‘Dwellings’ opens Oct. 12 at RAM

Rockford Art Museum (RAM) opens new art exhibition Dwellings on Friday, October 12, with a preview reception for museum members and exhibiting artists from 5 to 7:30 p.m. that includes a gallery walk with the artists, followed by a free public opening until 8:30 p.m. at RAM, 711 N. Main St., Rockford. Sponsored in part by Larson & Darby and Women’s Art Board, the exhibition remains on view through January 27, 2019. 


Rockford Art Museum (RAM) opens new art exhibition Dwellings on Friday, October 12, with a preview reception for museum members and exhibiting artists from 5 to 7:30 p.m. that includes a gallery walk with the artists, followed by a free public opening until 8:30 p.m. at RAM, 711 N. Main St., Rockford. The exhibition remains on view through January 27, 2019. 

Dwellings features paintings, photography, sculptures and installations by Jacqueline Moses, Juan Fernandez, Joe Cassan, and Shana McCaw and Brent Budsberg. Each creates artwork using houses and other architectural forms as subjects that challenge our notions of social, political and environmental issues. 

Emotionally inspired and intellectually structured, Moses’s vibrant paintings are strongly influenced by globalization, turmoil and hope. Stripping down photographs to bare bones, Fernandez’s work references perceptions of form, structure and order in common materials and subject matter. Cassan’s small-scale sculptures of mundane interiors draw on the isolated, often emotional, relationship between omission and recognition. McCaw and Budsberg’s sculptures and installations explore history and ancestry through scaled-down architectural forms in various stages of construction, destruction or reconfiguration.

Dwellings is organized by Rockford Art Museum Carrie Johnson. This exhibition and its related educational programming are sponsored in part by Larson & Darby and Women’s Art Board, and partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and by the Armer Ahlstrand Charitable Foundation.

Concurrent exhibitions on view at RAM include ongoing selections from the Rockford Art Museum Collection and a traveling exhibition by Estonian photographer Terttu Uibopuu (through November 11).

‘DWELLINGS’ RELATED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING, CONT’D—

HISTORIC HAUNTED HOME WALKING TOUR
THU, OCT 18
, 6:30–8 PM, ALL AGES
$20 ($18 FOR RAM MEMBERS)
REGISTRATION REQUIRED AT HAUNTEDROCKFORD.COM
Kathi Kresol from Haunted Rockford is thrilled to partner with Rockford Art Museum for this very unique event. We will meet at RAM and then explore the nearby historic neighborhood. Kathi will share the history and the mystery that surrounds certain homes along the way. This is a walking tour so please dress accordingly. TO REGISTER WITH RAM MEMBER DISCOUNT, CALL KATHI AT (815) 871-4239


CONTEMPORARY WATERCOLOR
WED, OCT 24
, 6–8 PM, ALL AGES
$45 ($40 FOR RAM MEMBERS)
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
This course will explore contemporary watercolor techniques led by local artist Carmen Turner of MainFraiM. Cost includes supplies and instruction.

STORYTIME WITH ROCKFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY
SAT, NOV 10
, 10–11:30 AM, FREE
Join Rockford Public Library at Rockford Art Museum for a storytime event! Parents and kids will enjoy a selection of stories read by RPL with an art activity to follow.

OPEN MIC NIGHT WITH THE ATROCIOUS POETS
FRI, NOV 16
, 6–8 PM
$5 DONATION, CASH BAR BY PRAIRIE STREET BREWING CO
Listen to or share original poetry, storytelling, music, and more at this after-hours event hosted by the Atrocious Poets. All ages welcome, doors open at 6 pm and performances begin at 6:30.

AN EVENING WITH THE ARTIST:
SHANA MCCAW + BRENT BUDSBERG
FRI, NOV 30
, 6–8 PM
FREE ADMISSION, CASH BAR BY PRAIRIE STREET BREWING CO
Join Dwellings artists Shana McCaw and Brent Budsberg as they discuss revisiting their work Farmstead. This duo will highlight how they turned the lens inward and reinterpreted their own history as artists.

MUSIC IN THE MUSEUM: TENTACLES EVERYWHERE
FRI, DEC 7
, 6–8 PM, ALL AGES
$5 COVER (FREE FOR RAM MEMBERS)
CASH BAR BY PRAIRIE STREET BREWING CO
Enjoy a live performance by local folk-driven band Tentacles Everywhere at this after-hours event. All ages welcome, doors open at 6 pm and music begins at 6:30.

CORK + CANVAS: FLUID ART
TUE, DEC 18
, 6–8 PM, AGES 21+
$45 ($40 FOR RAM MEMBERS)
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Led by Janelle O’Malley of RAM, this Cork + Canvas event is all about fluid art. Participants will explore this abstract style and create their own mesmerizing pieces. Bar provided by Prairie Street Brewing Co. Cost includes supplies, instruction, and two drinks.

MOVIE MONDAY: GREY GARDENS
MON, JAN 14
, DOORS OPEN 6 PM, FILM BEGINS 6:30
$5 COVER (FREE FOR RAM MEMBERS)
This documentary explores the eccentric lives of Edith and Edie Bouvier Beale, “high society drop outs” and reclusive relatives of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, as the mother-daughter pair thrives in their dilapidated, decaying mansion in East Hampton, New York. (PG, 1975, 1 hr 34 min)

FAMILY ART FUN FRIDAY
FRI, JAN 4
, 10 AM–12 PM, FREE WITH ADMISSION
Enjoy a free art activity in the RAM Art Annex with the price of a $5 Family Friday admission, and create a masterpiece of your own to take home. All ages welcome.

BEGINNER DRAWING
SAT, JAN 5
, 10 AM–12 PM, AGES 10+
$25 ($20 FOR RAM MEMBERS)
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Learn the basics of drawing from RAM Artist-in-Residence Beth Wemmer. Cost includes supplies and instruction.

IF REGISTRATION REQUIRED, GO TO ROCKFORDARTMUSEUM.ORG OR CALL (815) 968-2787 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. FOR RAM MEMBER DISCOUNT, PLEASE REGISTER BY PHONE.

About Rockford Art Museum:
Founded in 1913, Rockford Art Museum exists to help make life in Rockford better for people of all ages through a permanent art collection, frequent art exhibitions, and lifelong art education. RAM is located inside Riverfront Museum Park at 711 North Main Street in downtown Rockford, Illinois. Learn more at rockfordartmuseum.org.

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