Published: October 04, 2007 06:17 pm         

Swope Art Museum announces October exhibitions

The Swope Art Museum’s newest exhibition, “Gilbert Wilson, Native Son,” will open to the public on Oct. 12.

The exhibition will include more than 70 artworks rarely on public view. 2007 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Terre Haute’s nationally acclaimed muralist Gilbert Brown Wilson. To honor the artist, the Swope has organized a retrospective exhibit that will show the influences on, and the diversity of work by, this self-proclaimed radical artist. In conjunction, the Indiana Historical Society Press will publish a series of articles in its magazine Traces. These articles will be based on an unpublished biography by Indiana State University historian/professor Edward K. Spann. Born and raised in Terre Haute, Wilson created his most nationally applauded work here, in 1934, in the form of the public murals (preserved and still viewable) in Woodrow Wilson Middle School.

Influenced by controversial and famous locals Eugene V. Debs, Paul Dreiser and Max Ehrman, among others, Wilson developed a radical mix of ideas that informed his creative endeavors and his life even after he left Terre Haute for New York City and then to rural Kentucky. Though he never reached the same level of critical success and notoriety as he did with his early murals, Wilson became a published author and his art interpreting Melville’s “Moby Dick” went on national tour. A film based on the drawings won a second-place silver Reel Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Wilson felt passionately that art had the power to change society and wove themes of anti-war and human redemption through much of his art. A copious producer, even into his last years residing in a nursing home, Wilson had a plethora of ideas and ambitions for public art; though many of the monumental ideas went unrealized, the maquettes and plans remain. This exhibition from the Swope collection includes designs and story boards for an opera based on Melville’s “Moby Dick” and an original animated movie and book, “Old Mister World and the Hue-Mans,” which includes graphic designs, proposals for murals and monuments, and even architectural designs and traditional pictures and sculptures.

With well over 300 individual Wilson artworks, the Swope Art Museum has became holder of the definitive collection of Wilson artwork after a series of gifts from Wilson’s nephews, who owned the majority of the artist’s work after his death in 1991.

Commenting about the Gilbert Wilson exhibition, David Vollmer, director of the Swope Art Museum, said “The creativity and artistic skill of Gilbert Wilson is truly incredible. The imagery is spectacular. If you are only able to attend one art exhibition in Terre Haute this year, this is the show to see.”

“Gilbert Wilson, Native Son” will be on view until Dec. 29. A special free-to-the-public opening reception will be staged from 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 12. Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be available.



The Swope Art Museum’s newest exhibition, “Some Where: Photographs by John Gardner” will open to the public on Oct. 12. Steve Martin famously remarked that Terre Haute was “the most nowhere place in America,” but of course everywhere is somewhere. Gardner has expertly used photography as an eye to see what this “where” looks like.

Gardner is drawn to the melancholy beauty of the old, the worn-out, the rundown and mostly forgotten. Gardner’s one-person show at the Swope explores these themes and presents contemplative insight into his subject matter. When talking about the images in the exhibition, Gardner commented, “Looking at these places, I wonder what memories they hold. Maybe someone kissed here for the first time, or learned to play the trumpet in that house.”

In addition to the exhibition, Gardner will present a Brown Bag Lunch Lecture in the Swope Art Museum from noon to 1 p.m. Nov. 7. The artist will discuss his recent work.

“Some Where: Photographs by John Gardner” will be on view until Dec. 29. A special free-to-the-public opening reception is 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 12. Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be available.

The Swope Art Museum is at 25 S. Seventh St. (at Ohio Street) in downtown Terre Haute. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and noon to 5 on Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, call (812) 238-1676 or go to www.swope.org.