Todd J. Tubutis has been named the next director of the Art Museum of West Virginia University, the College of Creative Arts announced today.
“We are excited to welcome Todd to the Art Museum of WVU,” said College of Creative Arts Dean Keith Jackson. “As we head into the museum’s fourth year of operation, we know Todd will bring his eagerness and many refreshing ideas to help us engage more West Virginians in experiencing the transformative power of art.”
The program begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Museum Education Center Grand Hall, which is located near the corner of Patteson Drive and Morrill Way at the Evansdale Campus North Entrance. The event is free and open to the public.
Lupo’s talk will include a brief history of American comics, focusing on a few of the pioneers of the medium. Using some of the work included in the My Hero! exhibition, Lupo will also explore the complicated relationship American comics has had with contemporary art since the 1960’s and how that relationship has changed recently.
From mainstage plays to large music ensemble concerts and art exhibitions to visiting artist lectures and student recitals, the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts' 800-plus students and 100 faculty members present hundreds of events throughout the year. From September through April, the College will host The Curiosity Series, 25 events that are a chance for fans of one genre of music to listen to another or to attend a lecture on an arts topic that holds interest for them.
“We know that people are curious about the arts, but we also know that the arts can be intimidating so people typically stick to what they know,” said Keith Jackson, interim dean. “People know what to expect at a rock show – they may not know what to expect at a wind symphony concert or a visiting artist lecture, so they shy away from attending. We want our community members to have an open mind and try something they have been curious about.”
The Art Museum of West Virginia University will celebrate its third birthday with activities for the whole family from 12:30 - 3 p.m. Saturday, August 25.
A variety of free activities for children will be available during the birthday party including face painting, sidewalk chalk drawing, a hands-on art project and a scavenger hunt. The museum’s exhibitions, Flowing Beyond Heaven and Earth: Chinese Master Ceramists, Form and Balance: Ceramics from the Collection and Impulse: A Trip Inside, will be open during the birthday party. Museum docents and volunteers will be on hand in the galleries to assist visitors as they engage in art.
The Art Museum of West Virginia University is home to a very special collection of works by WVU alumna Grace Martin Taylor.
Taylor was born in Morgantown in 1903 and graduated from WVU in 1928 before embarking on her career in art, becoming one of America’s most innovative printmakers of the second quarter of the 20th century. She also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts with American Modernist Arthur Carles in the 1920s and received her master’s degree in Art from WVU in 1949. She continued post-graduate study at a number of prestigious art schools.