Universe

Emily Sullivan Smith
Sep 25, 2021 – Apr 2022

Emily Sullivan Smith replicates the natural world with a new multidisciplinary installation. Following the events of 2020, Smith intimately observes what happens when there is an abrupt stillness of human activity and a quiet continuation of the ecosystem. Exploring ideas of permanence, change, and authenticity, these works memorialize a place and time both precedented and unprecedented in Earth’s history. They present hope in darkness and a path toward a future worth working toward.

Emily Sullivan Smith is an Associate Professor and Foundations Coordinator at the University of Dayton. Her studio practice is interdisciplinary including sculpture and printmaking, focusing on the effects of human behavior on the natural world. Sullivan Smith received her BFA and MFA from Kent State University. She has exhibited widely throughout the United States, and currently has work on display at the Akron Art Museum.

BLACK LIFE as subject MATTER II

Oct 23, 2021 – Feb 27, 2022

Curated by Willis Bing Davis, BLACK LIFE as subject MATTER II views all aspects of the Black experience as valid subject matter for creative expression. The visual voices presented in this exhibition are like griots – reflecting on the joy, pain, sorrow, visions, and hopes for today and tomorrow. BLACK LIFE as subject MATTER II features over 25 artists from around the state, including many from Dayton and Springfield.

Davis is a world-renowned artist and curator having exhibited at the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Renwick Gallery, the National Museum of Art of Senegal West Africa, and the United States Embassy Accra, Ghana. For over 40 years, Davis has dedicated himself to teaching art in a range of environments. He’s received numerous awards including Ohio Art Educator of the Year, and the highest art award in the state of Ohio, the Ohio Governor’s Irma Lazarus Lifetime Achievement Award.

BLACK LIFE as subject MATTER II has been made possible with generous funding from the Ohio Humanities Council and Arts Midwest.

75th Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition

Jul 31-Oct 3, 2021

SMoA is thrilled to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Juried Members’ Exhibition this coming summer. Since 1946, this exhibition has highlighted the talents of member artists, both professional and emerging alike providing an outlet for all skillsets. Nearly 90 members from our region will be showcased in the exhibition, which has been juried this year by Joann Moser, Senior Curator Emerita at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Opening Reception Saturday, Jul 31, 5-7 pm

Honor the work of our community of talented artists with an opening reception including local food trucks, cash bar, live music, and art! Festivities start at 5pm, galleries open at 5:30pm.

Members Free | Non-members $5.

Enter the Cosmos: An Exploration of Art and Space

Jun 26, 2021 – Jan 2022

Enter the Cosmos: An Exploration of Art and Space celebrates the Springfield Museum of Art’s Smithsonian Affiliation which includes working with Smithsonian and NASA related space research sites. The exhibition anticipates the Oct 2021 launch of the new James-Webb telescope by focusing on artworks that relate to images collected by telescopes. Artworks from the permanent collection are joined by photographs and objects from Wittenberg University’s Weaver Observatory.

Discarded/Sourced

Through Aug 28, 2022

Highlighting objects from the permanent collection, this exhibition explores how artists use discarded and sourced materials to make art. Artists in this gallery include Purvis Young, Barbara Chavous, Angelo Ippolito, and Gus Lobenwein. Also, among the works in this exhibition is the large-scale Red Painting by Mark Bradford, on generous loan from the collection of Angela and Scott Crabill.

Mark Bradford’s Red Painting

Through Aug 29, 2021

The Springfield Museum of Art is thrilled to present Red Painting by renowned mixed media artist, Mark Bradford. On loan from the collection of Angela and Scott Crabill, Red Painting will be on display through the end of August as part of the exhibition, Discarded/Sourced.

Widely considered one of today’s most influential artists, Bradford is known for his large-scale paintings of printed materials and mixed media. Through his practice, Bradford explores the complexities of urban life including socio-economic, racial, gender, and political structures.

Nurturing Reverence

Char Norman
Apr 24 – Oct 31, 2021

Nurturing Reverence features environmental fiber sculptures created by Columbus artist, Char Norman. Combining found objects both man-made and natural, including fiber, paper, seed pods, and twigs, each sculpture serves as a relic and a tool to explore the symbiotic relationship between nature and humans.

Char Norman is an accomplished fiber artist specializing in papermaking and fiber sculpture. She received a Master of Fine Art from Claremont Graduate University and a Bachelor of Art from Scripps College. Throughout her career, Norman has lectured and exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. In addition to creating, she has developed workshops for all ages, serves as a consultant to area schools and community art organizations, and has held the positions of Associate Provost and Dean of Faculty at the Columbus College of Art & Design. Currently, Norman works as a full-time studio artist located in Columbus, Ohio.

Public Domain

Boryana Rusenova-Ina
May 15 – Sep 12, 2021

In this new series of silk dioramas and paintings featuring scenes of Mount Rushmore, Boryana Rusenova-Ina examines the connection between identity, belonging, and the ever-changing symbolism of familiar spaces. Using the landscape genre and techniques borrowed from scenography, her practice explores and subverts perceptions of what is familiar about national landmarks like Mount Rushmore in order to emphasize the multitude of narratives that comprise notions of homeland and collective identity.

Boryana Rusenova-Ina is a native of Bulgaria whose work focuses on the relationship between place and belonging within the landscape genre. She earned an M.A. in Art, Design and Architecture Education from the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland in 2009 and an M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from The Ohio State University 2016. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including at the City Gallery Plovdiv in Bulgaria and the Zanesville Museum of Art in Ohio. Rusenova Ina has also served as the Vice President of Roy G Biv Gallery For Emerging Artists in Columbus, was a founding member of the Couchfire Art Collective, and has previously received an Individual Excellence Grant from the Ohio Arts Council to support one of her current projects, Against the Constable Skies. Rusenova-Ina is an Assistant Professor of Painting at Texas Tech University and practices out of Lubbock, Texas.

Groundwork

John Benton
May 22 – Fall, 2021

In Groundwork, Chicago artist John Benton presents landscapes of overlooked, ordinary locations in a way that elevates them to places of intrigue. Each painting in this series serves as a conversation between the artist, the painting, and the landscape, portraying the extensive amount of preliminary planning Benton focuses on in his practice. Originally from Springfield, Benton and the Museum are excited to have his work featured in his hometown this summer.

John Benton is a practicing artist located in Chicago, Illinois. He received his BFA from Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His work has been featured in dozens of exhibitions, including group exhibitions at the Butler Institute of Art, The Swope Art Museum, and the Taubman Museum of Art. Additionally, his work has been displayed in juried shows at Prince Street, Blue Mountain, and the Bowery Gallery in New York.

Accessible Expressions Ohio 2021 (Beach Gallery)

Mar 27 – Apr 25, 2021

Curated by Art Possible Ohio, Accessible Expressions Ohio (AEO) features sixty works of art by Ohio artists with disabilities. AEO raises awareness by presenting the show in inclusive settings designed to change perceptions about disability and connects artists with peers and a statewide audience of potential patrons.

Virtually celebrate the opening of the exhibition during Art Possible Ohio’s Annual Day of Arts for All on Mar 27! Follow Art Possible Ohio on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @ArtPossibleOhio to learn more.