Hillstrom Museum to Open Three New Exhibitions Nov. 21

Grant Wood (1891-1942), Iowa Landscape–"The Crik," 1934, Oil on board, Katherine G. Ordway Fund purchase, 91.29.01

The Hillstrom Museum of Art at Gustavus Adolphus College will open three concurrent exhibitions on Monday, Nov. 21, including Our Treasures: Highlights from the Minnesota Museum of American Art, Familiar Names, Familiar Faces: Portraiture by Paul Granlund, and Selections from the Hillstrom Collection. The exhibitions will remain on view through Jan. 27, 2012, and they are free and open to the public.

Our Treasures features 32 of the finest masterpieces form the collection of the Minnesota Museum of American Art (MMAA). This exhibit, supported by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, is an opportunity to make the MMAA familiar to all in the state. Our Treasures comes to the Hillstrom Museum of Art as part of a statewide tour that opened at the Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and after its appearance at Gustavus, will be shown at the Carleton College Art Gallery in Northfield. The exhibit includes paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and photographs, ranging in date from 1860 to as recently as 2006.

Our Treasures has a strong context for being presented in the Hillstrom Museum of Art, which has in common with the MMAA the patronage and support of Reverend Richard L. Hillstrom, who for many years in the 1970s and 1980s was closely associated with the MMAA, serving as a trustee and as chair of its collection committee. A number of the works in the exhibitions were acquired by the MMAA under Hillstrom’s guidance. In addition to this connection, the two museums have a basic similarity in the nature and content of their permanent collections, and many of the artists represented in one can be found in the other.

Paul Granlund (1925-2003), Portrait of Senator Paul Wellstone, 2003, 22 inches, Cast bronze, Diversity Center, Gustavus Adolphus College

To underscore this kinship, in conjunction with Our Treasures, the Hillstrom Museum of Art is presenting Selections from the Hillstrom Collection, consisting of works by artists represented in Our Treasures.

The exhibition Familiar Names, Familiar Faces: Portraiture by Paul Granlund features portrait busts and reliefs by the nationally and internationally known artist who served as Sculptor-in-Residence at the College from 1971 to 1996. Over the course of his long career, Granlund was increasing asked to portray noted individuals. These included world-renowned scholars, important public and political figures, and the founders, presidents, and other officials of numerous colleges and universities. The Granlund portraiture exhibit is part of the Hillstrom Museum of Art’s celebration of Gustavus’s Sesquicentennial.

An opening reception will take place between 7-9 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 21 and will include remarks by Gustavus President Jack R. Ohle and Kristin Makholm, director of the Minnesota Museum of American Art.

The Hillstrom Museum of Art is located on the lower level of the College’s C. Charles Jackson Campus Center. Regular museum hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on weekends.

For more information about these exhibitions or the Hillstrom Museum of Art, go online to gustavus.edu/finearts/hillstrom or call 507-933-7200.

Hillstrom Museum to Open Three New Exhibitions Nov. 21

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