PRESS RELEASE
June 20, 2005
Art museum's summer exhibition explores the American West
‘Advocates for the Land: Photography in the American West'
opens July 8
EUGENE, Ore.—“Advocates for the Land: Photography in the American West,” a historically important exhibition featuring 140 works by 19th- to 21st-century photography masters, opens July 8 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon.
The show, which is scheduled to run through Sept. 18, kicks off with a special public reception, scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, July 8, at the museum, 1430 Johnson Lane on the university's campus. A full schedule of programming and events, including lectures, gallery talks and a free family day, will accompany the exhibition.
Organized by the Schnitzer museum staff and curated by the museum's director, David Turner, the exhibit looks at what photographers over the past century have seen in their explorations of the American West. The show includes works by photographers Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter, both of whom contributed to Sierra Club publications and helped to create a public dialogue about land use.
“Since its first use in the western landscape in the 1850s, photography has been an art form and a tool for advocacy,” says Turner. “This exhibition examines the power of the photograph. Photographs have the ability to make the viewer take notice of the beauty in our landscape and encourage thought about how to safeguard that beauty in a society that can value progress and preservation.”
Historical photographs from the 19th century include works by Timothy O'Sullivan, William Henry Jackson and Carleton E. Watkins, each of whom documented early surveys of the unexplored lands west of the Rocky Mountains. These photographers' views became official and popular records of the landscape and natives peoples as they existed before mass migration to the area.
By the mid-20th century, Adams and Porter were working on projects that brought attention to such vulnerable lands as Yosemite National Park and the Glen Canyon area of the Colorado River.
Works by contemporary artists Mack Peck, Mark Abrahamson and Robert Adams demonstrate the continued use of photography as a means to building a respect for the land through pictures of the Pacific Northwest's changing landscape. They present views of the dramatic landscapes of the Olympic Peninsula, the Columbia River basin in eastern Washington, and Humbug Mountain in Clatsop County west of Portland, Ore.
In addition to the works on display, the exhibition features a historical exploration of the photographic process.
“Advocates for the Land” is sponsored by the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support has been provided by Collis and Monaco Wealth Management Group at Merrill Lynch, Photography at Oregon, Tim and Lisa Clevenger and Selco Community Credit Union.
The Schnitzer museum will maintain regular hours throughout the summer—11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. The Marché Museum Café and Museum Store are open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with extended hours on Wednesday to 7:30 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Admissions fees are adults, $5; seniors (62 and older) and students (high school and non-UO college with ID), $3. Admission is free to museum members; UO students, faculty and staff members with ID; and children 13 and under. The museum offers “pay-as-you-wish MusEvenings!” every Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and free admission to everyone the first Friday of each month.
For more information, contact Katie Sproles, the museum's public relations and marketing coordinator, at (541) 346-0942 or ksproles@uoregon.edu.
Contact: Katie Sproles, (541) 346-0942, ksproles@uoregon.edu
Source: David Turner, (541) 346-3027, dturner@uoregon.edu
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