The Butler Institute of American Art is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2019! There are plans for special exhibits and events throughout the year. Founded in 1919 by Joseph G. Butler, Jr., The Butler Institute of American Art is the first museum of American art. The original structure is a McKim, Mead and White architectural masterpiece listed on the National Register of Historic places. Known worldwide as “America’s Museum”, the museum’s collection totals over 20,000 pieces in all media, and spans four centuries of work. Plan a visit!
EXHIBITIONS
Mark Perrott: Ancient Ink
May 5 – September 1, 2019
Mark Perrott has spent decades documenting the ever-expanding tribe of tattooed Americans. He made his first portraits at Island Avenue Tattoo in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1979, and since then has explored tattoo parlors all across America. In his current series, ANCIENT INK, Perrott turns his camera to the now increasing tribe of highly decorated, aging, and graying baby boomers. Through large scale (50”x50”) photographs and accompanying interviews, Perrott introduces the viewer to dozens of individuals, including Jim, a retired city planner and “ink addict” from the 1970s; Marge, a 74 year-old former Cleveland police officer; and Henry, an 87 year-old WWII era Navy veteran. “These subjects,” Perrott says, “speak of resilience, loss, transformation, mystery, and the emancipation that sometimes comes with growing old.” Learn more
The Butler Institute of American Art 83rd National Midyear Show
May 26 – July 28, 2019
This annual juried show exhibits the artworks of adult artists from throughout the fifty United States and its territories. The exhibition includes accepted works in all two dimensional media, including oil, watercolor, acrylic, pastel, drawings, prints, photographs and digital. This year’s exhibition will be judged by Dallas based couple Sherry Giryotas (painter) and Phillip Shore (sculptor). Learn more
Joseph Babisch: Curtain Up, Light the Lights
June 9 – July 28, 2019
Curtain Up, Light the Lights is a rendition of Broadway productions from the vision of Joseph Babisch. This selection of works features visual impressions of the American Musical Theatre along with original autographs related to the drawings. These unique versions of Broadway take a unique conceptual approach to each image which is directly inspired by a particular show. Babisch spent his life infatuated with Broadway, understandably since he was born and raised in New York. This influence played a prominent role in his life creatively and professionally. As he grew up he spent most of his time making art and attending the theatre, later to attend Buffalo State University where he studied Art Education. This led to him teaching in many ways, one of which was a TV show in Youngstown for kids and a puppeteering class at Youngstown State University. The theatre is expansive and full of liveliness, just as this exhibition of drawings by Joe Babisch shall be. Learn more
On America: A Lecture Series by Prominent Art Scholars
July 10, 17, 31, August 7, & September 18, 2019 | 7:00pm
This special Summer Lecture Series is presented by prominent art scholars and art professionals from around the country as guest speakers. The series’ lectures will be held during extended Wednesday Summer evening hours in Zona Auditorium on the first floor of The Butler’s Beecher Center. ASL interpreting services will be provided. Refreshments will be served at 6:30pm. The lectures will begin at 7:00pm. Attendance is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. First come-first served. Learn more about the speakers and insight on their lectures.
Youngstown Symphony Orchestra – Impressions of The Butler
July 27, 2019 | 8:00pm
Join conductor Randall Craig Fleischer and the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra for a special live performance, Impressions of The Butler, in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of “America’s Museum”. Experience the sites and sounds of the symphony as if it was live in your own living room! Enjoy the fine art of music paired with the visual imagery of fine visual art from The Butler Collection in an intimate setting. The musical masterpieces of Candide Overture by Leonard Bernstein, American In Paris by George Gershwin, and a piece by Greg Preshel will highlight masterworks of art like Lincoln, The Railsplitter by Norman Rockwell and Snap The Whip by Winslow Homer and more. Limited free parking is available in The Butler lot and in YSU F1 lot across the street from Butler North’s side entrance. The concert will take place in Bacon Great Hall of Butler North Education Center, the former church building adjacent to The Butler. Tickets are required to attend this event. Tickets are available for purchase through the website or by phone at 330-743-1107 ext. 1312 during office hours 9am–4pm Tuesday–Friday. Click here to purchase tickets
Paxton’s Women
August 18 – November 10, 2019
Paxton’s Women includes over 40 large-scale and richly detailed paintings, by accomplished portraitist and figure painter, William McGregor Paxton (1869-1971). The exhibition also incorporates a selection of works by the artist’s wife and muse, Elizabeth Okie Paxton (1877-1971). William Paxton, a member of the Boston School of Painters, is known for his meticulously detailed interiors. Paxton’s Women focuses on Paxton’s repeated explorations of the late 19th and early 20th century femininity using a few preferred models, including his wife. The selection of works by Elizabeth Paxton, best remembered as a painter of still lifes and interiors, reveal how she pursued her own work while often serving as inspiration for her husband’s artistic output. The exhibition is the first examination of William Paxton’s work. The exhibition, drawn from both public and private collections, mixes scenes of domesticity and leisure by both artists over the span of some 40 years. This exhibition was organized by Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee. Learn more
Chantell Van Erbé: Transcendence
September 8 – October 20, 2019
Chantell’s paintings exhibit a freshness of vision, raw energy and immediacy of place, while bridging the trends of 21st Century Modernism with the new realism movement. Her art is not the reality that she sees, but the reality that she remembers, which is very intense and dream-like. It is her reflection of memory so prevalent in many of her paintings, which elevates her work above the norm. Chantell also exhibits a broad interest in subject matter, always combining subject with content. As a result, the viewer is drawn to her paintings, often in a gradual way until we find ourselves entering into them. The body of work Chantell has created to date shows her goal is to discover new ways of painting while responding to the world around her and her inner world. Her exhibit entitled Chantell Van Erbé: Transcendence, is comprised of a selection of work spanning 30 years. Learn more