Stark Museum of Art Celebrates International Museum Day, May 18

ORANGE, Texas - Stark Museum of Art will be open for special evening viewing hours on Friday, May 18, 2012, from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. in honor of International Museum Day. The program will feature spotlight presentations about works of art in museum galleries throughout the evening. Light refreshments will be provided and admission is free of charge.

For the spotlights presentations, Chief Educator Elena Ivanova will give an overview tour of the exhibition From Russia: Fechin and Gaspard in Southwest; docent Sue Rathburn will talk about the painting The Last of Their Race by John Mix Stanley; and docent Sherrill Porterfield will talk about the painting Ourselves and Taos Neighbors by Ernest Leonard Blumenschein. These fifteen-minute long presentations will run consecutively starting at 5:15 p.m., with the last presentation beginning at 7:30 p.m.

International Museum Day was established in 1977 by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), and more than 30,000 museums in 100 countries will hold special activities on this occasion. The theme for International Museum Day of 2012 is Museums in a Changing World: New Challenges, New Inspirations. Modern museums must compete for an audible voice against the furious pace of the rapidly changing environment. One of the important functions of a modern museum is to create an ongoing link to the past and to ensure that the world's heritage is passed to new generations.

"Stark Museum of Art is offering visitors an opportunity to revisit the past as it is presented in the works of four artists in the Museum collection - John Mix Stanley, Ernest Leonard Blumenschein, Nicolai Fechin and Leon Gaspard. Each of these artists had a unique vision of his time. Our team of presenters will bring to light issues and ideas that were important for these artists," commented Elena Ivanova, Chief Educator.

Located at 712 Green Avenue in Orange, Texas, Stark Museum of Art is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Admission is free and children accompanied by an adult are welcome. Group tours are available by appointment. For more information, call 409.886.ARTS (2787) or visit www.starkmuseum.org.

Photo 1: Leon Gaspard (1882 - 1964), Evening in Manchuria, 1936, oil on canvas mounted on paperboard, 36 x 30 inches, Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas, 31.26.23.

Photo 2: Stark Museum of Art in Orange, Texas.

About Stark Museum of Art: Stark Museum of Art focuses on the stunning land, the dramatic people and the diverse wildlife of the American West. Paintings, sculpture and prints interpret the West from nineteenth century frontier artists to the twentieth century artistic colonies in New Mexico. Artists include John James Audubon, Frederic Remington, and Charles Marion Russell.

The Museum also features a significant collection of American Indian objects, including baskets, pottery, clothing and weavings. Other permanent collections in the Museum include the complete porcelain American Bird Series by Dorothy Doughty and the only complete series of The United States in Crystal, a collection of crystal urns produced by Steuben Glass to depict the 50 states and the Union.

Stark Museum of Art is a program of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, a private operating foundation, whose other programs include the Frances Ann Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, and The W.H. Stark House.