2012-2013 Exhibitions

Randy Hayes: Unfamiliar Territory

June 2 – August 26, 2012

Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery

Randy Hayes is a Seattle painter and photographer who creates mixed media works based on his travels to Europe and Asia and his ongoing relationship with the rural South, especially his birthplace of Mississippi. Organized by Director John Olbrantz, the exhibition features 33 works on loan from public and private collections in Washington, Tennessee, and Mississippi.

Rex Amos: Scissor Cuts

June 16 – August 12, 2012

Study Gallery and Print Study Center

Rex Amos is a Cannon Beach, Oregon mixed media artist who makes intricate collages based on precisely cut components from vintage magazines, old posters, and other random materials. A remarkably skilled cutter, he is able to trim and cut complex edges with great precision and to piece the cut forms together into imagery that ranges from exotic and art historical to erotic and political. Organized by Professor Emeritus Roger Hull, the exhibition will feature a range of collages from the artist's personal collection.

The World in the Palm of Your Hand: Chinese Snuff Bottles from Pacific Northwest Collections

August 25 – November 4, 2012

Study Gallery

Snuff bottles were used by the Chinese during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) to hold powdered tobacco that was used as a remedy for various illnesses. Diminutive in scale, made from precious materials, and often highly decorated, they became an important art form among the elite. This exhibition will feature 157 snuff bottles from regional collections and will be timed to coincide with the annual meeting of the International Snuff Bottle Society in Portland, Oregon in October of 2012.

Ray Trayle: Prints from the Legendary Presses

August 25 – November 4, 2012

Print Study Center

Over the course of his career, machinist Ray Trayle lovingly designed and hand built over 60 printing presses for artists and institutions throughout the Pacific Northwest. Trayle’s presses have had an enormous impact in helping to establish the Pacific Northwest as a nationally recognized printmaking community. With Trayle, artists found a kindred spirit with whom they could collaborate and build the presses of their dreams. Curated from the museum’s permanent collection, this exhibition features 34 prints made on Trayle’s presses and highlights the range of imagery and techniques that he helped to make possible. The exhibition is organized by intern Reva Main ’12 and supported by a grant from the Center for Ancient Studies and Archeology at Willamette University.

Family Holdings: Turkish Flat Weaves from the Keith Achepohl Collection

September 15 – December 23, 2012

Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery

This exhibition features 45 Turkish flat weaves from one of the finest private collections in the United States. Organized by Director John Olbrantz, the exhibition includes superb examples of 19th and 20th century rugs, saddle bags, prayer rugs, and storage bags from western, central, and eastern Turkey, acquired by the collector on numerous trips to Turkey during the past 30 years.

Manuel Izquierdo: Maquettes, Small Sculptures and Works on Paper

November 17, 2012 – February 17, 2013

Study Gallery and Print Study Center

In conjunction with Manuel Izquierdo: Myth, Nature, and Renewal, Professor Emeritus Roger Hull has organized two small companion exhibitions that explore different aspects of Izquierdo's art and life. In the Study Gallery, Manuel Izquierdo: Maquettes and Small Sculptures will feature a range of models and small sculptures that served as improvisational pieces and exercises or formed the basis for larger works. In the Print Study Center, Manuel Izquierdo: Works on Paper will present a range of Izquierdo's prints created from the late 1940s to the early 2000s.

Update: the closing date for Manuel Izquierdo: Maquettes and Small Sculptures was Feb. 10 and the closing date for Manuel Izquierdo: Works on Paper has been extended to Feb. 17.

Manuel Izquierdo: Myth, Nature, and Renewal

January 19 – March 24, 2013

Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery

Manuel Izquierdo was an important Portland sculptor and teacher who created sculptures in steel, wood, and stone based on mythological figures as well as abstract and biomorphic plant and animal forms. Organized by Professor Emeritus Roger Hull, the exhibition will feature a range of works from the past 60 years drawn from public and private collections throughout the region. The Study Gallery and Print Study Center will also feature maquettes, small sculptures and works on paper by the artist, November 17, 2012 - February 10, 2013. A full-color monograph by Professor Hull will accompany the exhibition.

Michael C. Spafford: Hercules and Other Greek Legends

February 23 – April 28, 2013

Study Gallery and Print Study Center

Michael C. Spafford is a noted Seattle painter, printmaker and professor emeritus from the University of Washington who focuses on Greek mythology in his work. An exhibition of Spafford’s woodcuts entitled Michael C. Spafford: Hercules and Other Greek Legends has been organized by Hallie Ford Museum of Art Faculty Curator and Art History Professor Ann M. Nicgorski. The exhibition features a range of woodcut prints created by the artist during the past 30 years and includes his 12 Labors of Hercules, as well as other popular Greek legends and myths.

Senior Art Majors

April 13 – May 12, 2013

Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery

Each spring, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art features the work of senior art majors at Willamette University. The exhibition represents the culmination of their four years at Willamette and includes work in a variety of media, from painting, drawing, printmaking and photography to sculpture, ceramics, installation and mixed media.Art: Senior Art Majors

Linear Metaphysics: Contemporary Mark-Making and Time-Based Art Works

April 13 – May 12, 2013

Atrium Gallery and Maribeth Collins Lobby

James B. Thompson, Professor of Art, teaches drawing, painting and printmaking at Willamette University. He has created this new exhibition featuring a variety of original works that reflect their origins as both, part of a time-honored ancient tradition or continuum of mark-making by human beings and the original forms of time-based media through his examination of our shared humanity in the remnants, fragments, and archaeological remains comprising the stratification or layering of time in the unique cultural landscape of the peoples of ancient Scotland and Britain.