November 20, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Sarah E. Boehme
Director, Stark Museum of Art
sboehme@starkmuseum.org
409.886.ARTS (2787)
ORANGE, Texas, November 20, 2008 – In honor of its thirtieth anniversary, the Stark Museum of Art will host a public open house on Saturday, November 29 from 2-4 p.m. Visitors are invited to the museum to enjoy cake, punch, coffee and spotlight presentations by docents in the museum galleries.
Museum Director Sarah Boehme invited visitors saying, “November 29 is the actual anniversary date of the opening of the Stark Museum of Art so we wanted to offer something special on that day. It is also the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so it is a great time to bring holiday visitors and family members to see the Museum. We will have docents in the galleries who can provide interpretations that enhance the viewing experience. Our refreshments will include a cake in the shape of the Stark Museum of Art with the Thirtieth Anniversary logo applied.”
Two special exhibitions will be on view during the Stark Museum’s open house. Thirtieth Anniversary Treasures: Unseen Works from the Stark Collection, on view now through January 6, 2009, offers a look at the breadth and depth of the museum’s collections. It features works of art never before displayed to the public, including the Thomas Moran painting of Venice, Italy; the Grandma Moses scenes of rural life; and other masterworks.
The second exhibition is Pictured Prayers: Medieval Books of Hours, on view November 20 through January 6, 2009. Visitors will have the opportunity to view seven beautifully hand-painted Books of Hours manuscripts open to devotional images related to the Christmas story.
In addition to these special exhibitions, the Stark Museum’s ongoing galleries of Western American art and decorative arts will be on view. Also, the Museum Store will be open for those wishing to purchase products related to the Stark Museum of Art and the artists on view, as well as limited-time items such as the Thirtieth Anniversary poster, holiday cards and a special Christmas ornament.
The Stark Museum of Art first opened to the public on November 29, 1978, and is a program of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, a non-profit organization. It is located at 712 Green Avenue in Orange, Texas. Admission is free. For more information call 409.886.ARTS (2787) or visit www.starkmuseum.org.
About the Stark Museum of Art
The Stark Museum of Art focuses on the stunning land, the dramatic people and the diverse wildlife of the American West. Paintings, sculpture and prints interpret the West from nineteenth century frontier artists to the twentieth century artistic colonies in New Mexico. Artists include John James Audubon, Frederic Remington, and Charles Marion Russell.
The Museum also features a significant collection of American Indian objects, including baskets, pottery, clothing and weavings. Other permanent collections in the Museum include the complete porcelain American Bird Series by Dorothy Doughty and the only complete series of The United States in Crystal, a collection of crystal urns produced by Steuben Glass to depict the 50 states and the Union.