September
Fall 2023 Opening Reception
September 9, 6-9 p.m.
Gallery Talk with artist Franklin White for An American in Venezuela, 5-6 pm
Check out our art exhibitions for the fall season! In CUSHNER, witness Steven Cushner’s masterful manipulation of color and scale, and in Rachel Rotenberg, see how the artist imbues her cedar sculptures with both intimacy and monumentality. The larger-than-life oil pastels in Franklin White: An American in Venezuela invite you to examine the way nature generously gifted Merida, Venezuela, with a bounty of beautiful things, while the photography in the must-see Lost Europe offers an intimate look into the lives of rural Ukrainians just before Putin’s invasion. Lillian Klein Abensohn’s Song of Songs: Fruitful Relationships explores the allegorical power of the still-life through suggestive depictions of fruits and vegetables, and Nature’s Tapestry re-visions the everyday through Bernis von zur Muehlen’s evocative photographs of the natural world.
Make a night of it and explore these powerful and diverse artworks – come early for light refreshments!
Gallery Talk: Franklin White: An American in Venezuela
September 9, 5-6 p.m. | Exhibit: Franklin White: An American in Venezuela
Franklin White is back in the DMV and better than ever! Learn how the little city in Venezuela called Merida captivated, re-charged, and inspired him with its lifestyle and natural beauty. See his larger-than-life oil pastels and learn about his process in a delightful dialogue with Franklin White and his curator Dr. Chantelle Bernard – who also happens to be his niece.
Speaker: Franklin White, Artist
Moderator: Dr. Chantelle E. Bernard, Curator
Special Presentation: “A Day in Kyiv”
September 16, 4-6 p.m. | Exhibit: Lost Europe: On the Edge of Memories
Join us for a special presentation centered around our photography exhibition Lost Europe: On the Edge of Memories in which pre-war Ukrainian culture is explored. Daniel Faust, whose work often involves encyclopedic photographic arrays of subjects spanning the globe, will discuss a project focused on Kyiv where he took photographs in 2010. Daniel is an internationally recognized photographer whose work often involves encyclopedic photographic arrays of various subjects.
Speaker: Daniel Faust, Photographer
Speaker: Milena, Curator – Lost Europe: On the Edge of Memories
Speaker: Richard Vine, Managing Editor of Art in America
Host: Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator, American University Museum
Gallery Talk
September 23, 2-3 p.m. | Exhibit: Nature’s Tapestry
Meet photographer Bernis von zur Muehlen as she and her curator talk about her creative process and the exhibition Nature’s Tapestry. This exhibition explores a microcosmic world in a macrocosmic way through a series of surreal images focusing on the natural world. Spiritual, mysterious, evocative, provocative – learn more about Bernis and her work at this illuminating gallery talk.
Speaker: Bernis von zur Muehlen, Artist
Moderator: Ori Soltes, Curator
Special Event: Tenleytown Main Street’s “Art All Night”
September 30, 6-10 p.m.
Visit the AU Museum after hours and enjoy a live jazz performance! Art All Night celebrates the visual and performing arts in public and private spaces throughout Tenleytown. Come see American University’s visual and performing arts in action at the Katzen Arts Center. Don’t miss our MFA open studios from 7-10 p.m.
October
Gallery Talk: Cushner
October 7, 2-3 p.m. | CUSHNER
Art from an architectural angle! Meet artist Steven Cushner at one of the largest exhibitions of his work to date. Architect David Jameson has followed and championed Cushner for over 25 years. Join us as we learn more about Cushner’s work and explore the dynamic between contemporary architecture and the placement of art within that architecture.
Speaker: Steve Cushner, Artist
Speaker: David Jameson, Architect
Reading Performance: Ukrainian Poetry
October 21, 4-6 p.m. | Exhibit: Lost Europe: On the Edge of Memories
Join us for a literary performative event with poems and literature by Ukrainian writers. Conceived and organized by Christina Steibrecher-Pfandt (curator and former executive director of the viennacontemporary international art fair) and Denis Belkevich (an art manager who recently arrived from Ukraine). Included among the authors are Taras Shevchenko, 1814-1861; Ivan Franko, 1856-1916; Lesya Ukrainka, 1871-1913; Mykola Khvylovy, 1893-1933; Lina Kostenko, 1930; Vasyl Stus, 1938-1985; Serhiy Zhadan, 1974; Oleg Teplykh, 1971; and others. Reading of Ukrainian poems translated into English will be done by variety of participants including locally based curators, artists, and professionals from universities and their students.
Reader: Leeya Mehta, Interim Director, The Alan Cheuse International Writer’s Center, George Mason University
Reader: Irina Denischenko, Assistant Professor, Department of Slavic Languages, Georgetown University; Assistant Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Georgetown University
Reader: Aneta Georgievska-Shine, Senior Lecturer, Department of Art History at the University of Maryland …and others.
November
Music Event: Choral Abstractions
November 4 at 7:30 & November 5 at 4:30
By its very nature, choral music is not often abstract. Frequently, however, contemporary composers have taken a more abstract approach by creating music without word, by adopting vocal devices, or even creating open approaches to shape and form that provide greater parallels to visual art. Join us for an inspiring earful of innovative approaches to choral sound in conjunction with our exhibition of large abstract works by Steven Cushner. This program with commentary will be a delight for the eyes, ears, and mind.
Director: Daniel Abraham
Gallery Talk: Franklin White: An American in Venezuela
November 18, 2-3 p.m. | Exhibit: Franklin White: An American in Venezuela
Franklin White is back in the DMV and better than ever! Learn how the little city in Venezuela called Merida captivated, re-charged, and inspired him with its lifestyle and natural beauty. See his larger-than-life oil pastels and learn about his process in a delightful dialogue with Franklin White and his curator Dr. Chantelle Bernard – who also happens to be his niece.
Speaker: Franklin White, Artist
Moderator: Dr. Chantelle E. Bernard, Curator
Gallery Talk: Rachel Rotenberg
New date: November 19, 2-3 p.m. | Exhibit: Rachel Rotenberg
(Originally scheduled for Oct. 22)
Rachel Rotenberg, an artist with roots in Baltimore who is currently living in Israel, creates abstract wood sculptures that range in scale from monumental to intimate. Several works in her exhibition are the most ambitious of her 40-plus year career. Learn how she derives inspiration by the way things touch, pull, engage, and hold (inside and outside) as well as how creating these forms in relative obscurity has allowed her artwork to develop independently and free from outside influences.
Speaker: Rachel Rotenberg, Artist
Moderator: Jane Livingston, Curator
Event Contacts
Patricia Edwine-Poku
ppoku@american.edu