Winter programs, exhibitions at the Newport Art Museum are just in time for the holidays
December at the Newport Art Museum offers many experiences and gift-giving options, just in time for the holiday season. From donations to memberships to Winter Speaker Series subscriptions and art classes, there’s something for every artist or art-loving person on your list (learn more at www.newportartmuseum.org/holiday-gifts/).
The museum’s annual fund triple match is ongoing until Thursday, Dec. 27 (or until $50,000 in funds have been received). Thanks to a generous pledge by Newport Art Museum trustees, every dollar of your charitable gifts will be tripled. If you are looking to support the Newport Art Museum, December is the perfect time!
WINTER SPEAKER SERIES ’23
Season Subscriptions and individual event tickets are now on sale for this cornerstone of the Newport Art Museum’s annual programming. Each year the Winter Speaker Series Committee and Museum staff curate this series to reflect the ideas of our times to educate, illuminate, delight and inspire. The Series, incredibly in its 95th year, promises to engage conversations on a variety of topics – from the halls of government and the current political scene to the mysteries of the universe, from actor Anthony Quinn’s artistic life and legacy, to the compelling story of Belle da Costa Greene, the first curator of the Morgan Library, we’ll take a vicarious trip to Florence Italy, and a quiet walk in the woods. Intrigued? Lectures take place every Saturday at 2 pm beginning Saturday, Jan. 21 2023, and continuing through Feb. 25, 2023.
WINTER SESSION CLASSES AT THE MUSEUM SCHOOL
Artists of all skill levels find inspiration in the Newport Art Museum School studios. Classes and workshops offer unique opportunities for artistic growth and development and are taught by experienced and talented instructors in a wide range of mediums. The Newport Art Museum School offers the unique opportunity to learn artmaking skills in an inspiring museum setting. Whether you’re a beginner looking to try something new, or a seasoned artist looking to grow, classes at the Museum School in painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and more, will keep the creative fires burning all winter long.
EXHIBITIONS
The newly opened exhibition, Social Fabric: Textiles & Contemporary Issues (Dec. 3, 2022 – June 11, 2023 – Cushing & Morris Galleries), brings together a diverse array of contemporary textile artists who are weavers, sculptors, quiltmakers, and visionaries to examine the complex issues of our time. The artists in this exhibition push textiles in new directions to discuss topics such as incarceration, queerness, the environment, labor, migration, identity, and home. Featured artists and organizations include: AIDS Quilt RI, Jim Arendt, Judy Chicago and International Honor Quilt artists, Elizabeth Duffy, Brooke Erin Goldstein, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Letitia Huckaby, Tamara Kostianovsky, Jesse Krimes, Dinh Q. Lê, Aubrey Longley-Cook, Veronica Mays, the National AIDS Memorial, LJ Roberts, Alison Saar, Marie Watt, Emma Welty, and Nafis M. White.
While you’re there, be sure not to miss Joseph Norman: Works from the Permanent Collection (on view until April 16, 2023, in the Ilgenfritz, Corridor, and Wright Galleries). Norman, whose career as a printmaker and painter spans over forty years, is considered by many art historians to be the most important African American lithographer of his generation. Showcasing a selection of Norman’s prints and paintings from the Museum’s permanent collection along with recent works on loan from the artist, these works include prints from the series “Wandering Muse,” “Tenements,” and “Out at Home: Negro Baseball League” among others.
MUSEUM GIFT MEMBERSHIPS
When you give the gift of membership to the Newport Art Museum, you’re sharing a year’s worth of memorable arts experiences and supporting the Museum at the same time. All levels of membership include free museum admission, invitations to members-only exhibition previews and tours, free or reduced admission to special events & programs, tuition discounts at the school, and access to the Museum Travel Alliance program. Patron-level memberships offer even more special perks.
Gift Subscriptions come gift wrapped and ready to present, making it the perfect Holiday gift for the art lover in your life. Contact Manuel Robiou in the Membership Department for more information and to purchase [email protected] or 401-848-8200 x7277
NEWPORT ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM
The museum is now accepting applications for the 2023 Artist-in-Residence program, AiR/Newport. First introduced in 2020, the program was launched officially and successfully in 2022. AiR/Newport strives to create and support a community of artists that reflects a rich mix of artistic styles and ethnic, social and human diversity, and to connect those artists to our greater Newport community.
For a full schedule of exhibitions, events, classes, and more information, please visit newportartmuseum.org or stop by 76 Bellevue Ave., Newport.
“At the Museum,” provided by the Newport Art Museum, appears each month in The Daily News and online at newportri.com. For more information, call 401-848-8200.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport Art Museum winter programs, exhibitions in time for holidays
