By Madeleine Kalb
Looking for some cultural immersion this weekend? Skip the patio bars and Netflix and visit one, two, or even three of the many active exhibitions currently open on the SMU campus.
“I encourage all members of the SMU community to come take advantage of the special collections this weekend before the spring semester comes to a wrap,” said Daniel Slive, the head of special collections at the Bridwell Library .
Tomorrow is also the closing day for the Pollock Gallery exhibit featuring work by Masters of Fine Arts graduating students. Be sure to put this exhibit at the top of your list before it closes for good!
When: April 4-16, on Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Pollock Gallery in the Hughes Trigg Student Center
Admission: Free
This Meadows exhibition features art from Diamond Gray, Daniel Bertalot, and Andy Davis, three graduating students from Meadows’ Master of Fine Arts program. The exhibition presents a multi-media visual experience through multisensory installation and video.
When: December 18, 2015 to May 14, 2016, see the Bridwell Library collection hours for times
Where: Bridwell Library Entry Hall
Admission: Free
Francis Asbury was the late “Father of American Methodism.” Hailing from Staffordshire, England, Asbury became an itinerant lay preacher in the Methodist movement and later migrated to North America upon request from John Wesley. Asbury had a 45-year-long ministry in North America and grew American Methodism from 1,000 members in 1771 to over 200,000 in 1816.
The Ruth and Lyle Sellers Medical Collection
When: Feb. 1 to July 1, see the Bridwell Library collection hours for times
Where: The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Admission: Free
In 2015, Bridwell Library acquired the Ruth and Lyle Sellers Medical Collection from Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. The collection features 600 printed books and manuscripts from the late Lyle M. Sellers, the chief of the otolaryngology department at Baylor Medical Center from 1946 to 1963.
“Octavio Medellin: Maya-Toltec Temples and Carvings, 1938“
When: Feb. 14 to June 5, Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Jake and Nancy Hamon Galleries
Admission: Free
In 1938, Octavio Medellin spent six months researching the Yucatan’s Mayan-Toltec ruins of Chichen Itza and those at Uzmal. This exhibition, funded by San Antonio art patron Lucy Maverick, features reproductions of a selection of Medellin’s photographs and drawings. The original pieces by Medellin are part of the Octavio Medellin papers in the Jerry Bywaters Special Collections located on the second floor of the Hamon Art Library.
“Travels in Ithaca: New Paintings by Scott Gleeson ‘09“
When: January 25 to May 15, Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to midnight, Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to midnight
Where: Mildred Hawn Gallery at the Jake and Nancy Hamon Arts Library
Admission: Free
This exhibition is a retelling of Homer’s “Odysssey” and incorporates inspiration from psychoanalyst Francine Shapiro’s contribution to vision-based trauma recovery therapy. The artist applies graphic objects and reimagines the function of abstract painting in contemporary American culture. The Idea Fund, a Texas re-granting initiative of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, contributed to the preliminary research for the series. The series considers art and collective healing in the context of war and trauma.
“Between Paris and Texas: Marie Cronin, Portraitist of the Bell Époque“
When: Feb. 14 to June 5, Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Meadows Museum
Admission: Varies
Curated by Nicole Atzbach, this is the first monographic exhibition on the 19th century early Texas artist Marie Cronin. Cronin was raised in East Texas and left for Paris for a five-year study under the renowned portraitist and Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho. The Parisian experience left a lifelong impact on her work. When she returned to Texas, she secured portrait commissions of Texas statesmen and political dignitaries. Despite a flourishing artistic career, Cronin also presided over a Texas railroad.
“Salvador Dali, An Early Surrealist Masterpiece”
When: Jan. 30 to June 19, Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Meadows Museum
Admission: Varies
A leader of the surrealist movement in the mid-1930s, Salvador Dali was a Parisian artist who mastered the hyperrealist style and left a lasting impact on the global art world. The “L’homme Poisson” painting is the first painting by the artist to enter the collection of a Texas museum. The painting visited the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth and was extensively examined by Claire Barry, the museum’s director of conservation, to uncover new details about the evolution of the painting’s composition.
