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EXHIBITIONS

Something Waits Beneath It: Early Work by Andrew Wyeth, 1939–1969
May 7 – August 7
Twenty-year-old Andrew Wyeth won national recognition for his 1937 exhibition of watercolors at New York’s Macbeth Galleries. In 1943, critics called him a “magic realist,” recognizing the often hard-to-define emotional nuances of his precisely rendered paintings. For over 60 years, in watercolor, tempera and drybrush, Wyeth has portrayed the places and moods of eastern Pennsylvania and coastal Maine. This group of early works is replete with the artist’s imagery of weathered architecture, subtleties of landscape and light and unexpected viewpoints. Ranging from casually glimpsed to deeply studied, Wyeth’s scenes are born of close observation, memory, and mastery of line and color, interwoven with his personal experience and feelings.

Something Waits Beneath It—Early Work by Andrew Wyeth, 1939–1969 is an intimate exhibition of early and seldom seen works by the young Andrew Wyeth, including watercolors of Maine and Pennsylvania made from 1939 through the 1960s. Illustrated letters, watercolors, and ink sketches, reveal the private observations of the artist—capturing glimpses of napping dogs, a bowl of holly, a nearby stream, a country kitchen. It is these very objects, animate and inanimate, that often disappear from finished paintings that provide the mystery infusing so much of Wyeth’s art.

Edmund Lewandowski: Precisionism & Beyond
May 7 – August 7
This is the first retrospective exhibition of Milwaukee-born artist Edmund Lewandowski (1914–98), the preeminent second-generation Precisionist, who achieved recognition for extending the style of Precisionism beyond the East Coast and into the Midwest, making it a national style.

For Lewandowski, a Precisionist was an artist who was engaged in painting the American scene, in an American style that was an American historical record. Following the lead of earlier Precisionists Charles Sheeler, and Niles Spencer, Ralston Crawford, and sometimes Charles Demuth, Lewandowski affirmed the importance and inspiring beauty of machinery and technology and celebrated industrial subject matter as emblematic of the modern world.

His long career, however, encompassed a wider spectrum of media and styles than just Precisionism, from representational to symbolic abstraction. In his art, he masterfully worked in drawing, watercolor, mixed media, oil, painted and mosaic murals, as well as in commercial art, and was also an influential educator. Lewandowski was inspired by industrial imagery in all his creative endeavors, as he affirmed: “My overwhelming desire… through the years has been to record the beauty of man made objects and energy of American industry.”

Sidney Hurwitz
May 7 – July 3
For years, Sidney Hurwitz has focused his printmaking on images from the steel industry and related industrial and urban subjects. Working primarily with aquatint etchings, he watercolors the monochromatic prints by hand. Hurwitz finds American industry to be a great source of visual material, and by focusing on the geometric forms of bridges, factories and train stations, the compositions take on abstract qualities.

EVENTS

The Party: An Artrageous Affair
Saturday, June 4
7:00p – 11p
Begin with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails followed by a strolling dinner with exotic Eastern flair and delectable desserts all prepared by Executive Chef Luis Fernandes.

Dance to the pulsating nightclub beats of notable DJ Rolando in Isabel Hall. For a more relaxed atmosphere, lounge in the open-air Hurand Sculpture Courtyard with the soothing sounds of live Eastern music. Winners of three amazing raffle prizes will be announced later in the evening.

Don't miss this one-of-a-kind summer celebration! For more information or to make a reservation, please call 810.234.1695 Funds raised support FIA programs and exhibitions. Admission is $100 per person (50% tax deductible)

44th Annual Flint Art Fair
Saturday, June 11, 10a–6p
Sunday, June 12, 11a–5p
$5 - Adults
$4 - FIA members
$3 - Children 13-18, senior citizens, & Friends of Modern Art members
Free - Children 12 & under

FOMA Free Music Night
Saturday, June 11 • 6p–10p
Come join us for an admission free evening of live music. The grounds to the Art Fair will not be open Saturday evening.

4th Annual Beer Tasting Event
Saturday, September 24
Save the date for an outdoor celebration on the Flint Institute of Arts grounds featuring import and craft beers. Enjoy this Fall festivity with beer cuisine and live music.

NEWS & PROGRAMS

Art à la Carte
Art à la Carte is a series of informative programs focusing on the arts. It is offered free of charge on Wednesdays at 12:15p. Visitors are encouraged to bring lunch or pick-up something from the FIA Café. Coffee, tea and cookies are provided. All programs are held in the FIA’s Isabel Hall.

June 1
Elbert Hubbard: An American Original
Known perhaps as much for his controversial philosophy and dramatic death (aboard the Lusitania) as for his artistic talents, Elbert Hubbard was a major figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement at the turn of the 20th century. 60 min.

June 8
Artists at Work: The New Deal Art Projects
In the 1930’s, when America was in the depths of the Depression, the New Deal Art Projects fostered a renaissance in American art. This program details this important period in American art history. 30 min.

Laurence Gartel: Digital Media Artist
For over 30 years, Laurence Gartel, one of the most innovative artists of the 21st century, has been exploring the artistic potential of computers. 28 min

June 15
Craft in America – Origins
There is great value in making an object by hand with time-honored techniques, using traditional designs. And there is an excitement in combining and reinventing these traditions with present-day ideas and motifs. 60 min.

June 22
Craft in America - Process
In today’s fast track, high-tech, drag-and-drop world, what inspires people to choose a career in craft? More importantly, how do they go about acquiring the knowledge and necessary skills? 60 min.

June 29
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water
Wright’s unique design for the Kaufmann family’s country house in Pennsylvania exemplifies the concept of organic architecture. 60 min.

Summer Class Highlights – For a complete FIA Art School Schedule, call 237-7315 or download it at flintarts.org.

Parent/Child Clay Wheel Throwing
June 21 – July 26 • 12p–2p
FIA Theater
Too young to try the potter’s wheel? Not anymore! Discover the basics of beginning wheel throwing together with a special adult. Students will learn wedging, centering, and how to make cups, bowls, and plates. (ages 6–12 with adult)
Karyn Konkel, Instructor
TUE (5 weeks)
$104 Members
$120 Non-Members

Back to Basics: Colored Pencil Techniques
1-Day Workshop
July 26 • 10a–4p
Review basic colored pencil techniques including burnishing, incised lines, and more. Students will create their own “color bias” color wheel to learn about color layering. Bring colored pencils and one or more items to draw and color match. Bring a sack lunch or visit The Café for a lunch break. (Intermediate to advanced)
Barbara Holmer, Instructor
TUE (1 day) $44 Members, $53 Non-Member

Encaustic Technique
2-Day Workshop
July 29 – July 30 • 10a–4p
This two-day workshop will cover the fundamentals of encaustic painting. Encaustic is a beautiful and versatile approach to painting utilizing a hot wax based paint in liquid form and in-situ (in place) manipulation. (Intermediate to advanced)
Todd Burroughs, Instructor
FRI/SAT (2 days) $160 Members, $192 Non-Members

Summer Camp
Ages 5–7 and 8–12 will enjoy hands-on art experiences including painting, ceramics, drawing, mixed media and more! Enroll separately for each week. Drop-off times begin at 8:30a daily. Join friends and family each Friday at 4:00p in the Bishop Gallery for a weekly performance/exhibition reception.
$155 Members
$189 Non-Members

The Wild, Wild West
July 11–15 • 9a–4:30p
Giddy up and go wild in the desert, settle around a campfire for traditional pueblo stories, and then surf the coast in search of sea forms.

Eastern Seaboard Tour
July 18–22 • 9a–4:30p  
Hop a jet bound for the birthplace of America. Search for artists and craftspeople that create everything from traditional baskets to outdoor abstract sculptures. From rolling hills to towering skyscrapers, the Eastern Seaboard offers contrasts and diversity.

Mid-West Fest
July 25–29 • 9a–4:30p
To complete our journey, motor back home to Vehicle City just in time for those famous celebrations of summer—festivals, car cruises, and art shows. Learn about the unique perspective of the artists that live and work in the middle of our country.

Family Event

The Fair Chapeau
August 15–21
Mon–Thu & Sun • 12p–5p
Fri & Sat • 12p–7p
Have fun making a different hat every day at the FIA Art School booth. Designs range from beautiful to zany, such as samurai, scribe, funky bordette, crowns, or balloon hats. Free with Fair admission.

Art Sales & Rental Gallery
June Featured Artist
DAS Print Co.
A significant force in Flint’s artistic community for over 30 years, DAS Print Co. is an association of four printmakers collaborating on an exploration of print media to produce limited, hand-pulled editions. Stefan Davidek, James Anthony, William Stolpin, and Carole Brender formed the initial group in the early 1980s. Marianne Juretich later joined DAS Print Co. as the fourth member after James passed away in 1999.

DAS members have shared ideas and experimented with various print media focusing primarily on silk-screening, while each artist works individually in their own studio. The artists’ works are in the collections of area hospitals and banks, Bishop International Airport, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, IBM Corporation, the Flint Institute of Arts, and numerous other public and private collections throughout the United States.
Hours
Tue–Fri: 10a–5p
Sat: 11a–3p
Sun: 1p–5p
or by appointment