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the museum, call 724.837.1500, email
[email protected], or visit
thewestmoreland.org.
THE WESTMORELAND
MUSEUM OF
AMERICAN ART
PRESENTS AFRICAN
AMERICAN ART IN
THE 20TH CENTURY
The exhibition is organized by the
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Currently on display through May 10,
The Westmoreland Museum of American
Art will present African American Art in
the 20th Century, a traveling exhibition
from the Smithsonian American Art
Museum’s collection. It is on view in The
Westmoreland’s Cantilever Gallery.
African American Art in the 20th
Century presents 45 works dating
from the 1930s through the 1990s by
34 black artists, including painters,
sculptors and printmakers. The artworks
encompass diverse subjects and a variety
of genres, from representational, to
modern abstraction, to the postmodern
assemblage of found objects.
Chief Curator Barbara L. Jones
says, “This exhibition introduces an
array of artists who made important
contributions to the artistic narrative
of the 20th century. The art reflects the
American experience through the eyes of
these artists, and we are excited to offer
our visitors the opportunity to learn more
about them.”
The Harlem Renaissance, World War
II, the Civil Rights movement, and forces
for freedom around the world shaped
the lives and worldviews of these artists.
Family and personal history became
subtexts for some. Others interpreted
the syncopations of jazz in visual form.
Still others translated observation into
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powerful emotional statements. In styles
that range from painterly expressionism
to abstractions that glow with color,
they explored myth and memory and
acknowledged the heritage of Africa.
The works of Benny Andrews, Ellis
Wilson and William H. Johnson speak
to the dignity and resilience of people
who work the land. Jacob Lawrence
and Thornton Dial, Sr., acknowledge
the struggle for economic and civil
rights. Sargent Johnson, Loïs Mailou
Jones, and Melvin Edwards address
the heritage of Africa, and images by
Romare Bearden celebrate jazz musicians.
Sam Gilliam, Felrath Hines and Bob
Thompson conducted innovative
experiments with color and form. These
artists created an image of America that
recognizes individuals and community
and acknowledges the role of art in
celebrating the wide-ranging nature of
American society.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring
one of the most significant national
collections of African American art to the
region,” says Richard M. Scaife Director/
CEO Anne Kraybill.
African American Art in the 20th
Century is organized by the Smithsonian
American Art Museum. The C.F.
Foundation in Atlanta supports the
museum’s traveling exhibition program,
Treasures to Go.
Support for this exhibition has been
provided by the Hillman Exhibition
Fund of The Westmoreland Museum
of American Art. Additional financial
support is provided by the William R.
Kenan Jr. Endowment Fund.
Admission to The Westmoreland
is free, and African American Art
in the 20th Century is open to the
public. For more information about
icmags.com
PITTSBURGH OPERA
PRESENTS PITTSBURGH
DEBUT OF HEARTFELT
CONTEMPORARY
SATIRE ‘THE LAST
AMERICAN HAMMER’
FEB. 22 TO MARCH 1
Milcom Negley, a one-man militia,
rages against the tyranny of federal
overreach. He is hunkered down in a rural
Toby Jug museum in a “Rust Belt” Ohio
town where Tink Enraught, a mannered
curatrix, offers him tea and cookies.
Milcom is a “Thirteenther,”a conspiracy
theorist who believes an obscure, would-
be 13th amendment negates the authority
of our government. He occupies the
museum because it is the only place
left in his failed town to receive federal
funds—a grant for the upkeep of a rare
17th century British pitcher known as
“Sir Oswyn.”
Although Milcom expects to be
swarmed by military drones, attention is
paid only by Agent Reyes, a young rookie
FBI field specialist. Milcom explains
that the town’s only major source of
employment, a hammer manufacturer,
has gone under, leaving the residents
lost. He is armed with “the last American
hammer” to roll off the plant’s line and
intends to hold a proxy trial against the
U.S. government using Toby jugs as
physical stand-ins for a court.
“The Last American Hammer” will
star current and former Pittsburgh Opera
resident artists, and be performed in the
intimate environs of the Pittsburgh Opera
headquarters, 2425 Liberty Avenue,
Downtown Pittsburgh.
The opera is sung in English with
supertitles projected above the stage.
“The Last American Hammer”
was commissioned by UrbanArias with
support from Dan and Gloria Logan and
an anonymous admirer of UrbanArias in
memory of Deborah Brewer. n