The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art will present an exhibition called Preserving Tradition, featuring a selection of paintings, sculpture and works on paper from the museum's permanent collection. These works of art are being produced by artists that revel in naturalistic representation.
Finding new ways to show other representations of the world around us is a key factor in artistic development. Another key element of art is the appreciation of the artistic styles from past generations that have led to these innovations.
The point of the Preserving Tradition art exhibition is to present and preserve the art traditions that have preceded us, and then find ways to enhance and extend them.
"At JCSM, we believe art changes lives," said Charlotte Hendrix, print and digital media producer at JCSM. "The museum's most recent exhibitions have focused on modernism, but this exhibition moves into a different direction to compliment the painter's subjects, landscape, figure and still life."
While celebrating artistic styles from past generations is a main goal of JCSM, they also want to exhibit types of art people wouldn't usually have the chance to see and appreciate.
"The museum strives to serve and grow our audience by offering education programs and exhibitions," Hendrix said. "Our audience includes students, both K-12 and college, university faculty and community members."
Brianna Hunter, freshman in psychology, said she believes studying these older techniques from a modern day perspective could be a fascinating concept.
"I believe we can't create new artistic masterpieces without knowledge and appreciation of the concepts, technique and general art form of older artists," Hunter said.
With the preparation of these works still ongoing, JCSM focuses more on the educational value of these art works during preparation of an exhibition.
"The museum does not disclose the financial value of works; rather, it is the artistic value that our curators and educators consider when preparing an exhibition or acquiring a new work," Hendrix said.
With the opening of the exhibition drawing closer, the artists are working to finish the installation of Preserving Tradition in JCSM. The Curator of this exhibition , Dennis Harper, and JCSM employees have been working to complete the exhibition.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. Also, student membership to the museum is free. The exhibition will begin Saturday, Feb. 16 and end Saturday, June 8.
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