Four new exhibitions, a range of programs, and artist talks are planned during the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum’s Spring 2017 season.
The University Art Museum will officially launch its spring season on Friday, Feb. 3. New gallery installations can be viewed at a public reception that will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the museum. A private preview for museum members will be held from 4-6 p.m.
Two exhibits will open on Friday. Another two exhibits have been in place since December.
• “Spiritual Journeys: Homemade Art from the Becky and Wyatt Collins Collection” will be curated by Gus Kopriva. It will feature a survey of vernacular Southern art from the private collection of the couple, which lives in New Iberia, La. Over 100 artists will be represented. They include: Mary T. Smith, Howard Finster, Minnie Black, B.F. Perkins, Jimmy Sudduth, Prophet Royal Robertson, Burgess Dulaney, Clementine Hunter and Sam Doyle. The exhibition will open on Friday, and be on display until Aug. 12.
• “Yun-Fei Ji: Looking for Lehman Brothers” will be curated by Dr. Christopher Bennett. Ji’s work revives brush-and-ink painting methods typically associated with earlier periods of Chinese art, including literati landscape painting of the Song Dynasty. He delves into contemporary global events, casting a sharp focus on issues such as environmental crisis, geographical displacement, and the impact of industrial development on contemporary life. The exhibit will open Friday, and be on display until May 6.
• “Sandra Eula Lee: Make of/Make do” will be curated by Dr. Christopher Bennett. Lee’s work incorporates sculptural, photographic, and drawing traditions that consider ways place is created among changing urban and environmental conditions. Her work is guided by observations of daily life. The artist uses materials that were salvaged from construction sites during her travels through South Korea, China, and the U.S. The exhibit will be on display until May 6.
• “Spotlight on Shawne Major” features three large-scale works by the Opelousas, La. artist: “Bud Sport” (2008), “Nadir” (2011) and “Vestige” (2001). Major’s mixed media works focus on how perception of reality is colored by dreams, memory, superstition, religion, bias, prejudice, and fear. She employs a combination of ersatz and craft materials, junk and personal objects to tell a visual story. The kitsch of popular culture is transformed—through collage and intense manual labor—into elite fine art.
On Saturday, Feb. 11, the University Art Museum will host a “Play Day: Spring Celebration.” The free event is open to the public.
The museum’s Play Day falls on the last day of the Spring Festival or Chinese Lunar New Year, which is also celebrated as the Tet holiday in Vietnamese culture.
Families and friends will participate in activities such as traditional paper crafts, story time, tea samplings, and lawn games. Attendees can bring picnic blankets and chairs to spread on the museum lawn. Meals will be sold from two food trucks, Olympic Grove and Rice Kings. Ice chests are prohibited.
The museum will continue to schedule programs on many Wednesday nights from 5-8 p.m., a time slot when visitors pay no cost for admission. Programs include lectures, panel discussions, artist talks, readings, film screenings, and music performances.
Many of the programs will complement permanent or visiting exhibits, said Jolie Johnson, Hilliard University Art Museum’s marketing and membership manager.
Hilliard University Art Museum features 11,000 square feet of gallery space and is the largest exhibition space between Houston and New Orleans. It houses a collection of 18th- through 21st-century European, Asian and American art. In addition to its permanent collection, it offers changing exhibitions of regional, national and international art.
The museum is at 710 E. St. Mary Blvd., on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus.
Admission to Hilliard University Art Museum is $5 for adults, $4 for adults over age 62, $3 for students between the ages of 5 and 17, and free for children younger than 5 years old. UL Lafayette students, and faculty and staff members can visit the museum for free by showing their University ID card.
To learn more about the museum, exhibits, and programs, visit hilliardmuseum.org or call (337) 482-2278.
Photo: Sandra Eula Lee: "Make of/Make do” 2016