that those who need to get back to their offices will have plenty of time. Anyone who can’t get away for the entire hour is welcome to meet the group in the museum at 12:30 p.m. for just the art presentation.

Betsy Mullett worked for 36 years in public education as a Spanish teacher, school counselor, and administrator. She retired from Monongalia County Schools as director of Educational Support Services in 2011. Born and raised in Wheeling, she divides her time between volunteering at the museum and enjoying time with family—especially her seven grandchildren.

The Art Museum and Museum Education Center are located near the corner of Patteson Drive and Morrill Way at the Evansdale Campus North Entrance.

Parking is available in short-term lots ST-1 and ST-9, with pay stations, one located near Patteson Drive and the other near the new Evansdale Crossing building.

For more information about the Lunchtime Looks program, contact the Art Museum of WVU at (304) 292-4359.

-WVU-

cl/03/21/16

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, Art Museum of WVU
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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