Artwork gifted to OSU Museum of
Art on display to help enhance art education
By Tanner Holubar CNHI News
Oklahoma
George R. Kravis II was a
lifelong fan of art and began collecting at a young age. When he passed away in
2018, he donated more than 700 works of art from his collection to the Oklahoma
State University Museum of Art.
Kravis grew up in an art loving
family, with as much art adorning the home as possible. The family even gave
each other works of art as gifts, which helped spurn a lifelong love of art and
all different types of artwork.
The OSU Museum of Art opened its
latest exhibition this week, titled “In the Mind of the Collector,” which
features a selection of 82 works of art from the collection of Kravis. He was a
strong proponent of art education, which is a main feature of this exhibit.
“A lot of what she’s chosen for
these exhibitions, there’s so many opportunities for our education to do
programming,” said Kristen Duncan, marketing and communications specialist for
the OSU Museum of Art. “For programming with the community, with families, and
for anyone and everyone to come and do activities. The great thing is, this
exhibition will be open through July, but there’s going to be different things
that happen throughout the spring. So we’re hoping we can really engage with
the community with the different events that will be going on.”
One part of the exhibit delves
into how Kravis became an avid art collector, and one piece on display is a
record changer, which he purchased when he was about 10 years old. Kravis
became involved in radio broadcasting, beginning at a station with the call
sign KRAV, and later began collecting radios from the 1930s to the 1950s, with
a number of radios on display as part of the exhibit.
Kravis also developed an interest
in art that referenced pop culture. A couch is on display at the OSU Museum of
Art that is made to represent Marilyn Monroe’s lips. Other pieces were
influenced by comic book artwork, as well as works of art developed by working
architects.
Arlette Klaric, associate chief
curator and curator of collections for the museum, said the OSU Museum of Art
is the only museum in Oklahoma that is focusing on modern and contemporary art.
She said a focus of this exhibit is to showcase objects that are not only
practical use objects, but ones that also serve as artwork.
“This is the first time we’ve had
a design collection,” Klaric said. “One of the goals of the show and the
project, is just to make people more aware of these objects, not only for their
purpose, but for the way they look and for the associations they can have.”
Klaric said with Kravis having
been such a backer of art education, the ability for the OSU Museum of Art to
try to help educate people about art through his collection has helped create a
legacy for the museum.
“It’s amazing. We as a university
art museum, our primary purpose is to teach,” Klaric said. “Our audiences also
teach in their own way and learn. So he’s given us some really important
examples of artwork to share with the community. We got more than 700 objects …
and it’s huge. Collections like this don’t come along every day, and especially
because we’re only five years old, it’s really helping us create an identity.
“And he’s really created a legacy
for the museum with this work. Because it’s a permanent collection, people can
come in and make friends with works of art. It’s just an enormous gift to have
gotten, and I’m in awe of people who do things like this, because this was a
lifetime pursuit for him.”
The goal of this current exhibit
is to help educate people in the community about art through multiple different
events, which will take place during the 2nd Saturdays with a variety of
activities. The first will take place Feb. 8, where people who attend will be
able to take part in the 3D Chair Design Challenge.
Patrons will be able to use the
museum’s 3D printing pens to try and design and build a miniature chair. The
challenge is to see whose chairs will actually be able to stand. The chairs
that will actually stand will be put on display in the museum. The pens used
are non-heating, which makes them safe and fun to use for kids, as well as
anyone who wishes to try the challenge.
Another community activity that
is planned is what the museum dubbed “Cherished Possessions.” People can bring
cherished objects to be photographed, and the object can be special to the
person for a variety of reasons. It could be an object of tremendous
sentimental value, or can be an object that people are proud to own. The
project will be a Polaroid photo taken of the person holding the item, and the
collection of Polaroids will be put on display in the museum’s mini-vault.
It is a project that will evolve
over the course of the exhibit being open, as more and more people’s photos
will be on display, it will grow to be more impactful, as the stories of people’s
objects will create an interesting collage of personal objects from the
community. People who attend the opening reception for the exhibit on Jan. 31
can bring an object and be a part of this artistic endeavor.
Other 2nd Saturday events that
are planned are “Radio Days” on April 11, where people can come for a day of
music and art inspired by pop culture. On May 9 for “Pop Art Day,” people can
come and create art inspired by commodities and pop culture.
Klaric said a special thing about
the OSU Museum of Art is that it provides the people of Stillwater with a
chance to visit an art museum without having to drive into the city to do so.
“For Stillwater, we certainly
have the art department gallery, and now we have this,” Klaric said. “For
people who are interested or who get interested in art, they don’t have to go
60-something miles to Oklahoma City or Tulsa … they can find it right here.
It’s really an important source for the university. It’s one thing to read
about the exhibition, but when you come in and see the objects, it’s a
different experience.”
The OSU Museum of Art is located
at 720 S. Husband St., and is free and open to the public. For more information
on the museum or this exhibit, visit museum.okstate.edu.