Article orignally published by Gonzaga News Service
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University has organized three special exhibitions for spring semester: “From the Collection: Images about the American West,” “Treasure from the Sahlin Collection,” and “Jody Sahlin: Making Things – ‘Joy’s Soul Lies in the Doing’ (Shakespeare).”
“From the Collection: Images about the American West” opened Jan. 9 in the Jundt Galleries and runs through May 13. Director/Curator Paul Manoguerra has assembled more than 65 works, drawn predominantly from the Jundt permanent collection with a few paintings on special loan from a private collection. The artists whose works appear in this exhibition range from the 19th-21st centuries, and utilize the Western landscape, people, places, and events to participate in our shared understanding of the complicated and textured American history of colonization, settlement, industrialization, preservation, mythologizing, and appreciation of the West. Artists highlighted in this exhibition include Ansel Adams, Gustave Baumann, Luis Jiménez, Frank Tenney Johnson, Fritz Scholder, William Wendt, Andy Warhol, and many others.
In the Arcade Gallery, the Jundt will highlight recent gifts from the Sahlin Foundation, as well as print gifts dating as far back as 1992. “Treasure from the Sahlin Collection,” which runs Jan. 27 through May 13, features works by Melanie Yazzi, Jason Clark, Sean Star Wars, and Brad Allen, to name a few. Annual grants from the foundation have helped the Jundt grow and broaden its collection of fine art prints, paintings, and drawings. Also in the Arcade Gallery, the Museum will feature jewelry and small sculpture from the artist Jody Sahlin in the exhibition titled “Jody Sahlin: Making Things – ‘Joy’s Soul Lies in the Doing’ (Shakespeare),” which also opens on Jan. 27. Sahlin has exhibited throughout the region since 1984. Her work is in museums and private collections in and around Spokane. Sahlin earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Washington State University.
A free public reception for all three exhibitions will be held from 5-9 p.m., Friday, Feb. 3 as part of the Visual Arts Tour. This year, the Jundt is participating in “Saturate,” a citywide celebration of diversity in the arts. A free public walk-through with Paul Manoguerra for “From the Collection: Images about the American West” will be held on the same evening at 8 p.m. A walk-through with Karen Kaiser, curator of education, for “Treasure from the Sahlin Collection” and “Jody Sahlin: Making Things – ‘Joy’s Soul Lies in the Doing’ (Shakespeare)” begins at 6 p.m.
A temporary exhibition “Loïe Fuller: Lily” opens in the Chancellor’s Room of the Jundt Art Museum on Jan. 27 and runs through April 29. The exhibition of sculpture and photographs documents and celebrates American modern dance pioneer Loïe Fuller, known for her improvisational and free dance that inspired Isadora Duncan, among others. Her performances anticipated multimedia events and her private friendships led to the founding of the Maryhill Museum of Art in Washington state.
The Jundt Art Museum’s exhibitions are free and open to the public from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday; closed Sundays and University holidays. For more information call (509) 313-6843 or visit www.gonzaga.edu/jundt. To arrange a docent-guided tour, please call Karen Kaiser, curator of education, at (509) 313-6613.