When the Smithsonians American Art Museum
began planning for three years of renovation to start in 2000, it was relatively easy to figure
out what to do with desks, computers, and phones. But what do you do with the greatest
collection of American art in the worldNULL
`Storing treasures that attract more than half a million visitors
each year was not an option the staff wanted to consider,`
said Elizabeth Broun, director of the Smithsonians American
Art Museum. Instead, in January the museum is launching
what is perhaps the most ambitious art tour ever, sharing with
the American people over 500 of its finest treasures at more
than 70 museums. `Treasures to G` will feature eight
thematic exhibitions of paintings and sculptures.
The goal of `Treasures to Go` is to stimulate interest in
American art among new audiences as well as art lovers by
touring the nations foremost American art collection to communities across the country.
These shows will make stops from early 2000 through 2002 from Portland, Maine, to
Portland, Oregon, from Miami to Dallas to Los Angeles. The breadth of the itinerary
reflects a determination to bring the finest works of American art directly to the American
people.
`These are some of our greatest masterworks, which we rarely lend,` commented Broun.
`Were pleased to work with museums across the country to share them with everyone.`
The Principal Financial Group, a global insurance and financial services company, is the
museums partner in efforts to increase national visibility for the tour and for the museum.
The Principal has provided funding for a variety of public relations initiatives and marketing
services. International Management Group (IMG), a multinational marketing and
management agency, assisted in creating the partnership between the American Art
Museum and The Principal.
To generate public awareness of American art and `Treasures to
Go,` the museum will produce several national cable television
specials and a syndicated program for broadcast on a network
affiliate in each city visited by the tour. Public relations,
advertising, and media partnerships with national publications will
highlight aspects of the tour. Gift books, posters, educational
materials on American art, special events, and a new section on the
museums award-winning web site are also planned. The museums
partnership with The Principal Financial Group supports these
activities.
The Principal Financial Group began supporting the arts in the
1930s to promote cultural awareness, reach diverse audiences, and foster creative thinking
among employees through employee participation in the arts. The Principal is one of only
13 companies nationally to receive the Business Committee for the Arts Founders Award,
which recognizes companies that have exhibited exceptional long-term leadership, vision,
and commitment to developing alliances with arts.
`We are excited by this museums ability to tell the story of America by taking artworks of
this caliber into communities all over the country,` said Mary OKeefe, senior vice president
of corporate relations for The Principal Financial Group. `As the museums promotional
partner, we hope to bring cultural benefit to communities, our employees, and our
customers throughout the country. Were proud to be a part of Treasures to Go.`
The paintings and sculptures in `Treasures to Go` cover eight themes:
Young America traces the countrys transformation from colonies to
nationhood through great portraits by John Singleton Copley, Charles
Willson Peale, and Gilbert Stuart as well as landscapes and scenes of early
America.
Lure of the West includes portraits of Native Americans by George
Catlin, western subjects by Frederic Remington and Albert Bierstadt, and
works from the Taos School.
American Impressionism presents canvases full of light and color by
such artists as Childe Hassam, James McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt,
John Twatchman, and Thomas Wilmer Dewing.
The Gilded Age highlights John Singer Sargent, Abbott Thayer, and
others who brought a new sophistication and elegance to American art in
the decades before World War I.
Scenes of American Life explores the 20th century, from the excitement
of New York and the Roaring Twenties through the Depression and
postwar period, in works by Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, and Paul
Cadmus.
Modernism and Abstraction shows radical transformations of American
art in the 20th century by Georgia OKeeffe, Marsden Hartley, Stuart
Davis, and Franz Kline.
Contemporary Folk Art showcases self-taught artists of the past 40
years such as Thornton Dial, Sr., Howard Finster, and William Hawkins,
whose ingenuity, wit, and reverence were often developed in isolation or in
small communities across the country.
Arte Latino celebrates the vitality of Latino art traditions and innovations,
from the 18th through the 20th centuries, represented by Carlos Alfonzo,
Amalia Mesa-Bains, and Jesús Bautista Moroles.
The Smithsonians American art collection began with gifts of art
donated to the federal government in 1829 and has evolved into the
worlds most important museum of American art, with holdings of
approximately 38,000 paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings,
photographs, folk-art objects, and 20th-century crafts. While its
main building, the Old Patent Office, is closed for renovations from
January 3, 2000 through 2002, the museum will continue a full
program of craft exhibitions at its Renwick Gallery, located on
Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W., Washington, D.C.
The Principal Financial Group, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa,
is a diversified family of insurance and financial services
companies with more than $82 billion in assets under management. Its member companies
serve more than 10 million customers by providing a full line of individual and group
insurance and financial products. Its flagship and largest member, Principal Life Insurance
Company ranks eighth among U.S. life insurance companies in assets under management. >
`Storing treasures that attract more than half a million visitors
each year was not an option the staff wanted to consider,`
said Elizabeth Broun, director of the Smithsonians American
Art Museum. Instead, in January the museum is launching
what is perhaps the most ambitious art tour ever, sharing with
the American people over 500 of its finest treasures at more
than 70 museums. `Treasures to G` will feature eight
thematic exhibitions of paintings and sculptures.
The goal of `Treasures to Go` is to stimulate interest in
American art among new audiences as well as art lovers by
touring the nations foremost American art collection to communities across the country.
These shows will make stops from early 2000 through 2002 from Portland, Maine, to
Portland, Oregon, from Miami to Dallas to Los Angeles. The breadth of the itinerary
reflects a determination to bring the finest works of American art directly to the American
people.
`These are some of our greatest masterworks, which we rarely lend,` commented Broun.
`Were pleased to work with museums across the country to share them with everyone.`
The Principal Financial Group, a global insurance and financial services company, is the
museums partner in efforts to increase national visibility for the tour and for the museum.
The Principal has provided funding for a variety of public relations initiatives and marketing
services. International Management Group (IMG), a multinational marketing and
management agency, assisted in creating the partnership between the American Art
Museum and The Principal.
To generate public awareness of American art and `Treasures to
Go,` the museum will produce several national cable television
specials and a syndicated program for broadcast on a network
affiliate in each city visited by the tour. Public relations,
advertising, and media partnerships with national publications will
highlight aspects of the tour. Gift books, posters, educational
materials on American art, special events, and a new section on the
museums award-winning web site are also planned. The museums
partnership with The Principal Financial Group supports these
activities.
The Principal Financial Group began supporting the arts in the
1930s to promote cultural awareness, reach diverse audiences, and foster creative thinking
among employees through employee participation in the arts. The Principal is one of only
13 companies nationally to receive the Business Committee for the Arts Founders Award,
which recognizes companies that have exhibited exceptional long-term leadership, vision,
and commitment to developing alliances with arts.
`We are excited by this museums ability to tell the story of America by taking artworks of
this caliber into communities all over the country,` said Mary OKeefe, senior vice president
of corporate relations for The Principal Financial Group. `As the museums promotional
partner, we hope to bring cultural benefit to communities, our employees, and our
customers throughout the country. Were proud to be a part of Treasures to Go.`
The paintings and sculptures in `Treasures to Go` cover eight themes:
Young America traces the countrys transformation from colonies to
nationhood through great portraits by John Singleton Copley, Charles
Willson Peale, and Gilbert Stuart as well as landscapes and scenes of early
America.
Lure of the West includes portraits of Native Americans by George
Catlin, western subjects by Frederic Remington and Albert Bierstadt, and
works from the Taos School.
American Impressionism presents canvases full of light and color by
such artists as Childe Hassam, James McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt,
John Twatchman, and Thomas Wilmer Dewing.
The Gilded Age highlights John Singer Sargent, Abbott Thayer, and
others who brought a new sophistication and elegance to American art in
the decades before World War I.
Scenes of American Life explores the 20th century, from the excitement
of New York and the Roaring Twenties through the Depression and
postwar period, in works by Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, and Paul
Cadmus.
Modernism and Abstraction shows radical transformations of American
art in the 20th century by Georgia OKeeffe, Marsden Hartley, Stuart
Davis, and Franz Kline.
Contemporary Folk Art showcases self-taught artists of the past 40
years such as Thornton Dial, Sr., Howard Finster, and William Hawkins,
whose ingenuity, wit, and reverence were often developed in isolation or in
small communities across the country.
Arte Latino celebrates the vitality of Latino art traditions and innovations,
from the 18th through the 20th centuries, represented by Carlos Alfonzo,
Amalia Mesa-Bains, and Jesús Bautista Moroles.
The Smithsonians American art collection began with gifts of art
donated to the federal government in 1829 and has evolved into the
worlds most important museum of American art, with holdings of
approximately 38,000 paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings,
photographs, folk-art objects, and 20th-century crafts. While its
main building, the Old Patent Office, is closed for renovations from
January 3, 2000 through 2002, the museum will continue a full
program of craft exhibitions at its Renwick Gallery, located on
Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W., Washington, D.C.
The Principal Financial Group, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa,
is a diversified family of insurance and financial services
companies with more than $82 billion in assets under management. Its member companies
serve more than 10 million customers by providing a full line of individual and group
insurance and financial products. Its flagship and largest member, Principal Life Insurance
Company ranks eighth among U.S. life insurance companies in assets under management.
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