Visitors to the Rockwell Museum of Western Art can view EANGER IRVING COUSE: A Place in the Sun, for free on Sundays under the new “FREE Sundays” promotion - a special admission program that will begin Sunday, November 9. As a gift to the community, the “FREE Sunday’s” admission program will run through the end of March 2009. All of the Museum’s galleries and exhibitions are included in the free admission program. The Museum has been offering free admission to individuals and families on the 30th of every month, which will continue through the end of the year (December 30, 2008).
“Our goal was to make it easy for our neighbors and visitors to see what we have to offer,” says Executive Director Kristin Swain. “We know that this has been a difficult period for many people in our community. Our hope was that this gift would help to lift people’s spirits through the winter months.”
Swain encourages area residents to take advantage of the “FREE Sundays” promotion to get reacquainted with the Museum. “Many people have seen the Museum before. But there is always something new to see. Our special exhibition galleries change frequently and we also rotate the pieces on display in our permanent galleries several times each year. Visitors will always find something here they haven’t seen before.”
Kids Rock @ the Rockwell! Kids & Teens are always FREE (19 and under)
The Rockwell Museum of Western Art offers a variety of kids daily drop-in activities –
Backback through the West with Kids’ ArtPacks – backpacks filled with creative activities, puzzles, and games – are a young trailblazer’s guide to the Museum. A program that approaches the Museum collection through subjects like Cowboys and Native Americans, it is fun and educational! The ArtPacks are a FREE program every day! Choose from four themes: Cowboy, Native American, Horse or Wilderness. Complete the ArtPack and receive a FREE pin and a coupon for a FREE taco at the Cantina restaurant!
Kids West – Kids West play area ignites the imagination through make believe! Dress up in old-time costumes, learn about a Trading Post in a miniature Trading Post, play in the child-size tee-pee or read a story of yesteryear! Found on the second floor near the Education Center, Kids West play area is a place to laugh, play and learn! As the ‘End of the Trail’ to the ArtPack program, Kids West play area offers something for everyone and is a place that brings the West to life!
About the special exhibition, “A Place in the Sun”
Born in Saginaw, Michigan but trained in New York and Paris, Eanger Irving Couse became a seminal figure in the landscape of American art. By uniting his academic training with exotic images of the Taos Indians and their pueblo, Couse helped found the Taos Society of Artists in New Mexico and inspire a new spirit in American art.
Drawing primarily from the collections of the Rockwell Museum of Western Art and the Saginaw Art Museum, this exhibition illuminates the career of this painter, who continues to impact other artists. Works include a private sketchbook and figure drawings that reveal his skill as a draftsman. Bucolic French scenes and other early paintings illustrate the influence of Couse’s famed teacher, William Adolph Bouguereau. Later paintings demonstrate the evolution from the pastel pastoral of his European training to the vibrant palette and striking figures of the Southwestern landscape for which he is best remembered. His philosophy and later style reflect his effort "to remove the misconception and contempt in which the Indian has been held, and to show that they are human beings worthy of…a place in the sun."
About the Rockwell Museum of Western Art
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Rockwell Museum of Western Art is located in the center of the Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York Sate and in the heart of Corning’s Gaffer District. The Museum is open to the public seven days a week; hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Trading Post at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art offers an amazing array of Western and Native American related products. You’ll find jewelry, pottery, weavings, books, reproductions, kitchen items and more. The Trading Post boasts the best collection of Native American handmade silver and turquoise jewelry anywhere. Membership to the Museum includes yearlong free admission. For more information, please visit us online at www.rockwellmuseum.org.
