June 22, 2009

Museum hosts ‘Masters of Photography’ exhibit

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- University Museum at Southern Illinois University Carbondale invites museum patrons to see the world through a different lens this summer.

The “Masters of Photography” exhibit, featuring highlights from the museum’s permanent collection, kicked off Friday, June 19, and runs through May 2010. Museum Director Dona Bachman said the exhibit is meant to launch a “Year of Photography” as the museum gears up for a major exhibit next winter when University Museum brings an Ansel Adams exhibit to Carbondale.

The Masters exhibit for this summer includes some true gems and rare pieces, such as a haunting photograph of silent film siren Gloria Swanson, an atypical Ansel Adams, imaginative landscapes by Henri Cartier-Bresson and W. Eugene Smith and the social realism of Jacob Riis and Dorothea Lange.

“University Museum is always interested in adding outstanding photographic works to its holdings,” Bachman said. “With the strong cinema and photography program here at SIUC and the high level of interest in fine photography in the general public, we would like to see the number of works grow.”

Other summer exhibits include:

• Fossils: Life through Time in Southern Illinois, current through Aug. 7.

• Miniature Pioneer Dioramas of Southern Illinois Life, current through Aug. 7.

• Matt Schiemann, master of fine arts thesis exhibit of ceramics, current through June 26.

• Sarah Lathrop Midkiff, master of fine arts thesis exhibit of photography and mixed media, current through June 26.

• ARTiculation II, works by students from Anna Junior High School, and Elverado, Pinckneyville and Ziegler-Royalton high schools, current through July 5.

• A Warrior’s Story: Oglala Sioux Buffalo Robe, current through May 2010.

• Remembering Old Main, June 30 through 2010.

University Museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday-Friday, and 1-4 p.m., Saturday-Sunday. There is no admission fee, but the museum accepts donations. For more information, visit www.museum.siu.edu.