News & Events
On View
Muscatine and the Civil War: A Sesquicentennial Commemoration
& G.A.R. and Shelby Norman Post #231
Upcoming Events
2011 Festival of Wreaths: A Holiday Salon
The Friends of the Muscatine Art Center will hold their annual Festival of Wreaths: A Holiday Salon on Saturday, November 19 from 5:30 to 8PM. The Muscatine Art Center will be decked out in holiday finery and visitors will enjoy appetizers and refreshments catered by Geneva Country Club, live music by Troy Harris and the opportunity to bid on unique holiday items contributed by area businesses.
New this year is an artist's salon featuring the work of local talent including: JoAnn Allbee, Ann Moody, Jon Fasanelli-Cawelti, Tony Ledtje, Kenda Kistenmacher, Virginia Cooper and Cindy Alt, Whitney Carino-Marek and Nancy Prawdzik-Steinbach.
The Friends of the Muscatine Art Center received a $4000 matching grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine so each dollar spent the evening of the Festival will be doubled. All proceeds benefit the Muscatine Art Center's education programs throughout the year, giving more than 3,500 students the opportunity to experience the visual arts through student tours, artist receptions, class scholarships, a college internship and the talented staff who make it all happen.
Tickets are available for purchase now at the Muscatine Art Center and at the door. Ticket prices are $20 for members of the Friends of the Muscatine Art Center and $25 for non-members. Ticket price includes appetizers, a drink ticket for a beverage of your choice, live entertainment and the opportunity to support arts education at the Muscatine Art Center.
For more information call the Art Center office at (563) 263-8282.
An Iowa Soldier Writes Home: The Civil War Letters of Union Pvt. Daniel J. Parvin
In conjunction with the Muscatine Art Center’s exhibit Muscatine and the Civil War: A Sesquicentennial Commemoration, Phillip Hubbart, great-great grandson of Daniel J. Parvin, will be back in Muscatine to sign his book, An Iowa Soldier Writes Home: The Civil War Letters of Union Pvt. Daniel J. Parvin on Sunday, October 30, 2011, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Copies of his book will be available to purchase at the Muscatine Art Center for $25.00. The book is an edited collection of 117 letters that a forgotten Union foot soldier, Pvt. Daniel J. Parvin, wrote home to his wife and family in Muscatine during the American Civil War.
Parvin was a lively writer; he narrates relevant events with a keen eye for critical detail, particularly in his dramatic accounts of the battles he was in – the Battle of Shiloh (where he narrowly escaped death), the Siege of Vicksburg (where he served in a reserve capacity), and the Atlanta Campaign (where he was wounded and almost died). Parvin employs the same attention to detail in his less glamorous descriptions of day-to-day camp life. Parvin was also a passionate and opinionated man. He expresses his views in colorful language on the people, events, and politics of his day. He often pours out his heart on the painful loneliness he felt away from home and on the deep love he had for his family and country.
African Americans in the Civil War
Thursday, July 28, 6:00 PM
Lecture by Jack Lufkin, History Curator, State Historical Society of Iowa. Reception to follow
Civil War Soldiers Greenwood Cemetery Walk
Save the Date!
Sunday, September 25 & Saturday, October 1
Details to be announced
Artillery in the Civil War
The Civil War is often referred to as the first “modern” war in history as it included the most advanced technology and innovations of warfare available at the time. Some of the innovations and advances of the Civil War included mass production of war material, rifling of gun barrels (including the fatal Minnie Ball), the advent of repeating firearms and metallic cartridges, and the gradual decline of tactics from previous centuries.
In conjunction with the Muscatine Art Center’s exhibit, Muscatine and the Civil War: A Sesquicentennial Commemoration, the Muscatine Art Center will host 1st SGT David Lamb and the “Iowa Rifles” of Company “A” 49th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The “Iowa Rifles” will present a special program on the use of artillery during the Civil War, using their own non-firing pieces. The “Iowa Rifles” consists of four certified Civil War artillerists who will accurately and safely demonstrate the use of the weapons used during the four years of the Civil War.
It is the mission of the “Iowa Rifles” SVR Unit to “further the ideals of the Department of Iowa, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, through the provision of a highly trained and proficient marching unit that shall consist of a Color Guard, and associated other small units to perform at public functions of all sorts at the direction of the Iowa Rifles commanding NCO/Officer.”
Event details:
What: The Iowa Rifles
When: Saturday, July 2, 2011
Where: Muscatine Art Center Music Room
Time: 3:00 to 4:00 PM
This event is FREE and open to the public.
For questions, please contact Katy Doherty, Program Coordinator at (563) 263-8282, or by email at kdoherty@ci.muscatine.ia.us.
The Muscatine Art Center is located at 1314 Mulberry Avenue, Muscatine. We are open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday
Gallery Talk & Tour of the Wilmer Collection
The Muscatine Art Center is pleased to announce the gift of eleven significant works of art from the estate of Sarah King Wilmer of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the permanent collection. They include paintings and prints by Pierre Auguste Renoir, Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, George Rouault, Raoul Dufy, and Maurice DeVlaminck. Mrs. Wilmer was the daughter of Mary Musser Gilmore, one of the original donors of the Musser mansion to The City of Muscatine for use as an art gallery and museum. The art in the Wilmer gift was part of her Mother’s collection which was donated to the Art Center in 1992. According to her step-daughter, Christine Wilmer Barkus, Sarah Wilmer studied art in Florence, Italy as a young woman and was especially interested in impressionist art. She attended Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Sarah was married to the late Reverend Richard H. Wilmer, Jr.
A special lecture and tour of the Wilmer collection is planned for Saturday, April 30 at 2PM. The talk will be presented by Dorothy Johnson, Roy J. Carver Professor of Art History at the University of Iowa. Her area of specialization is 18th and 19th century French and European art. Professor Johnson has served on the Board of Directors of the College Art Association and in 2005 she received the Regents’ Award for Faculty Excellence. This program is free and open to the public.
"Alexander Clark and the Jim White Drama"
Sunday, February 20 · 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Muscatine Art Center (Music Room)
1314 Mulberry Avenue
SUNDAY AFTERNOON program about the Muscatine equal-rights champion who was Iowa's best known African American leader of the 19th century. Local historian and preservationist Kent Sissel will tell the story of Clark's best documented Underground Railroad adventure, when he assisted a former slave in evading a Missouri slave-catcher and winning freedom in a Muscatine courtroom. Kent will also tell about the process of seeking National Historic Landmark recognition for the Alexander G. Clark House.
ALEXANDER CLARK WEEK: February 20-26, 2011 * A small exhibit about Alexander Clark will be displayed at the Art Center throughout the week. * Even if you can't attend on Sunday, please remember Alexander G. Clark's birthday this week. He was born Feb. 25, 1826, in Washington, PA. If his story isn't familiar yet, this is the week to learn!
MAYOR'S PROCLAMATION OF ALEXANDER G. CLARK WEEK 2011
http://www.muscatineiowa.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=944
Presented by the Alexander G. Clark Project
http://alexanderclark.org/
Gallery Talk on John Bloom by Professor Leslie Bell
The Muscatine Art Center will welcome St. Ambrose University Professor Leslie Bell to give a free gallery talk on John Bloom in conjunction with Bloom’s artwork on display. The talk will be presented Sunday, February 27th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm in the Stanley Gallery.
Leslie Bell was born in 1947 in Washington, D.C. and grew up going to the galleries and museums there. He came to the Midwest in 1965 earning his BA from St. Ambrose University in 1972 and in 1974 received his MFA in painting from Northern Illinois University. While teaching at St. Ambrose University, Bell met John Bloom and subsequently printed 20 separate editions of Bloom’s lithographs.
Bell has received several awards, including a fellowship in painting from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Special Recognition Award for best in painting from the Des Moines Art Center featured in the publication Iowa Artists, two first prize and purchase awards from the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, and grants from the Iowa Arts Council and the Quad City Arts.
John Vincent Bloom was born in DeWitt, Iowa in 1906. In the summer of 1932 Bloom’s oil painting entitled Burial won a prize in the Iowa Art Salon of the Iowa State Fair gaining the attention of fellow Iowa artist, Grant Wood. This precipitated a special invitation from Wood for Bloom to join the Stone City Art Colony near Anamosa, Iowa. As a student of Wood at the Art Colony and later as his colleague in mural painting, Bloom felt Wood’s regionalist influence in his choice of palette and style.
Muscatine Art Center admission is free and is open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Thursday from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. For questions or concerns please contact Katy Doherty, Program Coordinator at kdoherty@ci.muscatine.ia.us or Lynn Bartenhagen, Office Coordinator at lbartenhagen@ci.muscatine.ia.us or call us at (563) 263-8282.
The Muscatine Art Center will welcome St. Ambrose University Professor Leslie Bell to give a free gallery talk on John Bloom in conjunction with Bloom’s artwork on display. The talk will be presented Sunday, February 27th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm in the Stanley Gallery.
John Bloom at the Muscatine Art Center
On view January 30 through March 6, 2011
The Muscatine Art Center announces a new exhibit by Davenport artist John Bloom which will open on January 30 with a special public reception held from 1 to 5 PM and continue on view through March 6, 2011. Included in the exhibition are over one hundred original prints, drawings, paintings and sculpture that are on loan from Mississippi Fine Arts Ltd. and the Losasso family of Davenport, Iowa.
John Vincent Bloom was born in DeWitt, Iowa in 1906. In 1924 Bloom moved to Davenport where he attended St. Ambrose University and began his formal art training at the Tri-City Art League School. In 1926 Bloom enrolled in the school of the Art Institute of Chicago and during his third year there taught first-year drawing and composition classes.
In the summer of 1932 Bloom’s oil painting entitled Burial won a prize in the Iowa Art Salon of the Iowa State Fair gaining the attention of fellow Iowa artist, Grant Wood. This precipitated a special invitation from Wood for Bloom to join the Stone City Art Colony near Anamosa, Iowa. As a student of Wood at the Art Colony and later as his colleague in mural painting, Bloom felt Wood’s regionalist influence in his choice of palette and style.
At Stone City Bloom met and later married Isabel Scherer. An artist in her own right, Isabel would become internationally known for her figurines and sculpture. A 1936 mural that Bloom designed would later become part of the Davenport Museum of Art’s (now the Figge Art Museum) permanent collection. During the WPA era Bloom received the commission for the De Witt Post Office and installed his mural Shucking Corn in 1937, followed by a Federal mural commission for the Tipton Post Office, which he entitled Cattle and completed in 1940. In the Davenport area he worked as an industrial designer for H. Wood Miller Company and actively pursued his interest in lithography. Bloom was also employed by the Rock Island Arsenal as a commercial artist for the Army Corps of Engineers, painted houses, and did home renovations to support his family. In 1969, Bloom retired from commercial art and began to rediscover his original artist roots, enrolling again in classes at the Art Institute of Chicago.
In 1981 David Losasso opened a gallery and frame shop in the village of east Davenport called Mississippi Fine Art Ltd. Just a few blocks away from the Bloom residence, John Bloom frequented the gallery and was encouraged by Losasso to pursue his art. This marked the beginning of the rediscovery of and appreciation for Bloom’s artistic accomplishments. He won first place for his painting Auction at Johnson’s and had several one-man exhibitions, including one at the Muscatine Art Center. In a 1988 catalogue entitled John Bloom – Living Regionalist for a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Davenport Museum of Art, then Director Dan Stetson said this of Bloom; “John Bloom has directly experienced life in the midwest. Through his artworks we can track the characters, subjects and actions of his ‘slice of the midwest.’ No dark social comment compels his work; rather the humor and simple truths found in nature and the world of man have gained his thoughtful attention.” Preceded in death by his wife, John Bloom died on May 21, 2002. He was bestowed an Honorary Doctorate degree from St. Ambrose University.
Bloom was a talented draftsman, lithographer, painter and carver. He was fascinated by the natural world and will be remembered for his contribution to the Regionalist movement.
The Muscatine Art Center located at 1314 Mulberry Avenue and is free and open to the public. Art Center hours are: Tues, Wed. & Fridays 10am – 5pm; Thursdays 10am – 7pm; Saturday & Sunday 1-5pm.
The Art Center is a department of the City of Muscatine, Iowa and is funded through the General Fund, the Muscatine Art Center Support Foundation, the Friends of the Muscatine Art Center and a grant from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.