Sunday, June 29, 2014

WMSC Visits Bates Art Museum

by Wendy Hutchins

What a lovely way to spend a rainy summer day! Under the direction of Kathleen DeVore, several members of WMSC, along with a few guests, ventured to the Bates College Museum of Art. While there, the docent guided us through the two current exhibits: Convergence: Jazz, Films, and the Visual Arts, and Encountering Maine. Both collections were inspirational, to say the very least.
 
The Convergence show offers the viewer many different media which include sculpture, wood cuts, silk screen prints, multi-media collages and more, all depicting the African influence on our music, films and visual art. 

Encountering Maine, while containing a similar variety of art forms, features works by Maine artists or artists with a relationship to Maine, or works that includes part of Maine as a subject. For most of us, the highlight of the exhibit was the stunning, original watercolor of Andrew Wyeth, “Master Bedroom,” which is on long-term loan to the museum through the generosity of Wyeth’s granddaughter, who is a graduate of Bates.

After a wonderful few hours of steeping in the arts, the group put the finishing touch to a grand day by having a fabulous lunch at Davinci’s in the old Bates Mill complex! How appropriate!

Both exhibits will be running throughout the summer, so if you find yourself in Lewiston be sure to check them out. (Bates Museum of Art 207-786-6158)

Anthony, our docent, explains Faith Ringgold's Jazz Stories: Mama Can Sing, Papa Can Blow #4, 2004   photo Denise Hurd

SoniĆ© Joi Ruffin-Thompson, Strange Fruit, 2010   photo Denise Hurd

Close-up of Strange Fruit   photo Denise Hurd

Andrew Wyeth, Master Bedroom, 1965   photo Google Images

 
For more information about Western Mountains Senior College visit our website at http://sad44.maineadulted.org/western_mountains_senior_college