Hidden in Plain Sight: Art Treasures from Regional Collections

Main Gallery
October 23, 2010 through April 3, 2011

Throughout our region—northwest Pennsylvania and neighboring New York and Ohio—are numerous collections containing outstanding works of art. Some, like the art museums in Cleveland and Buffalo, and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, are well known to visitors from around the country; however, dozens of collections exist in small museums, historical societies, colleges, libraries and other institutions. These collections are often unknown to their local audience, let alone within the region. To celebrate the grand opening of the new galleries, the Museum has borrowed artworks from these various collections, providing an opportunity for our audience to sample the treasures that can be found throughout the region.

The exhibition features sculptures, paintings, drawings, Native American artifacts, furniture and more. Highlights include works by American artists Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, Ralph Albert Blakelock, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Thomas Hart Benton, Adolf Dehn, Walter Ufer and many others. Native American works include a rare, early Navajo serape, a painted parfleche and a set of pictograph drawings. Works created in the region include a portrait done by John James Audubon during a sojourn to Meadville, a wonderful collection of carved and painted folk art birds by a Crawford County farmer and sculptures by Marion Sanford. Crafts enthusiasts will enjoy Japanese pottery and baskets, a Calder weaving, a Wendell Castle table, sculptural ceramics by Daniel Rhodes and Ken Ferguson, and an unusual late 18th century Windsor chair. Many of these treasures have never been exhibited outside of their home institutions; some have never been exhibited at all.