Paintings of American Impressionism and Realism from the Mennello collection alongside important works from prestigious Florida museums.
February 25 – June 11, 2023
From the late 1800s through the 1920s, two important stylistic movements of early 20th century Art History coexisted – American Impressionism and Realism. These artists’ styles overlapped in time and a loose, impressionistic brushstroke, but transected in their subject matter. Today, those paintings highlight the diversity of American artists’ experiences, mentorships, training, and location at the turn of the century, all while industrializing city centers of the United States – Philadelphia, Boston, and New York – were exponentially expanding. Impression and Reality considers the dichotomy between these two cooccurring philosophies – one that highlights light, nature, and the temporary pleasures or luxuries of life, and the other that emphasizes the harsh, strenuous conditions of ordinary life in the growing urban cities.
Mennello Museum of American Art is delighted to showcase 34 paintings and 3 works on paper by the most celebrated artists of the early 20th century art in the United States. Preeminent artists of their time on display include artists like John White Alexander, Frederick Carl Frieseke, and Henry Salem Hubbell alongside lesser known, but equally important contemporaries Lydia Field Emmett, Jane Peterson, and Lilla Cabot Perry – to name a few.
This exhibition brings together beloved artists from collections across Florida including the Mennello Museum’s own collection, the Marilyn and Michael Mennello Foundation, and significant loans from the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Harn Museum of Art, Museum of Florida History, Rollins Museum of Art, Tampa Museum of Art.
In total, the exhibition considers artists’ interests in depicting experiences of life in urban and bucolic landscapes, their interest in domesticated and wild subjects in the natural world at home and abroad, as well as the social mores and representation of women. These reflections implore the necessity to highlight under-recognized women who were also creating, marketing, and participating in these movements.
Lilla Cabot Perry,Le Paravent Jaune (The Yellow Screen),1907.Oil on canvas.Courtesy ofThe Michael A. and The Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello Foundation.
Karl J. Anderson, The Green Pitcher, 1913. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of The Michael A. and The Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello Foundation.
Robert Henri, Ann of Achill, 1913. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Mennello Museum of American Art, Gift of Michael A. Mennello in memory of the Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello, 2018-002-014.
Mennello Museum of American Art is pleased to announce the exhibition In Conversation: Will Wilson, organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opening on October 28, 2022, with a public reception on November 4, 2022. The exhibition is on view from October 28, 2022 – February 12, 2023.
Photographer Will Wilson, Diné (Navajo) presents a compelling contemporary exploration of self-representation through the science of photography and digital media in response to the continuing impact of early 20th-century photographer Edward S. Curtis’s images from his The North American Indian (1907-1930).
PRESS RELEASE CONTINUED ORLANDO, FLORIDA [July 16, 2022] —
Wilson presents an authentic, twenty-first-century depiction of Indigenous culture through his photography, even allowing his subjects to choose the pose, clothing, props, and context of each photograph. This exhibition will also feature photographs from Edward Curtis, who traveled throughout the western United States between 1907 and 1930 to photograph the traditions and cultures of Native American peoples. The photographs of Wilson and Curtis, in conversation, offer a chance to see different depictions of Native peoples and to think critically about how they have been portrayed in photography over the past century.
Wilson’s ongoing Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX) addresses these misconceptions through his use of historical photographic techniques and emphasis on a reciprocal relationship with the sitters, which allows for agency over all aspects of their presentation. Wilson pushes the CIPX project even further into the contemporary with the inclusion of “Talking Tintypes,” which uses Augmented Reality (AR) technology in a convenient app to bring photographs to life. In Conversation is a contemporary exploration of the science of photography but also a response to the historical impact and importance of (self-) representation.
In Conversation is made possible by the Art Bridges Foundation. Art Bridges is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton and is dedicated to expanding access to American art in all regions across the United States. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with museums of all sizes and locations to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, collection loans from Art Bridges and other museums, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local audiences.
Will Wilson shares:
[Edward] Curtis created the most comprehensive archive of Indigenous North Americans, and now contemporary artists want to take that authority back and create archives of who they believe themselves to be.
Shannon Fitzgerald, Executive Director, Mennello Museum of American Art states:
This exhibition is innovative and experimental as it powerfully introduces Native American image-making from both a historical and contemporary perspective that challenges perception, expands knowledge about representation and narrative, and enlightens the public. The museum is honored to present Will Wilson’s conversation, and his Indigenous view of the historic images made by Edward S. Curtis (side by side) in a new light and context that wonderfully contributes to our dialogue about a more expansive view of American Art, its makers and its audiences.
In Conversation: Will Wilson is organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
This exhibition was curated by Mindy Besaw, Curator of American Art/Director of Fellowships & Research from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Ashley Holland (Cherokee), Associate Curator from the Art Bridges Foundation. The Mennello Museum of American Art is one of nine venues participating in this distinctive touring exhibition that is made possible with the financial support of Art Bridges.
Generous support provided by Art Bridges.
About Art Bridges
Art Bridges is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. The mission of Art Bridges is to expand access to American art in all regions across the United States. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 190 museums of all sizes and locations to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges collection, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to the present day and encompasses multiple media and voices.
Mennello Museum of American Art and its exhibitions are generously supported by the City of Orlando and the Friends of the Mennello Museum of American Art. Orange County Government provides additional funding through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program and United Arts of Central Florida. Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and Visit Orlando. The exhibition is funded in part by the generous donors to the Frank Holt Fund, Strengthen Orlando and the City of Orlando.
Mennello Museum of American Art is owned and operated by the City of Orlando.
Will Wilson (b. 1969), Raven Knight, Citizen of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, Dancer, Dancing Earth, Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations, 2012, printed 2018, archival pigment print from wet plate collodion scan, 22 x 17 in. Art Bridges. Photography by Brad Flowers.
Will Wilson (b. 1969), Will Wilson, Citizen of the Navajo Nation, Trans-customary Diné Artist, 2013, printed 2018, archival pigment print from wet plate collodion scan, 22 × 17 in. Art Bridges.
Will Wilson (b. 1969), Cory Van Zytveld, Director of Events, Four Mile Historic Park, US Citizen, 2013, printed 2018, archival pigment print from wet plate collodion scan, 22 × 17 in. Art Bridges.
The Monroe Family Collection of Florida Outsider Art
Jack “Mr. B” Beverland, Untitled, n.d., paints on board. Courtesy of the Monroe Family CollectionFlorian Ludwig, Untitled, n.d., copper and gemstones. Courtesy of the Monroe Family CollectionAlyne Harris, Untitled, n.d., paint on canvas. Courtesy of the Monroe Family Collection
ORLANDO, FLORIDA [May 10, 2022] — AN IRRESISTIBLE URGE TO CREATE: THE MONROE FAMILY COLLECTION OF FLORIDA OUTSIDER ART is the most comprehensive exhibition of Florida Outsider Art brought together for the first time into one travelling exhibition. The passion for Outsider Art runs deep in Florida, where self-taught artists have forged an indelible mark of special attention on the creative landscape of the state. The most comprehensive exhibition of its kind, organized by Boca Raton Museum of Art and traveled to Tampa Museum of Art, the Mennello Museum’s presentation is the final stop through October 16, 2022. This is the first time the three museums have presented this definitive group of artists with an exhibition of this size and scope. Against the odds, many of these artists created obsessively to escape from their worlds that were often full of deep conflict and personal struggles
“This exhibition brings to the forefront the importance, really the essentiality, of visual creation as a means of candid expression – open and available to everyone to use no matter their background or supplies,” says Katherine Page, Curator of Art and Education, Mennello Museum of American Art. She continues, “The curatorial selection and essays by Kathy Goncharov (Senior Curator, Boca Raton Museum of Art:) and Joanna Robatham (Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Tampa Museum of Art), respectively, celebrates artists whose work and life experiences offer viewers an intimate look into amazing expressions of spirituality, environment, and private reality.”
Shannon Fitzgerald, Executive Director, Mennello Museum of American Art states:
The Monroe Collection of Florida Outsider Art reflects a deep connection to the origins of our museum with our pursuit, preservation, scholarship, and stewardship of the work of Florida Folk artist Earl Cunningham and the many folk artists and self-taught artists in our collection. We are proud to present the narrative of wonder, perseverance, and creativity located from a distinctly Florida perspective of some of its most vulnerable, yet immensely creative figures. The lineage that unfolds in the Monroe Family collection urges the viewer a compassionate consideration.
Starting in the early 1990s, the photographer Gary Monroe drove throughout the state of Florida for more than ten years ― from Key West to Jacksonville to Pensacola ― on a mission to find what he calls “Florida’s renegade artists.” Thirty years later, after collecting, protecting, and archiving more than 1,000 works by outsider artists, the result is an exhibition that leaves viewers spellbound. Monroe amassed an expansive collection, which includes the over 80 objects by 44 self-taught artists whose work is on display, many for the first time, in this exhibition. Against the odds, these artists obsessively painted or sculpted with an urgency to escape the conflict and struggle of daily life.
” When I made these journeys across Florida to seek out and connect with these outlier artists, it was before the internet and it was quite laborious,” says Monroe. During his decade-long quest across the state, Monroe personally met nearly all these artists one by one and became part of their lives. At the time this required a major personal commitment: he had to earn their trust to be allowed into their reclusive worlds. “It was an adventure,” adds Monroe. “Especially since there were no cell phones or GPS. Just good old road maps and phone booths.” Monroe’s odyssey culminated in 2003, when his book Extraordinary Interpretations: Florida’s Self-Taught Artists was published by the University Press of Florida. “This new project opens a welcome window into another world. The world of wonders that lies outside the artistic establishment, this confounds our understanding of contemporary art, in a good way” says Irvin Lippman, the Executive Director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art.
Outliers, boundary- crossers, pilgrims, exiles, An Irresistible Urge to Create presents 86 works, many never seen before, by 44 Florida artists including: Purvis Young, George Voronovsky, Aurelia “Mama” Johnson, Frank Ritchie, Ruby “Miss Ruby” Williams, Gene Beecher, Kathy d’Adesky, Brian Dowdall, Floryan (Florian) Ludwig, Reva Freedman, Ozzie Lee “OL” Samuels, Sybil Gibson, Joey Smollon, Polly Bernard, Milton Ellis, Janice Kennedy, John Gerdes, Susanne Blankemeier, Morgan Steele, Alyne Harris, and Ed Ott. “For these artists, making art was as essential as breathing,” says Irvin Lippman. “Their artistic freedom was a pure, sincere and intimate means of communication.”
The artists in this exhibition were not interested in monetary gain or acclaim, they just wanted to create. “People who admire the independent spirit that unites these artists are awed by their sense of urgency. Their art is genuine. They let it flow from deep within their interior selves, they did not promote their work,” says Monroe.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully Illustrated catalogue with foreword by Irvin M. Lippman, Director of Boca Raton Museum of Art and Michael A. Tomor, PhD., Director of Tampa Museum of Art, and includes a special commissioned poem entitled Florida Primitives by Campbell McGrath, and essays by Joanna Robotham and Gary Monroe.
All Florida artists are primitives, so feral in their soil, so lush, endemic and elemental . . . All Florida artists are outsiders, outliers, highwaymen, boundary-crossers, pilgrims, exiles . . .,” and ends with: “art is an urge as irresistible as Florida. – Campbell McGrath
A Brief History of Outsider Art
The interest in what is frequently called Outsider Art began in the early 20th-century with psychiatrists who studied artists who were institutionalized. In 1922, the book Artistry of the Mentally Ill became influential to the Surrealists. Later, in 1948, Jean Dubuffet and others founded the Compagnie de l’Art Brut, a collection of what they called “raw art” – art made outside the traditions of fine art. According to Kathleen Goncharov, the Senior Curator of the Boca Raton Museum of Art: “This interest has recently increased exponentially, as more mainstream institutions celebrate these kinds of artists. ‘Outsider’ artists are now most definitely ‘In.’ Many controversial terms have been bandied about to describe them, such as self-taught (in addition to ‘outsider’), but no truly definitive name yet. I suggest we call all creative works that are arresting, intriguing, and interesting conceptually, as simply ‘art’ and leave it at that. Jean Dubuffet said it best when he declared that art’s best moments are when it forgets what its own name is,” says Goncharov. “Artists create – that’s what they do.”
About Gary Monroe
Gary Monroe is a Florida photographer and author. He received a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Monroe has photographed people and culture in numerous countries and throughout Florida, including the endings of the old-world Jewry that once characterized Miami’s South Beach, with extensive travels throughout Haiti, tourists on their “rite of passage” at Disney World, and corporate effects on the landscape. In addition, Mr. Monroe has written ten books about Florida art, including the seminal book, The Highwaymen: Florida’s African-American Landscape Painters, which explore uncharted cultural territories and constitute a meaningful part of our social history.
Mennello Museum of American Art also has in its permanent collection the work of Purvis Young, Aurelia “Mama” Johnson, Eddy Mumma, Ruby “Miss Ruby” Williams, Brian Dowdall, and John Gerders.
Mennello Museum of American Art and its exhibitions are generously supported by the City of Orlando and the Friends of the Mennello Museum of American Art. Orange County Government provides additional funding through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program and United Arts of Central Florida. Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and Visit Orlando. The exhibition is funded in part by the generous donors to the Frank Holt Fund, Strengthen Orlando and the City of Orlando.
Mennello Museum of American Art is owned and operated by the City of Orlando.
Please join the Mennello Museum of American Art in welcoming Dr. Katherine Jentleson, Merrie and Dan Boone curator of folk and self-taught art from the High Museum of Art (High) in Atlanta, GA, for a virtual lecture highlighting the significant contributions of self-taught artists on the 20th Century American Modern Art World on Thursday, July 22 at 6 p.m. ET.
Purchase tickets here to garner intriguing insights from a foremost expert of 20th Century Folk Art and then delve deeper into discussion during the Q&A session that follows the virtual lecture with Dr. Jentleson. The virtual lecture is $10 for future museum members and free for current museum members.
In 2015, Dr. Jentleson, joined the High Museum of Art as the Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art. Prior to becoming a curator, Dr. Jentleson worked as an arts journalist in New York. Through her editorial assignments and experiences at galleries and museums, she discovered her passion for autodidactic artists and their historical legacy in the United States. She began her graduate studies in art history at Duke University in 2010, where she focused her research on how self-educated artists first “crashed the gates” of the mainstream art world after World War I. She published the study as a peer-reviewed monograph titled Gatecrashers: The Rise of the Self-Taught Artist in America (University of California Press, 2020) and adapted it into a 2021 exhibition at the High.
A multi-award-winning curator, Dr. Jentleson is the recipient of fellowships from Duke University, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Archives of American Art, and the Dedalus Foundation. She has contributed research and writing to exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art, the American Folk Art Museum, the Ackland Art Museum, the Nasher Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and Prospect New Orleans. Since joining the High, she has overseen numerous exhibitions, including most recently Way Out There: The Art of Southern Backroads (2019) and Paa Joe: Gates of No Return (2020). Under her leadership, the museum’s collection has grown significantly since adding more than 500 objects, including significant acquisitions of work by Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, the Gee’s Bend quilters, and Henry Church. Many of these debuted in the newly-expanded folk and self-taught art collection, which opened to the public as part of the museum’s 2018 reinstallation.
For more information about the virtual lecture with Dr. Jentleson, visit here.
The Mennello Museum of American Art and its exhibitions are generously supported by the City of Orlando and Friends of the Mennello Museum of American Art. Orange County Government provides additional funding through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program and United Arts of Central Florida. Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and Visit Orlando. The exhibition is funded in part by the generous donors to the Frank Holt Fund, Strengthen Orlando and the City of Orlando.
Mennello Museum of American Art Presents Contemporary Expressions:
Prints from Flying Horse Editions (1996 – 2021)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA [January 21, 2021] – Mennello Museum of American Art announces Contemporary Expressions: Prints from Flying Horse Editions (1996 – 2021). Curated by the City of Orlando’s Public Art Collection, the exhibit holds the largest and most complete assemblage of works published by Flying Horse Editions, which is on view at Mennello Museum now through May 30, 2022.
“We’re fortunate to have Flying Horse Editions, a world-class printing program at the University of Central Florida, our community’s renowned research institution,” said Mennello Museum Executive Director Shannon Fitzgerald. “Flying Horse Editions has attracted some of the most prominent artists working today in the role of visiting artists who have had the opportunity to create limited-edition master prints with exceptional printmakers in a state-of-the-art facility. Following the trajectory of the artists and their output from Flying Horse Editions is a visual narrative and a testament to the immense talent we have coming to Orlando.”
Contemporary Expressions: Prints from Flying Horse Editions (1996 – 2021) presents a survey of limited-edition prints, artist books, and printed objects from over 60 internationally-renowned artists electrifying the art world today. Artists including Diana Al-Hadid, Odili Donald Odita, Will Cotton, David Humphrey, Chakaia Booker, James Sienna, Luis Gispert, Inka Essenhigh, Jiha Moon, and Mark Thomas Gibson are on view, engaging patrons with a dialogue about perception and understanding.
“The sustaining spirit of Flying Horse Editions is a collective endeavor,” said Theo Lotz, executive director, Flying Horse. “One of our first collaborators—and certainly one of the longest partnerships—has been with the City of Orlando’s Public Art collection. We’re thrilled that Mennello Museum is showcasing these works together and presenting such an in-depth survey of the various artists who have worked here over the past 30 years.”
For over three decades, esteemed painters, sculptors, and multimedia artists have worked in fellowship with Flying Horse Editions’ Master Printmakers at the University of Central Florida. This partnership encourages artists to experiment with methods and skillfully translate their distinct practices in painting, photography, and sculpture into the arena of printmaking.
Many of the artists presented here approach their creative practices conceptually and methodologically, as a means of researching, solving, expressing, and effectively visualizing increasingly complex theories and stylistic ideas across time and disciplines. They have drawn upon personal experience, art history, advances in science, and popular culture to create works that unify formal art theory with current understandings in fields including anthropology, biology, math, philosophy, physics, and psychology. Broadly, the themes explored by the artists fall into reobserving and reimagining of traditional subject matter and the emotional content imbued in still lifes, landscape, and the figure.
“The work from FHE presented in this exhibition challenges perceptions of language, identity, preservation, and adaptation in both real and hypothetical worlds,” said Katherine Page, curator of art and education, Mennello Museum. “I am especially interested in artistic production, as its contextualizing framework runs parallel to the scientific method that combines the decades-long history of science, printmaking, and modern and postmodern
“The work from FHE presented in this exhibition challenges perceptions of language, identity, preservation, and adaptation in both real and hypothetical worlds,” said Katherine Page, curator of art and education, Mennello Museum. “I am especially interested in artistic production, as its contextualizing framework runs parallel to the scientific method that combines the decades-long history of science, printmaking, and modern and postmodern art developments. The artists here are researchers, observers, experimenters, and publishers. As publishers, they share their exciting results—renderings of creation, communication, and conceptualization with a public beyond traditional, specialized academic fields.”
Mennello Museum of American Art and its exhibitions are generously supported by the City of Orlando and Friends of Mennello Museum of American Art. Orange County Government provides additional funding through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program and United Arts of Central Florida. Mennello Museum is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.
Additional support for Contemporary Expressions: Prints from Flying Horse Editions (1996 -2021) is provided by Public Art, City of Orlando.
Please send any image requests to Emily.McVeigh@CityofOrlando.net
The City of Orlando, the Friends of the Mennello Museum of American Art, Mennello Museum Board of Trustees, and museum staff are deeply saddened to share that Michael A. Mennello passed away on December 18 due to COVID-19-related illness.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer expressed, “I am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of one of Orlando’s greatest supporters of the arts and generous philanthropists, Michael A. Mennello. Orlando would not be the cultural city it is today without Michael’s influence, enthusiasm and investment in the arts. He has left a lasting legacy with his devotion and passion for generations to come and made our community a more diverse and creative place to live.”
Walter Ketcham, Vice President of the Friends Board of Directors, shared, “We lost a true icon in our community. The Friends of the Mennello Museum of American Art will continue our effort in supporting the museum in a way that both Marilyn and Michael Mennello would be proud of.”
Commissioner Robert F. Stuart expressed his condolences to the Mennello family and Michael’s many friends stating, “We are saddened by the passing of Michael Mennello and will continue to honor Michael and Marilyn’s appreciation of art and their love of this community.”
Shannon Fitzgerald, Executive Director, shared, “As we mourn the untimely loss of our Founder, Michael A. Mennello, we remain committed to sharing his and Marilyn’s love of art through the stewardship of their outstanding American Art collection and the many gifts they generously gave to our community. Michael envisioned a bright future for the museum and we have important work to continue in honoring that legacy.”
In lieu of flowers, the family requests those who wish to express sympathy and honor Michael’s memory donate to the Friends of the Mennello Museum’s “Building Our Future” campaign. Contributions may be sent to Friends of the Mennello Museum of American Art, 900 E. Princeton Street, Orlando, Florida 32832 or online at www.mennellomuseum.org/building-our-future/.
The Mennello Museum of American Art plans Phase One reopening of the museum beginning June 2, 2020 with new safety provisions and limited capacity in place. We are excited to welcome you back to a safe place for you to be inspired through art and culture. During this new Phase One period, we are pleased to allow access to our wonderful exhibitions and collection of art once again.
We ask for your patience as we open with new safety protocols. Guidelines allow only 25% capacity access, and we will require masks for all visitors for your safety and ours. We have a new online booking option, so you will be able to schedule your visit in advance. There will be no group tours, workshops, or events in the first stage of reopening. Some programs, such as virtual tours and other events, will continue to be offered online-only at mennellomuseum.org. We have taken enhanced health and safety measures, and request guests follow all posted instructions while visiting the museum. First Friday Tours, Free Family Day, and Bank of America’s Museums on Us program are cancelled for June. Our Yoga in the Sculpture Garden on June 28 will take place with additional social distancing for stretching.
We are excited to reopen our building as a place for learning, inspiration, reflection, and comfort, but do so with cautious optimism. All current exhibitions that had opened before the museum closed on March 17 will be extended. We are tremendously appreciative of the enthusiastic cooperation of the artists and collectors who have worked so diligently with us to make our schedule adjustments possible.
New dates for current and upcoming exhibitions —
Construct: Our Orlando featuring local artists Don Remix and Lemmon Press originally scheduled to open May 28 will open October 2, 2020 and close January 10, 2021.
American Artists in the Southwest: Prints from the Melanson Holt Collection originally scheduled to open September 25, 2020 will now open January 22, 2021 and run through April 25, 2021.
Our Collection and Earl Cunningham exhibition galleries are open.
Our Marilyn L. Mennello Sculpture Garden is open every day and is a beautiful spot to enjoy wellness and respite on Lake Formosa while experience the work by renowned artists Alice Aycock and Albert Paley and more!
We look forward to welcoming members, friends, visitors and new audiences to the museum. Enjoy your visit and we thank you for your kindness.
COVID-19 Warning
We have taken enhanced health and safety measures—for you, our other Guests, and Staff. You must follow all posted instructions while visiting the museum.
An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. COVID-19 is an extremely contagious disease that can lead to severe illness and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, senior citizens and Guests with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable.
By visiting the Mennello Museum of American Art you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.
Help keep each other healthy. Thank you.
About the Museum The Mennello Museum of American Art, owned and operated by the City of Orlando, is located on the beautiful shore of Lake Formosa in Orlando’s Loch Haven Cultural Park. The museum provides residents and visitors welcoming opportunities to understand and value creativity through innovative experiences with art further connecting it to nature and communal gathering. Our goal is to encourage creative and diverse experiences with art that nurtures audiences while reflecting the dynamic relationship between art and society. In addition to housing the permanent collection of folk modernist Earl Cunningham, the museum presents temporary exhibitions that feature a broad range of American art from traditional to contemporary practices.
The Mennello Museum is located at 900 E. Princeton Street, Orlando, FL 32803
This decision was made in an effort to remain cautious regarding our members, visitors, docents and team, and the Orlando community as a whole. All events and programs through May 1 will be postponed until further notice.
We will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice and guidance from government and health officials.
Please revisit this page of our website or social media channels for the latest updates. If you have immediate questions or concerns, please contact us at 407.246.4278 or mennello.museum@cityoforlando.net.
Thank you for your patience and support. We look forward to welcoming you back to the museum when we reopen.”
Mira Lehr’s entire career as an artist has focused on the natural world and our relationship with our surroundings. Her residence in Miami, with a studio nestled right on the water, has unmistakably navigated her work toward the waterways and open ocean that form a unique and integral part of a life in Florida.
A “high water mark” indicates a literal measurement for the highest point the water level reaches in a given area at a particular time. However, alternate meanings of the term suggest maximum value in various other sectors of life. It seems fitting, then, that this phrase should be applied to the work of an artist whose career spans five decades, building ever forward toward a well-earned new heights. Lehr’s recent work has been lauded by critics for the meaningful and contemplative commentary she offers on a timely and contentious subject — the state of our natural world.
Guest Curator, Ginger Gregg Duggan, states —
“Mira’s sense of wonder and faith in humanity’s ability to rise to the occasion with solutions, guides both her life and work. It is precisely this character trait that inspired the theme of this exhibition, High Water Mark.” She continues,“The experience of standing in the gallery, surrounded on all sides by the expansive panel painting, Siren’s Song, is not unlike visiting an aquarium viewing area, with windows granting vistas of mysterious underwater life.”
MIRA LEHR: HIGH WATER MARK is tailored to the Mennello Museum’s galleries and will feature four distinct installations in each of the main gallery spaces. Visitors will be greeted by a site-specific installation of Lehr’s haunting, lighted sculptural cages, which will dance along the right side of the entry hall, opposite a newly ignited painting, Magenta and Green Mangroves. Once in the reception area, viewers will find an environment comprised of multiple mangrove sculptures, suspended from the ceiling, growing into the space, thus forming a fully immersive experience for visitors to walk in, and among. Another focal point will be a seven-foot-wide suspended glass sculptural installation titled Below the Surface — a commentary on jellyfish and their role in our environment. Along the perimeter walls Lehr’s large-scale panel painting, Siren’s Song, will be further enriching the space. Within the Mennello’s intimate front gallery, viewers can discover another immersive experience, where they will be surrounded by bare, suspended light bulbs reflecting the mirrored, coral wall sculptures as if underwater. Titled, Below Mixing Currents, this installation serves as a tribute to the diminishing coral reefs that play such a vital role in the Earth’s overall health and balance.
In her new essay on Lehr’s work, which can be found in the special publication accompanying this exhibition, Curator, Duggan writes:
“This atmospheric condition of the underwater experience carries with it a vulnerability that can understandably be either intimidating or inspiring. Without being open to the unknown, one may never reap the rewards of a new adventure or experience. Considering Lehr through this particular lens reinforces her fearless and enthusiastic approach to both life and art.”
Speaking about the upcoming exhibition, Shannon Fitzgerald, Executive Director, states —
“We are honored to work with Mira Lehr as she enters the sixth decade of her career as a pioneering artist, whose radical artmaking and community building advanced the arts in Miami, starting in 1960, long before Miami had evolved into what it has become today. Interested in the plight of women artists, and relocating from New York where she had worked with some of America’s most prominent artists such as Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, and Hans Hoffman, Lehr was shocked in Miami, yet dedicated her career to carving out a place where she could create the art she wanted, and garner the visibility she deserved. I applaud Lehr’s legacy and celebrate her desire to share it with us and the Orlando community.”
Mira Lehr is an eco-feminist artist
from Miami whose career spans five decades. Her nature-based imagery
encompasses painting, design, sculpture and video installations. Lehr’s
processes include non-traditional media such as resin, gunpowder, fire,
Japanese paper, dyes, and welded steel. She has affected a new generation of young
artists, serving as a mentor and collaborator, teaching master classes with the
National Young Arts Foundation, and has been an artist in residence at the
Bascom Summer Programs. Lehr’s solo and
group exhibitions number over 300, and she is presently represented by
Rosenbaum Contemporary in Boca Raton, FL. A monograph about Lehr, Arc of Nature, was published by Hard Press Editions and Hudson
Hills Press in the Spring of 2015. In
2016, a major show was installed at Fairchild Gardens reflecting her love of
nature and her interest in protecting the environment. She went on to receive the Centennial
Commission for a multimedia work at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. In 2018,
Lehr was invited to mount a one-person exhibition of her work at the MOCA
Museum in North Miami. This critically-acclaimed project once again reflected
her interest in the environment. Her most recent solo exhibition Mira
Lehr: A Walk in the Garden, at the Jewish Museum of Florida-Florida
International University, Miami, on view from October 15, 2019 through February
3, 2020, is receiving critical national praise.
Please save the date for the opening reception of MIRA LEHR: HIGH WATER MARK.
The artist will be in attendance.
Opening Reception
Friday, January 24, 2020
Members-only Preview 5:30–6:30 pm
Public Reception
6:30–8:00 pm
Free
for members | $10 for Guests
Artist Talk & Curator Talk and Reception Saturday, April 18, 2020 | 1 pm
First Friday Talk & Tour Each First Friday fo the month | 11am
PLEASE NOTE THE BELOW REQUIRED CREDITS FOR IMAGES:
Mira, Lehr, Invisible Cities (detail), 2018 Brass, burned and dyed Japanese paper, lights, and fabric. Courtesy of the artist Mira Lehr, Siren’s Song, 2017 Silver emulsion on panel, ignited gunpowder, burned and dyed Japanese paper, and acrylic. Courtesy of the artist Mira Lehr, Mixing Currents (detail), Light bulbs, video projection with sound, and mirrored acrylic. Courtesy of the artist Mira Lehr, Mangrove Labyrinth (detail), 2018 Marine rope, steel, resin, burned Japanese paper, and latex paint. Courtesy of the artist Mira Lehr, Magenta and Green Mangroves, 2019 Burned and dyed Japanese paper, ink, ignited fuses, and gunpowder on canvas. Courtesy of the artist Mira Lehr, Creation, 2017 Silver emulsion on panel, ignited gunpowder, burned and dyed Japanese paper, and acrylic. Courtesy of the artist
About the Museum The Mennello Museum of American Art, owned and operated by the City of Orlando, is located on the beautiful shore of Lake Formosa in Orlando’s Loch Haven Cultural Park. The museum provides residents and visitors welcoming opportunities to understand and value creativity through innovative experiences with art further connecting it to nature and communal gathering. Our goal is to encourage creative and diverse experiences with art that nurtures audiences while reflecting the dynamic relationship between art and society. In addition to housing the permanent collection of folk modernist Earl Cunningham, the museum presents temporary exhibitions that feature a broad range of American art from traditional to contemporary practices.
The Mennello Museum of American Art and its exhibitions are generously supported by the City of Orlando and Friends of The Mennello Museum of American Art. Additional funding is provided by Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program and United Arts of Central Florida. Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture
Jeremy Kemp Marketing & Graphic Design Coordinator Mennello Museum of American Art and Public Art, City of Orlando Jeremy.kemp@cityoforlando.net 407.246.4113
The Mennello Museum of American Art proudly presents, John Baker: Mind Wealth — the
captivating photography of artist John Baker, whose work unveils a moment in
time where light interacts gracefully among crowds or an individual within
charming human-built spaces. Baker brilliantly captures the interplay of human
interaction surrounded by highly contrasted shadow and bright light cast onto
the smooth metals and the textured brick of city streets encountered during his
travels.
The title of the exhibition is
drawn from a photograph taken by the artist, which asks the viewer to confront
philosophical ideas associated with idealism and youth or materiality and
maturity in an art filled space that encourages the same attention to
thought. Inspired by the ephemeral and
profound moods evoked in Edward Steichen’s early photography, the soft-focused
documentation of urban life by Alfred Stieglitz, the architectural abstraction
of Paul Strand, and the high contrast drama commanded by Henri Cartier-Bresson,
Baker’s photographs continue a long tradition of considering place and people
through contemporary black and white photography.
Katherine Navarro, Curator of Art
and Education states “On the occasion of our major exhibition with pioneering
photographer Edward Steichen, I am delighted to have the opportunity to share
the photography of an outstanding local artist, John Baker, who has long
admired the avant-garde work by photographers at the turn of the last century,
and employs this creative exploration in his own work. Through his photography,
Baker presents a wonderful consideration of the splendor of contemporary
society with a modernist lens of location. Baker elegantly frames the world he
sees, reminding us all to find the wonder in the lives we walk through every
day.”
John Baker is a recognized black and white film photographer and multimedia artist living and working in Orlando. He teaches photography at the Crealdé School of Art, holds a gallery studio at FAVO, is an annual Indie-Folkfest artist at the Mennello Museum and, among other accolades, has won Best of Show at the Orlando Museum of Art’s First Thursdays.
Please save the date for the opening reception of JOHN BAKER: MIND WEALTH
Public Reception Wednesday, December 11 | 5:30–7:30 pm
PLEASE NOTE THE BELOW REQUIRED CREDITS FOR IMAGES:
John Baker (b. 1966, NY) Mind Wealth Bruges, 2016, silver gelatin print. Courtesy of the Artist
John Baker (b. 1966, NY) Bus Stop, 1998, silver gelatin print. Courtesy of the Artist
About the Museum The Mennello Museum of American Art, owned and operated by the City of Orlando, is located on the beautiful shore of Lake Formosa in Orlando’s Loch Haven Cultural Park. The museum provides residents and visitors welcoming opportunities to understand and value creativity through innovative experiences with art further connecting it to nature and communal gathering. Our goal is to encourage creative and diverse experiences with art that nurtures audiences while reflecting the dynamic relationship between art and society. In addition to housing the permanent collection of folk modernist Earl Cunningham, the museum presents temporary exhibitions that feature a broad range of American art from traditional to contemporary practices.
The Mennello Museum of American Art and its exhibitions are generously supported by the City of Orlando and Friends of The Mennello Museum of American Art. Additional funding is provided by Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program and United Arts of Central Florida. Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture
Jeremy Kemp Marketing & Graphic Design Coordinator The Mennello Museum of American Art and Public Art, City of Orlando Jeremy.kemp@cityoforlando.net 407.246.4113
