A Reopening Message from our CEO
The past three months have brought profound changes to our world. The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic collapse, combined with a collective reckoning with racism and social injustice in America, offers an historic opportunity to listen, learn, grow, change, and invest in new ways to serve Nevada’s increasingly diverse communities. Now more than ever, art museums are essential to a civil society.
We are pleased to announce the start of a phased reopening of the Nevada Museum of Art this week, keeping the health and safety of our guests and employees the highest priority. This phased approach includes a FREE Community Day on Saturday, June 20, courtesy of the Estelle J. Kelsey Foundation.
In April, the Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force asked the Museum to draft an Operating Reopening Plan to share with other arts and culture organizations throughout the state. An internal nine-person committee incorporated guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), State of Nevada, Washoe County School District, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the American Alliance of Museums. By nature, accredited museums like the Nevada Museum of Art are highly regulated facilities with clear protocols and controls in place to ensure health, safety and security. The plan was reviewed by the CEO of Renown Health, the region’s largest not-for-profit healthcare network, and also praised by the Governor’s Office.
In response to the Covid-19 crisis, the Museum closed its doors in mid-March, just as we were opening our newest exhibition: The World Stage: Contemporary Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation.
Organized by JoAnne Northrup, the Museum’s Curator of Contemporary Art, The World Stage showcases 90 artworks by 35 renowned contemporary American artists of diverse backgrounds. The exhibition title, The World Stage, is inspired by the name of a series of paintings by Kehinde Wiley, an artist in the exhibition who is best known for his presidential portrait of Barack Obama that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
We have extended The World Stage through early 2021 to provide additional space to reflect on the content and themes found in the exhibition. The extension, prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement, provides a backdrop and platform to amplify the voices of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists celebrated in this exhibition, and supports critical dialogue between the artists, members of our community and Museum staff. Specific information about these programs will be released in the coming weeks.
The Nevada Museum of Art is deeply committed to elevating the artistic voices of BIPOC communities in our galleries, collections, and through our award-winning publications. We are also committed to continuing the vital conversations we’re having both internally and externally, which will help to inform and shape a path towards thoughtful change and healing.
Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to our community. The Nevada Museum of Art is your museum. It will always be our honor to serve you, and to help enrich the lives of all Nevadans.
David B. Walker
CEO | Nevada Museum of Art
Health and Safety First
The Museum has updated its policies to ensure your visit is memorable and safe. Admission is available online in 30-minute increments through Advance Ticketing. This will minimize contact and limit attendance to allow for social distancing.
As part of the phased reopening approach, the Museum Shop will open for onsite purchases, but online shopping and curbside pickup will continue. Our onsite restaurant, chez louie, plans to reopen July 7.
See our full Covid-19 Reopening Plan, and prepare to know before you go.
Reopening Weekend
Thursday, June 18 | 10 am – 8 pm
Members’ Day
The Museum will host a reopening day for Members. Join today to reserve your advance ticket.
Friday, June 19 / CLOSED
Closed in observance of Juneteenth to recognize the end of slavery and to celebrate the culture and achievements of African Americans.
Saturday, June 20 | 10 am – 6 pm
FREE Admission
The Estelle J. Kelsey Foundation is sponsoring a FREE Community Day in honor of the Museum’s reopening weekend. Reserve limited capacity FREE admission tickets here.
Sunday, June 21 / 10 am – 6 pm
Treat Dad to Father’s Day at the Museum. Reserve limited capacity advance tickets here.
IMAGE CREDITS: Kehinde Wiley, Marechal Floriano Peixoto II, from The World Stage: Brazil series, 2009, Oil on canvas, 107 x 83 inches. Collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation. © Kehinde Wiley. Courtesy of Roberts Projects; Hung Liu, Official Portraits: Immigrant, 2006, Lithograph with collage, 30 1/4 x 30 inches. Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer. © Hung Lui. Courtesy Shark’s Ink; After Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Head), edition PP 1/5, 1983/2001, Screenprint, 40 x 40 inches. Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York.
Standing in Solidarity
“The museum field not only has a responsibility to ask the hard questions and learn from each other, we have a unique duty to listen, to chronicle the lessons and histories of our communities, and to educate future generations so that we might stop this senseless violence”
– American Alliance of Museums | June 1, 2020
If anything, the coronavirus pandemic has taught museums how to collaborate, cooperate, learn and listen. It has also shown us that we can do better in so many ways. The Nevada Museum of Art stands in solidarity with our community and our colleagues across the country in response to the tragic death of George Floyd. We join museums in rejecting racism and violence. We are pausing digital communications in order to create space for important dialogue. We are grieving and listening to the symphony of voices in our community that must be heard – because we want to do better.
We have big news about Judy Chicago
Artist, feminist, educator, and intellectual, Judy Chicago first got to know the Nevada Museum of Art in 2018 when her Atmospheres were included in Laid Bare in the Landscape. The exhibition brought renewed focus to her connections to Land Art. Since then, the Museum has been working with Chicago to acquire her fireworks archive for the Center for Art + Environment Archive Collections.
At long last, we have finalized the acquisition. The archive, Judy Chicago: Dry Ice, Smoke, and Fireworks, contains materials from her extensive work with dry ice, colored smoke, and fireworks from 1967 through the present. A set of 12 Atmospheres and On Fire exhibition prints is also included.
The Museum now joins Penn State University, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, as the stewards of Judy Chicago’s archives. These materials are accessible through the Judy Chicago Research Portal.
The archive will debut publicly next October with Judy Chicago: Dry Ice, Smoke, and Fireworks Archive, which will serve as a major backdrop for the 2021 Art + Environment Conference focusing on Land Art: Past, Present, and Futures.
Learn more about this exciting news by exploring below.
Share your thoughts on social: @nevadaart @judy.chicago #JudyChicagoFireworks
Interview: A Fireworks Story
In this dynamic, short video, Judy Chicago recounts how she sought to “feminize” the landscape, and why she is “thrilled and delighted” that her fireworks archive has joined the Museum’s collections.
ARTnews
Alex Greenberger talks with JoAnne Northrup and William L. Fox to learn more about how Judy Chicago: Dry Ice, Smoke, and Fireworks opens up a new vista for thinking about and collecting Land Art archives.
The Art Newspaper
David Walker, CEO, and JoAnne Northrup share thoughts on how Judy Chicago’s historically significant contributions are critical to the larger global conversation currently happening around art and environment.
Artforum
Read how Judy Chicago’s archive will build upon the core strengths of the Center for Art + Environment in this art world dispatch.
Image Credits: Judy Chicago, Birthday Bouquet for Belen Smoke Test, 2019. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photo © Donald Woodman/ARS, New York. Courtesy of the artist; Salon 94, New York; Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco; and Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles; Judy Chicago, Smoke Bodies from Women and Smoke, 1972 Fireworks performance, Performed in the California Desert, © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Photo courtesy of Through the Flower Archives, Courtesy of the artist; Salon 94, New York; and Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco; Judy Chicago, Immolation from Women and Smoke, 1972, Fireworks performance, Performed in the California Desert, © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Photo courtesy of Through the Flower Archives, Courtesy of the artist; Salon 94, New York; and Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco. Judy Chicago, Santa Barbara Museum, 1971. Fireworks performance. Performed at the Santa Barbara Museum, Santa Barbara, CA. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo courtesy of Through the Flower Archives.
A Message from David B. Walker | CEO
The Nevada Museum of Art will celebrate its 90th anniversary next year. During this time of quarantine, I’ve reflected on our institutional history and imagined life on the other side of this historic crisis.
It’s interesting to note that the Museum was founded in 1931 by community volunteers during the depths of the Great Depression. And in late 2008, at the height of the Great Recession we founded our internationally recognized Center for Art + Environment. Further back, Nevada’s statehood occurred in 1864 during the American Civil War. Crisis moments have produced extraordinary results in Nevada.
I am optimistic now more than ever, that we are poised to elevate the stature of our artistic, cultural and educational resources. The pandemic will not diminish our determination to scale-up our programs and services for all Nevadans.
Many of you recall the 2014 exhibition we organized on the occasion of Nevada’s sesquicentennial. I encourage you to take a few minutes to view the documentary we produced that accompanied The 36th Star: Nevada’s Journey from Territory to State. It stands as an inspiring reminder of the courage, empathy and spirit shown by the people of Nevada through the years.
Although our doors are temporarily closed, we can’t thank you enough for being a friend of the state’s only accredited art museum. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Watch the documentary
The 36th Star: Nevada’s Journey From Territory to State
In celebration of 150 years of statehood, the Museum honored the “Battle Born” state with a significant exhibition detailing the journey toward October 31, 1864. This short documentary explores this history through the objects that came together to tell the story.
Here’s looking at you.
The 36th Star unfolded with memorable celebrations from a star-studded dinner to a steampunk soiree. Revisit the dresses, costumes, and smiles by exploring the photo albums below.