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
America’s Everglades: Through the Lens of Clyde Butcher
September 13 – November 22, 2020
This traveling exhibition showcases a body of work that represents a quarter of a century of Clyde Butcher’s photographic expeditions into the American Everglades. Organized by Clyde Butcher Galleries, these 35 black and white photographs transport visitors to this once fragile, yet resilient, ecosystem with their impressive dimensions, stunning detail, fluid composition, and astonishing clarity. Through the breathtaking images Butcher presents in Everglades, the viewer is beckoned into the image and becomes part of this mysterious and primeval place rarely seen by humans. Butcher’s goal for this exhibition is to evoke a love for this endangered national treasure and awaken viewers to preserve and protect all of our country’s natural places for future generations. Learn more
Mark Lysowski: Transitions
September 20 – November 1, 2020
Transitions is a multimedia exhibition of pure abstract artworks from Pittsburgh based artist, Mark Lysowski. Mark began painting in the late 1970’s. Since then, he has transitioned to sculpture, then back to painting. He continues to create multimedia work that has progressed from various materials – pushing each material to extremes in series. Lysowski continues to work with a variety of materials and processes to create complexity within surfaces and colors within compositions to evoke emotion. The exhibition includes 27 artworks — paintings, sculpture, and video — a few of which are being shown independently for the first time. Learn more
Clyde Singer’s World
September 27 – January 3, 2021
Clyde Singer was an institution in our town. The long-time curator of the Butler who died in 1999 was everybody’s favorite artist. His teachers at the art students league included Reginald Marsh and Kenneth Hayes Miller, both represented in the Butler collection. A favorite Singer painting is called Minor League which features a minor league Baseball game being played at the old Idora Park ball field. The painting resides in the Donnell Sports Gallery at the Butler and is typical of Singer’s traditional realist style. The ball players depicted are characteristic Singer figures. Of special note is the fact that the artist includes himself and his wife Bernita in the ballpark bleachers. Clyde Singer was born in Malvern, Ohio and was stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. He became the Butler curator immediately after the war. His love of New York City was obvious since virtually every summer he would take the bus into the city for days of painting. Except for Youngstown subjects, New York themes dominate his work. Learn more