Exhibitions
October 5, 2024 through May 11, 2025
I don’t remember making a decision to be an artist.
I just was one.
Beth Van Hoesen, 1987
Beth Van Hoesen distinguished herself as a major figure in twentieth-century printmaking. Born in Boise, ID, Van Hoesen studied art at Stanford University, making California her home and creating art in the Bay Area for the rest of her life. The artist focused on capturing the essence of animals, flowers, people, and everyday objects in a realistic manner. She worked from life, carefully studying the animals and people that because her subjects. This intense focus distinctly captures each subject's individuality, and gives her work a supremely personal touch.
Van Hoesen began her career during an era when Abstract Expressionism, a 1940s-1960s movement that featured primarily male artists presenting hyper-masculinized public images, reigned supreme. Van Hoesen would have struggled to gain notoriety as a female artist during that time, especially given her choice of media, style, and subject matter.
…there are times that – in the process of an idea –
that you may do something that’s quite special.
It isn’t what you have in mind, but for some reason,
you’ve captured a line or a personality.
Beth Van Hoesen, Artist Interview, 1984
This dynamic exhibit features a selection of Beth Van Hoesen prints from the Arkell Museum collection.
This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Beth Van Hoesen (1926-2010)
Oka, 1991
Aquatint, drypoint, and etching with roulette
Printed in black and light brown inks; handcolored with watercolor
Gift of the E. Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen Adams Trust, 2011
Art of the Everyday: Painted Woodcarvings
May 25th - September 22, 2024
Visual artist Mary Michael Shelley uses low relief wood-carved texture and acrylic paint to give life, movement, and interest to her work.
Developed by the Arkell Museum, this dynamic exhibit focuses on New York State themes including agriculture, landscapes, lake views, and diners. Hand Digging the Erie Canal, a new piece created specifically for this exhibit, is a special feature. We are thrilled to announce that this work is now part of our permanent collection. A benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous donated funding specifically to purchase this piece. Come see it and more work by Mary Michael Shelley in this exhibit. Hand Digging the Erie Canal will also be on display next year when we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Erie Canal.
Artist Mary Michael Shelley has lived in rural upstate New York for more than 50 years and is a frequent demonstrator at the Ithaca Farmers’ Market. Significant public collections that own work by Shelley include the Smithsonian and the National Museum of Women and the Arts (Washington, DC), the American Museum in Britain (Bath, England), the Museum of American Folk Art (NYC), the High Museum (Atlanta, GA), Women’s Rights National Historic Park (Seneca Fall, NY), and the Fenimore Art Museum (Cooperstown, NY).
This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Mary Michael Shelley
Hand Digging the Erie Canal, 2024
Carved pine, acrylic paint, and gold leaf
Museum Purchase with Donated Funds, 2024
Winslow Homer Wood Engravings
The Shirley W. Brand Collection
March 2, 2024 through May 12, 2024
The Arkell Museum was recently gifted a transformative collection of Winslow Homer wood engravings. Winslow Homer Wood Engravings: The Shirley W. Brand Collection is the first time a selection of these extraordinary wood engravings will be on view here at the Arkell Museum. We are so grateful to the family of Shirley W. Brand for this incredible gift.
Winslow Homer began his career as an art illustrator in the late 1850s, creating images for popular publications including Ballou’s Pictorial and Harper’s Weekly. He served as a wartime correspondent for Harper’s Weekly, capturing important battle, camp, and community scenes during the Civil War. Homer also excelled at depicting scenes from everyday life: farm fields, city streets, windy beach bluffs, factory workers, fishing parties.
This exhibition features some of Homer’s most famous and recognizable images such as The Dinner Horn and The Noon Recess as well as images that may be lesser known but are equally stunning and engaging. Image themes presented in this first sampling include Agriculture, Work, Entertainment, the Civil War, and Social Commentary.
This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
The Morning Bell
Wood engraving on paper
Harper’s Weekly; December 13, 1873
Arkell Museum Collection
Gift of the family of Shirley W. Brand, 2020
