Exploring Art and Culture: A Guide to Brigham Young University's Museum of Art Exhibits
Brigham Young University (BYU) is home to five different museums, each with a unique focus. Among these, the BYU Museum of Art stands out as a prominent cultural institution in the Mountain West. This article delves into the exhibits and collections of the BYU Museum of Art, as well as highlighting other museums on campus.
Brigham Young University's Commitment to Art and Culture
Brigham Young University is dedicated to providing a space where many people’s stories can “mingle and grow." The campus itself offers tours that you can schedule online, and a guide can take you around and point out all the museums and different on-campus attractions. BYU is home to five different museums, each with a unique focus.
BYU Museum of Art
The Brigham Young University Museum of Art, located in Provo, Utah, United States is the university's primary art museum and is one of the best attended university-campus art museums in the United States. The Brigham Young University Museum of Art is a place for people to seek knowledge and values, self-affirmation, and spiritual understanding. As one of the largest and best attended art museums in the Mountain West, the BYU Museum of Art offers a dynamic exhibition schedule that includes world-class traveling shows and unique temporary exhibits.
History and Background
In 1960 or 1959, Brigham Young University received a donation of Mahonri Young's art collection, which included over 10,000 works of art. Before the museum was created, artwork was stored in the Harris Fine Arts Center. Lacking a museum, the university allowed professors into storage rooms to select art to decorate their offices, even though some of the paintings were very valuable. One art professor, Wesley M. Burnside, recognized the value of the collection and as a curator, started to sell, trade, and purchase pieces, eventually becoming the collection's acquisitions director, though his role was supposed to be limited to making recommendations to the faculty committee.
Attendance and Recognition
According to a survey, the museum ranked first in attendance among university campus art museums with 334,774 visitors. The museum displays paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, installations, video, and photography. The permanent collection contains works of art from many renowned artists including Carl Bloch, Maynard Dixon, Rembrandt, Norman Rockwell, John Singer Sargent, and Minerva Teichert.
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Current and Past Exhibits
The BYU Museum of Art offers a dynamic exhibition schedule that includes world-class traveling shows and unique temporary exhibits.
Counterpoint: Selections from the MOA Collection from the 1960s and Beyond
The joint exhibitions, Off Kilter, On Point and Counterpoint, provide a stirring survey of art since the 1960s. It’s a sampling of works from well-known artists (Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp, Roy Lichtenstein) and lesser-known artists (Albert Kotin, Agathe Sorel, Lee Lozano). It’s a cross-section of Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, Op art, and more.
Works from the Counterpoint exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art, including a series of serigraphs by Betty Gold, left, portraits by Andy Warhol, center, and Dorothy Grebenak’s “Bugatti” (1964), right. You’ll find a classic example of pop art in a wool rug by Dorothy Grebenak. Grebenak’s hooked rug is a painstaking recreation of the Bugatti logo, perfect down to the exact number of red dots circling the emblem’s perimeter. You’ll find a humming electromagnetic sphere by Greek artist Takis (born Panayotis Vassilakis). Like a baby’s mobile, it hangs from the ceiling and moves in small circles, pulled by its magnetic base. You’ll find a disposable paper dress, inspired by Andy Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Can prints. The dress is one of many that the soup company made and distributed as part of a promotional campaign. You’ll find a selection of contributions to the affordable art subscription service, the S.M.S. (So Much Shit) portfolio, from more than a dozen artists.
Off Kilter, On Point: Art of the 1960s from Colorado State University
The joint exhibitions, Off Kilter, On Point and Counterpoint, provide a stirring survey of art since the 1960s. It’s a sampling of works from well-known artists (Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp, Roy Lichtenstein) and lesser-known artists (Albert Kotin, Agathe Sorel, Lee Lozano). It’s a cross-section of Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, Op art, and more.
Works in BYU Museum of Art’s Off Kilter, On point including, from left, Robert Indiana, “American Dream 1928-1963,” Andy Warhol “The Souper Dress,” (1966), and, far right, Charles Hinman’s “Cascade” (1965).
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Visiting the Museum
BYU Museum of Art Hours: Mon, Tue, Sat 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM, Wed-Fri 10:00 PM - 9:00 PM. Total Walking distance - 1.5 Miles. OR Total Driving Distance - 1.5 miles.
Other Museums at BYU
Brigham Young University is home to five different museums, each with a unique focus.
BYU Family History Library
BYU Family History Library Hours: Mon-Sat 7:00 AM - 12:00 PM. The BYU Family History Library provides genealogical researchers throughout the world access to a rich repository of histories.The records here have been created by family members to celebrate the lives of their ancestors. With links to hundreds of records and volunteer expert consultants, this library provides the tools necessary to search for your family.
BYU Bean Life Science Museum
BYU Bean Life Science Museum Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-9:00, Sat 10:00-5:00 The Bean Museum on Brigham Young University Campus features life-like exhibits and houses an extensive collection of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, plants, shells, and eggs. It is frequently used for educational programs because it allows visitors to experience the wonders of nature first-hand.
BYU Museum of Paleontology
BYU Museum of Paleontology Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00. The BYU Museum of Paleontology shows visitors the cutting edge of dinosaur science. The museum is a thriving hotbed of discovery-and makes you a part of it. Travel through time with fully mounted dinosaur displays, some of the animals so new they haven't yet been named. Be there as the discovery happens, watching scientists and students at work through the display window of a real fossil laboratory. Nearly all of the fossils are kept in the museum's collections room.
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BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures
BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. This museum serves as a home to anthropological artifacts from cultures around the world. Exhibitions are created by Brigham Young University students working under the direction of the BYU Department of Anthropology. The collections of the Museum of Peoples and Cultures specialize in five main areas: The Great Basin, The American Southwest, Mesoamerica, South America, and Polynesia.
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