Apron Chronicles: A Patchwork of American Recollections

October 7, 2008 to January 9, 2009

This unique nationwide traveling exhibition is comprised of photographs, stories and 200 vintage aprons. Prompted by project writer and apron curator EllynAnne Geisel, the contributors to Apron Chronicles recall people who wore aprons and what they represented to families; recall events when aprons were worn; reflect recipes, values and traditions from gentler, less complicated times; express the bond between parents and children; represent survival, friendship, opportunity; challenge, and modern perspective.

The Art Guys: Failed Schemes and Pipe Dreams
December 16, 2008 to February 20, 2009

Contemporary art production is often more about ideas than the notion of art as a precious object. What if you used found objects from the real world and combined them in unexpected ways? Sound like a radical idea? Not really, Duchamp, Picasso and others went this route a century ago. The Art Guys, Michael Galbreth and Jack Massing, demystify the creative process and extol the virtues of artistic collaboration in this retrospective. For the last 25 years The Art Guys have plunged head long into the gap between art and life with a signature irreverence. The Art Guys create diverse works designed to engage, amuse and challenge viewers by seducing them with a playful sense of humor. The Art Guys: Failed Schemes and Pipe Dreams exhibition at The Grace Museum celebrates the rare and unusual freedom with which Michael Galbreth and Jack Massing approach art making. Many of these schemes seem set up to fail, and fail hilariously, but the incredible confidence they convey makes you think, “Of course it’s possible.” There’s no particular school of thought happening here, no art movement to name drop. It is simply freedom — an endless ability to experiment. Sketches, jottings and notes by the artists reveal their openness to the creative process and all the possibilities.