Reef. Kenneth Noland, artist. Photos courtesy of WCU Photo Services
By Kathleen O. Brown
The WCU Fine Art Museum at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center in Cullowhee is commemorating its 20th anniversary and celebrating Western Carolina University’s decades of collecting and curating contemporary art with an exhibition that runs through July 2.
The WCU Fine Art Museum will host a reception for the exhibition Thursday, February 12, from 5–7 p.m. in the Bardo Arts Center’s (BAC’s) Star Atrium. Complimentary light appetizers and beverages will be served and free parking will be available after 5 p.m.
The exhibition showcases the WCU Fine Art Museum’s roots in the university’s Belk and Chelsea Galleries and highlights key moments in its history—from its early focus on studio glass and women artists to its evolving commitment to contemporary Native American voices. Artwork in the exhibition is from each chapter of the WCU Fine Art Museum’s history, reflecting the people, places and priorities that shaped its collection.
Adoduhisodiyi Sakonige Ugitsisgv (Remaking Blue Dawn). America Meredith, artist
The exhibition also commemorates the WCU Fine Art Museum’s national accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, a standard of excellence within the field of museums.
The WCU Fine Art Museum features four galleries, a growing permanent collection and rotating exhibitions highlighting regional, national and international artists. Its collection of more than 2,100 works of contemporary art by artists of the Americas includes paintings, drawings, prints and photography, as well as ceramics, glass and artist books.
The WCU Fine Art Museum’s collection supports its exhibition program and strives to enhance student learning through object-based experiences and to provide a catalyst for dialogue across the campus community and WNC. More than half of the museum’s holdings consist of its vitreograph collection. Donated by Harvey K. and Bess Littleton and members of the Littleton family, the vitreograph collection is the largest in the world and includes the complete archive of vitreograph prints produced at Harvey Littleton Studios between 1976 and 2008.
The WCU Fine Art Museum grew out of WCU’s two previous exhibition spaces, the Belk Gallery and the Chelsea Gallery. Launched in 1972 and 1978, respectively, the galleries continued to operate until the opening of the WCU Fine Art Museum in the Bardo Arts Center in 2005. The WCU Fine Art Museum at that time became part of the College of Fine and Performing Arts and assumed stewardship of the Belk Gallery’s collection.
The WCU Fine Art Museum is in the Bardo Arts Center and on Western Carolina University’s main campus at 199 Centennial Drive in Cullowhee. Visit Arts.WCU.edu/20-anniversary to learn more about the 20th anniversary exhibition and reception. For the Bardo Arts Center’s full calendar of events, visit Arts.WCU.edu/explore.
