Museum exhibitions and projects expand online, opening dates shift to fall
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (April 28, 2020) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, out of concern for the health and safety of the staff and community, and in accordance with guidelines from Skidmore College, is extending its temporary closure through the summer months.
This difficult but necessary decision comes after considering current projections about the outbreak, and means the cancelation of beloved Tang summer traditions such as the annual community open house, Frances Day, and the popular Upbeat on the Roof concert series. These traditions will be back in 2021. The summer closure also means changes—but no cancelations—to the Tang’s previously announced exhibition schedule.
“Summer at the Tang is a time of coming together for music, art, art-making, and community, but these extraordinary times require us to do our part to slow the spread by practicing social distancing,” said Dayton Director Ian Berry. “The fantastic Tang Museum staff is dreaming up new and creative ways to stay connected online with new initiatives and ideas for the summer and fall. This momentous time is when our Skidmore motto Creative Thought Matters is front and center in every way.”
The Museum launched Tang at Home, an online hub for art-making activities and projects for all ages that bring the Tang experience into people’s homes at http://tang.skidmore.edu/education/tang-at-home. The Tang is adding new projects each week, so check back often and join in! Our newest community project is Tang Extra Credit, in which everyone is invited to re-create works of art from the Tang collection with what they have around them. Email your re-creation to tang@skidmore.edu and include your name, email address, and the name of the artwork that inspired you. For extra credit, include your mailing address, and the Tang will send you a catalogue from our long-running Opener series. Discover people’s re-creations at the Tang Extra Credit page.
New Dates for Upcoming Exhibitions
Energy in All Directions, originally set for a July opening is now scheduled to open October 10 and will stay on view through May 17, 2021. The exhibition celebrates the life and legacy of artist and gallerist Hudson (1950–2014) by bringing together work in the Tang collection by a community of contemporary artists Hudson promoted in dialogue with important objects from the Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon, such as furniture, baskets, and textiles.
Never Done: 100 Years of Women in Politics and Beyond, originally scheduled for August 26 through January 3, 2021, is now scheduled to open September 17 and stay on view through June 6, 2021. The exhibition takes the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the 2020 elections to explore women’s experience in the United States. Artwork by 100 contemporary women artists will be hung in a gallery reflecting the floor plan of the Wesleyan Chapel—site of the first suffrage meeting in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York.
Lover Earth: Art and Ecosexuality will open as scheduled on May 30 as an online exhibition. The capstone project of the Eleanor Linder Winter ’43 Endowed Internship, held this year by studio art major Caroline Coxe ’20, Lover Earth uses painting, photography, and a variety of other media to explore our bodily connections to the landscape.
Exhibition information: http://tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions
New Online Initiatives
Tang at Home: Art-making activities and coloring pages that bring the Family Saturdays experience into people homes at http://tang.skidmore.edu/education/tang-at-home
Tang Extra Credit: Fans of the Tang re-create their favorite works of art from the Tang collection at http://tang.skidmore.edu/education/tang-at-home/extracredit
Tang Live: Skidmore students present a live program at 7 p.m. every Thursday on the Tang Instagram account at http://instagram.com/tangteachingmuseum
Art & Ideas: The Tang is expanding its interdisciplinary teaching mission through thematic pages to inspire new thinking and dialogue. These pages aim to offer artwork, writing, video, and creative assignments from faculty, students, artists, and curators about the Tang collection. https://tang.skidmore.edu/education/art-and-ideas
Enhanced Exhibition Pages
We are adding content to the exhibition pages of our current shows:
Mary Weatherford: Canyon–Daisy–Eden: The webpage of this acclaimed survey of artist Mary Weatherford’s career now includes an illustrated checklist, audio from the exhibition opening talk with Mary Weatherford and co-curators Ian Barry and Bill Arning, and a Spotify playlist called “Weatherford’s Women” selected by Arning that includes opera, country, and pop classics.
FLEX: The webpage of the interdisciplinary exhibition of art and material culture from the classical period to today now includes an illustrated checklist and video installation views of the exhibition. Coming soon will be an online publication featuring extended essays by Skidmore faculty.
Between the Mountains: The webpage of an exhibition of contemporary artists use of the Chinese ink painting tradition now includes an illustrated checklist, video by artist Yang Yongliang, and extended labels by curator Serena Hildebrandt ‘20 in both English and Mandarin.
Elevator Music 40: Melissa Thorne — Landslide/Solid: The webpage of the audio-based installation now features a downloadable gallery brochure, which includes an essay by artist Melissa Thorne, and will soon include the audio and playlists.
Exhibition information: http://tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions
A schedule of events related to upcoming exhibitions will be forthcoming. For the latest information, please visit http://tang.skidmore.edu or email the Tang at tang@skidmore.edu.
About the Tang Teaching Museum
The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the Tang’s approach has become a model for university art museums across the country — with exhibition programs that bring together visual and performing arts with interdisciplinary ideas from history, economics, biology, dance and physics to name just a few. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, and a robust publication and touring exhibition program that extends the museum’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s award-winning building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of art and ideas. The Museum is closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is active online at http://tang.skidmore.edu.