from the executive
DIRECTOR
Visit columbiamuseum.org
Karen Brosius
Major Exhibitions
Ansel Adams: Masterworks
October 23, 2009 – January 17, 2010
The Chemistry of Color:
Contemporary African-American Artists
February 5 – May 9, 2010
Gallery Installations
Larry Clark: Tulsa
On view in the Mamie and Andrew Treadway, Jr. Gallery 15
October 14, 2009 - February 7, 2010
From Behind the Lens
On view in the Wachovia Education Gallery and the
David Wallace Robinson, Jr. Community Gallery
October 23, 2009 – January 17, 2010
The Art of Healing
On view in the Wachovia Education Gallery
January 27 – February 28, 2010
Skate and Create
On view in the David Wallace Robinson, Jr. Community Gallery
January 27 – March 21, 2010
Color Vision: African American Masters from the Collection
On view in the Mamie and Andrew Treadway, Jr. Gallery 15
February 17 – May 30, 2010
Upcoming Major Exhibitions
The Birth of Romulus and Remus, detail
Brussels, Workshop of Frans Geubels
c. 1560, 161 in. x140 in.
wool, silk, silver, and gold,
designer and cartoon painter not known
Kunsthistorisc hes Museum, Vienna
Imperial Splendor:
Renaissance Tapestries from Vienna
May 21 – September 19, 2010
WAYNE HIGBY (b. 1943) American
Landscape Bowl, circa 1980
stoneware
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. George F. Wick
Innovation and Change:
Great Ceramics from the Ceramics Research Center
May 28 – September 5, 2010
Cover image:
The Chemistry of Color:
Contemporary African-American Artists
Faith Ringgold, (b. 1930), American
Tar Beach #2, detail, 1990
Silkscreen on silk with pieced printed cotton, 65 3/4 x 65 1/4”
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The Chemistry of Color:
The Harold A. and Ann R. Sorgenti Collection of
Contemporary African-American Art
During the month of February as the nation celebrates Black
History Month, the Museum holds its own celebration – an
exuberant exhibition to inaugurate our 60th anniversary
year of being open to the public titled The Chemistry of Color:
Contemporary African-American Artists. We are excited to host
this exhibition as it is one of the most significant exhibitions
of African-American art the Museum has ever shown and
certainly one of the most extensive to be seen in South
Carolina in recent memory.
The new year brings a promise of hope – and with that the
Museum has three important and hopeful goals with The Chemistry of Color. We are
striving to increase African-American participation in the Museum, introduce and
expose African-American art to a wider population, and demonstrate the diversity of
American art. There is certainly no better time to celebrate these goals than during our
60th anniversary year of being open to the public and Black History Month.
The Museum has a long and sustained commitment to collecting and exhibiting
African-American art and African cultural heritage. The Museum’s collection
currently holds 252 individual pieces of art by 32 African-American artists. Nationally
prominent artists in the collection include Romare Bearden, Betye Saar, Sam Gilliam
and Elizabeth Catlett to name a few – many of whom are featured in The Chemistry of
Color. Since 1972, the Museum has presented 28 exhibitions over the last 38 years by
African-American and/or African artists. These exhibitions have been a valuable and
meaningful resource in sharing important work with the public and in partnering with
the African-American community in Columbia.
The Museum’s commitment to African-American
heritage does not end here. In fact, we have held over
80 public programs – including lectures, concerts,
classes, gallery tours and the like – that have focused
on themes that celebrate the remarkable cultural
contributions of African-Americans. The Museum
regularly hosts programs year-round that are of
interest to the African-American community, and
our attendance is continuing to grow. In celebration of
The Chemistry of Color, we are presenting at least seven
programs, such as a performance by the new SC
Contemporary Dance Company and the highly
anticipated return of the Ron McCurdy Quartet,
during the run of show, plus weekly public guided
tours of the exhibition.
The Chemistry of Color is a celebration of these African-American artists’ contributions
to the development of American art, an opportunity for Columbia’s visitors to see such
an extensive array of 41 artists in one place, and a commemoration of the Museum’s
60-year dedication to the diversity of art. A tremendous thank-you goes to the
exhibition’s presenting sponsors BB&T, SCE&G and an anonymous donor for allowing
us to share this captivating exhibition with the community.
Proud supporter of the Columbia Museum of Art
Image above: Moe A. Brooker, (born 1940), American, Spontaneous Accord, 1991, Pastel, oil pastel and crayon on paper, 41 “ x 29 7/16”