Due to unforeseen delays with the arrival of installation materials, the MMAC is postponing the opening of “Bookish: Selections from the Dan Weinberg Collection” until September 25^th.

Dear Friends,

We are experiencing divisive and polarizing times all around the world and it is incumbent on America’s cultural institutions to take a bold stance on the side of inclusivity and unity.

It gives me great pleasure to share with you the MMAC Collections Committee’s Directive on Social Justice:

The Montana Museum of Art and Culture, the state’s largest publicly-owned collection of art, aspires to be an inclusive organization that supports, collects, and represents creative expression that rises from the breadth of the human experience. 

Our efforts are strengthened by welcoming people of every race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, class, disability, age, national origin, and citizenship.  

The MMAC Collections Committee pledges to prioritize the acquisition of work by Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+, women, and other historically marginalized artists. 

We further commit to seeking broadly diverse leadership, input, and participation in all aspects of the MMAC Collections Committee's work.

Understanding the centrality of our Permanent Collection in the life of the museum, university, and state, I am proud to share this directive which our Collections Committee adopted unanimously on September 11, 2020, demonstrating that the MMAC can be a unifying force in our democracy. This document will go far to transform the institution from within; it will guide not just the Collection Committee’ deliberations, but also the museum staff in our future decision-making. For that, I am grateful.

Sincerely,

H. Rafael Chacón, he/him/his, Ph.D.                                               

Bruce and Suzanne Crocker Director

Gallery Hours:

Tuesday – Friday, 12:00 – 6:00 pm. All entrances are open.

Saturday, 12:00 – 6:00 pm. Please use the South Entrance only

Closed Monday, Sunday, and for all university holidays

Upcoming Events:

Bookish Reveals

The MMAC will be hosting encounters between scholars and the artist book on Thursdays during the run of its exhibition Bookish: Selections from the Dan Weinberg Collection. The invited scholars will speak via Zoom about this special genre that exists in the liminal zone between the printed book and the work of art. In most cases, they will reveal beautiful books and will share their insights on what also makes these texts great works of art. The scholars will address the artist/writer collaboration, the publishing industry, and new contributions to the genre. The Zoom interviews will last an hour followed by 40 minutes of question and answer from the audience. To participate, please click on the link below.

September 17, 11:00 AM

UM Opera Theater Director and Music Professor Anne Basinski will address A Woman’s Love and Life by Robert Schumann on eight poems by Adelbert von Chamisso.

To join the Zoom Meeting, click on: https://umontana.zoom.us/j/96867258128?pwd=SFpTSkNvYVpqSHdwWTRXOVQ0b2d0dz09

October 1, 11:00 AM

UM alumnus, founding director of the biennial CODEX International Book Fair and Symposium, and San Francisco-based artist, printer, and publisher, Peter Rutledge Koch will address the roll and nature of the artist book in the contemporary bibliosphere.

To join the Zoom Meeting, click on: https://umontana.zoom.us/j/95150408781?pwd=bW9tbHhqUXBzWGdmTExUZW1WMnJKQT09

October 15, 1:00 PM

UM Professor Dr. Bruce Hardy will reveal three books from the Weinberg Collection by the author James Joyce.

To join the Zoom Meeting, click on:

https://umontana.zoom.us/j/96406636095?pwd=VUE1eEV2bUU1ZkhhSlZpaUI0L0FQQT09

October 29, 1:00 PM

Cellist and UM Music Professor Adam Collins will discuss the book Eighteen Portraits with music by Virgil Thomson and lithographs by Maurice Grosser.

To join the Zoom Meeting, click on:

https://umontana.zoom.us/j/91644881309?pwd=UGk1bjlpam00MTJRT2hNUmlMV2JpZz09

November 19, 1:00 PM

Chicago-based visual artist and author Antonia Contro and celebrated poet Elizabeth Bradfield will discuss their latest collaboration titled Theorem.

To join the Zoom Meeting, click on:

https://umontana.zoom.us/j/94807397202?pwd=OHc0cm1UdDFnaldVYTRsSkdzUDFvUT09

December 3, 11:00 AM

Artist Audra Loyal of The Vespiary Book Bindery in Missoula will reveal a group of books with unusual and innovative bindings.

To join the Zoom Meeting, click on:

https://umontana.zoom.us/j/99219043142?pwd=UzRjZ01MTjVOSnNuMXU1ZHdPTnRpdz09

December 10, 1:00 PM

Gallery owner and literary critic Dr. Lisa Simon will address the book Parables and Pieces by Franz Kafka.

To join the Zoom Meeting, click on:

https://umontana.zoom.us/j/96498976301?pwd=WTY5MFNQaEJrbFRxS1AxSzMrTnhHdz09

Current Exhibitions:

 Bookish

On Tuesday, Sept. 25, the Montana Museum of Art and Culture at the University of Montana will open a new exhibition of art books from the Dan Weinberg Collection, a recent donation to the museum’s Permanent Collection.

“Bookish: Selections from the Dan Weinberg Collection” will run from Sept. 11 through Dec. 12 in the Meloy Gallery of UM’s Performing Arts and Radio Television Center. There is no opening reception due to the coronavirus pandemic, but MMAC will offer virtual tours and programming, including a series of book reveals and interviews with scholars.

The books, donated by Montana State Senator Dan Weinberg in 2018, were published by the New York-based Vincent FitzGerald & Co. Since 1980, that company has been recognized for bringing visual artists and writers together in creative collaboration to produce limited-edition books in the French tradition of the “livre d’artiste.” This exhibition gathers fine examples of artists’ books, prompting viewers to consider ways in which the book can evolve beyond conventional formats into other art forms.

Weinberg’s gift honors the lifelong work of his friend Vincent FitzGerald, an economics graduate of Fordham University and cousin of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. They first met while training for the Peace Corps in Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1968. In 1970, FitzGerald returned to New York to make handmade art books, which he continued to do until his retirement in 2018.

Weinberg, a clinical psychologist from Whitefish, won election to the Montana State Senate in 2004. In 2008, he founded the Montana Innocence Project, an organization that works to exonerate the innocent and prevent wrongful convictions.

For information on the exhibition’s programming, call Rafael Chacón at 406-243-2019 or email hrafael.chacon@umontana.edu. To schedule a guided tour, call Jill Johns at 406-243-4970 or jill.johns@mso.umt.edu.

See our Current Exhibitions page for more information.

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