The mission of the akron art museum is to enrich lives through modern and contemporary art. The museum manifests this commitment by:- promoting the awareness, interest, appreciation, education and participation in the fine and applied arts produced since 1850. - maintaining a museum where such works of art are displayed and interpreted for the enjoyment and education of the public. - acquiring for its collection and conserving for the benefit of the community significant objects of high artistic merit, with new acquisitions focusing on contemporary painting, sculpture and photography by regional, national and international artists. - cooperating with diverse educational and cultural institutions, as well as interested community groups and individuals, in developing the means for increased understanding and enjoyment of the arts and related humanities created since 1850 and especially in recent years.

Art Museums , Arts & Culture

Exhibitionsthe museum promotes an awareness and interest in modern and contemporary art by displaying, for the benefit of the community, significant objects of high artistic merit. The past year's major exhibits included: serial intent; alchemy: transformations in gold; and jun kaneko: blurred lines. The serial intent exhibition opened in june 2017 and ran through september 2017. This exhibition drew upon the depth of the akron art museum's collection of photography and prints to highlight the serial format as an artist's tool, both as a practical method of production and as a way to affect viewers' understanding. Artists sometimes create works of art that are meant to be viewed as isolated, individual masterpieces. They also make artwork with serial intent. Similar to the way we experience the world in motion and over time, serial artworks encourage viewing one after another. While they stand alone as works of art, individuals within a series also consciously relate to one another. Together they express additional meaning or concepts that are not apparent in any single component this exhibition included works by karl blossfeldt, lorna simpson, eadweard muybridge, richard misrach, jacob lawrence and many others. Serial intent featured installations of major series in the museum's collection that are rarely displayed in full view serial intent was organized by the akron art museum and supported by the ohio arts council. Alchemy: transformations in gold brings together a group of international artists whose work incorporates gold (or another metal disguised as gold). In each case, this precious material not only imparts a sense of luxury but also calls to mind the historic and cultural value various societies have placed upon the rare element. As glamorous and sought after as gold may be, it suggests complicated politics and potent symbolism. The works in alchemy embraced both dark and light readings of this glittering metal. This exhibition included works by luis gisbert who combines gold chains and glittering stone to make sparkling abstractions, zarina, who constructs paper works and prayer bead sculptures in gold leaf, suggesting architecture and contemplative spirituality, and lalla essaydi who uses glittering gold-toned bullet casings to create garments and backdrops that refer to islamic visual culture, which she then works into large=scale-staged photographs. Other artists showcased in this exhibition were teresa margolles, danh vo, rachel sussman, charles lindsay, james lee byars, los carpinteros, cahaterine chalmers, dorothy cross, olga de armarai, don and era farnsworth, laurent grasso, hank willis thomas and shinji turner-yamamoto. Brooklyn based artist rachel sussman draws inspiration from the japanese tradition of kintsukuroi, in which broken ceramics are mended with gold. Rather than disguise cracks and breakage, kintsukuroi honors the repair as part of an object's history. Ms. Sussman created a site specific project for the museum by "fixing" several cracks in a square of the museum's concrete lobby floor with a mixture of bronze, 23. 5 carat gold dust, and a tree sap-based resin. The alchemy exhibition was organized by the des moines art center and was sponsored in akron by the john s. Knight foundation, the ohio arts council and the hilton garden inn. Media sponsorship by ideastream. Jun kaneko: blurred lines displays the groundbreaking, monumental works of internationally renowned artist june kaneko. Chosen for their powerful yet contemplative presence, many works featured in blurred lines are drawn from the artist's private collection and represent transformational moments in his career. This exhibition allows visitors to see how kaneko pushes the boundaries of ceramics, sculpture and painting, all the while melding influences from the east and west and is meant to create an experiential journey. Each object was carefully curated for its significance and relevance in telling jun's story and sharing