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Community, Memory & Connection: Phillips Museum of Art Spring Exhibitions Underway

Art enthusiasts curious about Lancaster’s local scene can look no further than Franklin & Marshall College’s Phillips Museum of Art. The museum’s spring exhibitions offer a celebration of Lancaster artists and the American experience. “There is a definite theme of community, memory and connection that filters through all of the galleries,” said Lindsay Marino, director of the museum. The latest exhibits place particular emphasis on American music, community engagement and self-taught artists. “The Phillips is pushing the boundaries on how to define art this semester. That's what is so great about academic museums – the galleries become terrific workshops,” Marino said. The Phillips celebrates the legacy of the late Bill Hutson, professor of painting at F&M for more than 20 years. Hutson passed away from a long illness Sept. 21, 2022. When asked if he regarded his art as "work," Hutson responded, "It's not work, it's more like prayer – not in a religious sense, but in a meditative sense. It's about the exploration that rises out of that meditation." The spring exhibitions at the Phillips Museum of Art opened Jan. 24 and are on display through April 27. The museum’s hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.Color, Symbols, and Texture: The Artwork of Bill Hutson  An internationally respected painter, Hutson was the Jennie Brown Cook and Betsy Hess Cook distinguished artist-in-residence and associate professor emeritus in the Department of Art, Art History and Film at F&M. Hutson’s wide-ranging travels and longstanding relationships with other prominent contemporary artists informed his abstracted style, “giving the viewer an opportunity to contemplate a deeper interpretation of the paintings,” Marino said.Blue Muse: Timothy Duffy’s Southern Photographs Duffy’s portraits of American musicians utilize tintype, a photography method dating back to the 19th century. It requires coating a metal plate with a wet, viscous solution that holds light-sensitive chemicals. The best tintypes often result from incidental effects of the process, much like the improvisational qualities of the music that Duffy’s subjects play.Welcome to the Neighborhood: PACE Artists  Public Art Community Engagement (PACE) Neighbors is a National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town” project led by the City of Lancaster in partnership with F&M. This residency supports five Lancaster-area artists to create temporary art projects with neighbors. “We're looking forward to seeing how this project can sustain collaborations with F&M students and Lancaster residents,” Marino said. The PACE call-for-artists states: “City governments need new ways to reach people, learn from them and collectively redevelop the civic experience. By breaking down barriers, community-based public art encourages participation and fosters camaraderie.”Intuitive: Self-taught Artists from the John Ground Collection Explore the works of artists from the southeastern U.S., several of whom struggled through socioeconomic challenges and one who was born into slavery. These self-taught artists bore witness to the Civil War, Emancipation, Great Migration and the civil rights movement. “Their creative forms of expression serve as a way to recall and process memories of a variety of cultural or familial experiences in rural America in the early and mid-20th century,” Marino said.

Art enthusiasts curious about Lancaster’s local scene can look no further than Franklin & Marshall College’s Phillips Museum of Art. The museum’s spring exhibitions offer a celebration of Lancaster artists and the American experience.

“There is a definite theme of community, memory and connection that filters through all of the galleries,” said Lindsay Marino, director of the museum. 

The latest exhibits place particular emphasis on American music, community engagement and self-taught artists. 

“The Phillips is pushing the boundaries on how to define art this semester. That's what is so great about academic museums – the galleries become terrific workshops,” Marino said.

The Phillips celebrates the legacy of the late Bill Hutson, professor of painting at F&M for more than 20 years. Hutson passed away from a long illness Sept. 21, 2022. 

When asked if he regarded his art as "work," Hutson responded, "It's not work, it's more like prayer – not in a religious sense, but in a meditative sense. It's about the exploration that rises out of that meditation." 

The spring exhibitions at the Phillips Museum of Art opened Jan. 24 and are on display through April 27. The museum’s hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.

Color, Symbols, and Texture: The Artwork of Bill Hutson 

An internationally respected painter, Hutson was the Jennie Brown Cook and Betsy Hess Cook distinguished artist-in-residence and associate professor emeritus in the Department of Art, Art History and Film at F&M.

Hutson’s wide-ranging travels and longstanding relationships with other prominent contemporary artists informed his abstracted style, “giving the viewer an opportunity to contemplate a deeper interpretation of the paintings,” Marino said. 

Blue Muse: Timothy Duffy’s Southern Photographs

Duffy’s portraits of American musicians utilize tintype, a photography method dating back to the 19th century. It requires coating a metal plate with a wet, viscous solution that holds light-sensitive chemicals.

The best tintypes often result from incidental effects of the process, much like the improvisational qualities of the music that Duffy’s subjects play.

Welcome to the Neighborhood: PACE Artists 

Public Art Community Engagement (PACE) Neighbors is a National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town” project led by the City of Lancaster in partnership with F&M.

This residency supports five Lancaster-area artists to create temporary art projects with neighbors. 

“We're looking forward to seeing how this project can sustain collaborations with F&M students and Lancaster residents,” Marino said.

The PACE call-for-artists states: “City governments need new ways to reach people, learn from them and collectively redevelop the civic experience. By breaking down barriers, community-based public art encourages participation and fosters camaraderie.”  

Intuitive: Self-taught Artists from the John Ground Collection

Explore the works of artists from the southeastern U.S., several of whom struggled through socioeconomic challenges and one who was born into slavery. These self-taught artists bore witness to the Civil War, Emancipation, Great Migration and the civil rights movement. 

“Their creative forms of expression serve as a way to recall and process memories of a variety of cultural or familial experiences in rural America in the early and mid-20th century,” Marino said.