Sep 15, 2021

Major art exhibitions begin Saturday at Albrecht-Kemper

Posted Sep 15, 2021 3:34 PM
Joe Gray/Photo courtesy of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art
Joe Gray/Photo courtesy of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

A couple of major art exhibitions begin this weekend at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art in St. Joseph.

Albrecht-Kemper Executive Director Eric Fuson says the Missouri Art Now exhibit showcases 60 artworks from 60 Missouri artists, including 17 from northwest Missouri.

“So, it’s your last chance to see all these artists from around the state and there are some super talented people in this, that’s for sure,” Fuson tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “It’s an amazing show, actually and we’re privileged to have it to be honest.”

2021 Missouri Art Now - artwork by Veronica Watkins/Photo courtesy of AKMA
2021 Missouri Art Now - artwork by Veronica Watkins/Photo courtesy of AKMA

The Missouri Art Now:  A Bicentennial Celebration begins Saturday and runs through November 7th.

Also, beginning Saturday is The Joe Show:  Selections from the Gray Manufacturing Corporate Collection.

2021 The Joe Show - Crazy Horse 1876 by John Coleman/Photo courtesy of AKMA
2021 The Joe Show - Crazy Horse 1876 by John Coleman/Photo courtesy of AKMA

Fuson says it’s a rare opportunity to see incredible pieces of art selected by Gray over a very long time.

“We’re honoring that vision that he had,” Fuson says. “It’s amazing. They’ve got over 13-Hundred pieces in the collection. We have just scratched the surface with about 130 of those, so about 10%.”

This is the first public exhibition of the Gray collection. Many of the art pieces adorn offices at Gray Manufacturing. Fuson says Gray makes it a point to have employees choose art pieces to display in their offices.

“He had told me at one point that one of his numbers guys looked it up and said there was something going on, that something’s changed and I can’t figure it out, but productivity has gone up,” Fuson says. “They narrowed it down to it was when they hung the art work around in everybody’s offices productivity went up over 9%.”

The Joe Show is a display of paintings, drawings, and sculptures.