June 12 - September 6, 2020
After being closed since March 20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is pleased to announce that it reopened to the public on Friday, June 12, with slightly reduced hours.
The museum’s new hours are 11 am to 4 pm Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 pm to 4 pm on Sundays. There are also new procedures in place to protect the health and safety of staff and visitors, including requirements that all staff and visitors wear a mask or fabric face covering, and keep at least 6 feet apart from others. The museum will not host tours, large groups, or events until further notice. The later opening time allows SAMFA staff more time to thoroughly disinfect the interior spaces.
A new exhibit, the 23rd San Angelo National Ceramic Competition, is on display in the galleries until September 6. The National Ceramic Competition is a juried exhibit that features work from leading ceramic artists as well as undiscovered new talent from across North America. Over a hundred works, selected from a pool of nearly 800 outstanding submissions, are featured.
The artworks in the exhibition were chosen by this year’s Competition juror, Jo Lauria of Los Angeles, California. Lauria is a curator, writer, and educator who received her curatorial training at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is a specialist in the fields of design, craft, and decorative arts, with particular emphasis on modern and contemporary studio ceramics. She received the American Ceramic Circle Book Award for Ralph Bacerra: Exquisite Beauty. Currently she is a contributing writer to Ornament Magazine, Mentor Faculty of Otis College of Art and Design, and Adjunct Curator of the American Museum of Ceramic Art.
Another special aspect of the Ceramic Competition is that for each competition show, a noted ceramic artist is asked to display a small focus exhibit, which highlights the artist’s work. This year’s Invited Artist is Ginger Geyer of Austin, TX. Geyer earned BFA in painting and MFA in museum education at Southern Methodist University and she later received a lay degree in pastoral ministry at the Seminary of the Southwest. Making art with homeless people and especially with her own two children have deeply informed her avid studio practice. For thirty years, porcelain sculpture has been the primary medium for combining her quests into art history, spirituality and culture. A large body of “not quite trompe l’oeil” works is accompanied by ever-changing narratives. In a retrospective in Austin’s historic Neill-Cochran House, her collaborative project with a performer called, If These Walls Could Talk, has been engaging a diverse audience over issues of privilege and racial equity.
The artworks in the Ceramic Competition are also visible on the museum’s website. Viewers can look at images of each artwork, along with information about the artist and the artist’s statement about the artwork. Go to www.samfa.org/ceramic-competition to view the exhibit, and also to watch special presentations by the invited artist and the juror.
The Ceramic Competition is sponsored by the San Angelo Museum Endowment for Ceramic Events, Darlene and John Williams, and the San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council. The Ceramic Competition has been held in San Angelo since 1986, taking place annually until 1996 and then every two years after that. It is a cooperative event carried out by the Art Museum, the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Angelo State University and the Old Chicken Farm Art Center.
SAMFA is a non-profit organization supported by generous contributions from both individuals and businesses. This project is also partially supported by funds from the Texas Commission on the Arts, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts - SAMFA
1 Love Street
San Angelo, 76903 TX
325.653.3333
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