Then we see it and it acts on us in our life.”Ĭathy grew up in Indianapolis, where she says she haunted the museum grounds as a teen, “I probably spent at least half of my formative years exploring the grounds and the sculptures,” she says, “It’s another reason why the Missoula Art Park is going to be so fabulous. Maybe this a terribly narrow view but that’s what museums are for, right? Museums allow us to see the art we need to see. I needed to see what was made and how it was made and who made it. When I was in fifth grade I was that kid who would be desperate for the technical information. This museum does a good job of keeping track of us.”Ĭathy recalls her thirst for art education as a child, “I was, without question, the “art girl” in my Catholic grade school. It’s so important that we document the art that is being made here and now. I feel really honored to have worked with him and I was delighted when I saw the call for this work. We worked together in 2000 when the Grief Show was here and he curated it. She gave several reasons for supporting MAM, “I’m a huge fan of Steve, for one thing. Though most of Weber’s work is done in oil, she is skilled in a variety of media. In 1981 she moved to Montana, where she maintains a studio in historic downtown Dillon. Little lived and worked in Missoula for seven years in the 1970’s and as his generosity to MAM indicates, he still recalls it fondly, “I’ve been a lot of other places since then, but I still remember Missoula and the people in it.”Ĭathy Weber grew up in the Midwestern U.S., studied at the Herron School of Art and Indiana University, and completed a formal painting apprenticeship in Mexico City.
For some reason, growing up in Amarillo, Texas, I thought I should be an artist. “My grandmother was a china painter and from early as I can remember I would stay at her house and paint with her. He is a wonderful person and a great artist himself.” When asked if he has a childhood experience that helped inspire his passion of art today, Little recalled painting china with his grandmother. He generously donated two of his pieces to the Glueckert collection, saying “I consider Steve a revered colleague. Since 1988, Little has been a professor of Art in Sculpture at The University of Texas at San Antonio. He has held tenured positions at major universities, including The University of Montana. He went on to earn a Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Utah in 1972. He was a graduate in the first Bachelor of Fine Arts class at Texas Tech University in 1970. Ken Little is a nationally recognized artist who has been granted two Visual Arts Fellowships by the National Endowment for the Arts in 19. Glueckert Contemporary Montana Art Collection at MAM in honor of this dedicated advocate. If you are an artist or art lover, please consider giving a gift of contemporary Montana art to the Stephen J. The survey of works presented in this exhibition is only a first glance at a growing collection. Donations to the growing collection highlight the intellectual spirit of contemporary art in Montana as it is - and was - being formed among Glueckert's contemporaries. In addition to exploring Glueckert's solo exhibition, All Mixed Up, students will discover The Stephen Glueckert Contemporary Montana Collection, which includes the sculptures of Ken Little and the illuminated manuscript pages of Cathy Weber. Montana students will have the good fortune to develop an early love for art with Stephen Glueckert, a longtime Missoula artist and Senior Curator Emeritus of MAM. This fall ushers in the 30th anniversary of the Fifth Grade Art Experience.
Instilling a Love for Art at an Early Age Glueckert carried Peale’s vision forward by dedicating 24 wonderful years to MAM as Senior Curator and by serving a passionate career as an art educator and curator. Glueckert often refers to Peale as an integral figure in allowing art to be accessible to all people. A print by James Todd gifted to this collection, Museum of Charles Willson Peale, speaks to Glueckert’s profound love and respect for the role that museums have played in education and artistic exploration. This exhibition includes a vibrant chorus of works by notable artists, such as the sculptures of Ken Little, illuminated manuscript pages by Cathy Weber, drawings by MaryAnn Bonjorni, and more.
Many of these artists began making art in the 1960s and 1970s, laying the groundwork for contemporary art as we know it today. The collection, established in 2015 on the occasion of his retirement, primarily comprises work by living artists who had the fortuity to work with and know Glueckert. MAM is thrilled to debut a new category of the Permanent Collection dedicated to MAM Senior Curator Emeritus, Stephen Glueckert.