USA TODAY International Edition
Must-see fall exhibits at U.S. museums
THE JIM HENSON EXHIBITION AT MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE IN NEW YORK CITY JULY 2017 - PERMANENT
New York City’s museum dedicated to film and television pays tribute to Jim Henson’s groundbreaking work in a new, permanent exhibit. From early in his career to his success with The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal,
and Labyrinth, Henson’s story is told through more than 300 artifacts, film and television clips, and behind-the-scenes footage. The exhibit features 47 puppets (including including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, The Swedish Chef, Big Bird, Elmo, and Cantus Fraggle), character sketches, storyboards, scripts, photographs, and iconic costumes, plus interactive components that let visitors practice puppeteering and creating their own character.
movingimage.us/
CANVAS OF CLAY AT SCOTTSDALE’S MUSEUM OF THE WEST SEPT. 16 - PERMANENT
With tribal land located in Northern Arizona, the Hopi’s centuriesold ceramics tradition has earned it international recognition. Scottsdale’s Museum of the West will open a new, permanent exhibit to show 65 Hopi pottery masterworks from one of the country’s finest private collections. The ceramics — which have not been exhibited before — include eight works by Nampeyo of Hano, the most famous Hopi potter, and her daughters. Spanning six centuries, the collection is considered a national treasure and source of pride for Arizona.
http://scottsdalemuseumwest.org/
LIGHT AT NICHOLAS CONSERVATORY & GARDENS IN ROCKFORD, ILL. THROUGH NOV. 5
British artist Bruce Munroe’s newest large-scale garden exhibition features 110,000 meters of colorful fiber optic cables to create an otherworldly experience using light. It took Munroe more than a year to render the installation, which includes Field
of Light with more than 8,000 flower-like orbs that change colors and a flock of pink lawn flamingos, called Don’s Flamingos.
The eight sculptures on display were made with reusable materials, including fishing poles and soda bottles. While the artist’s installations have been featured elsewhere in the U.S., this is the first opportunity to see his work in the Chicago area.
nicholasconservatory.com/
CITY OF DUST AT NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART IN RENO THROUGH JANUARY 2018
What started as a small gathering of friends in 1986 in San Francisco to burn a wooden figure (“the man”) in effigy has become a massive counterculture gathering held annually in the Nevada desert. Fittingly, the Nevada Museum of Art tells the story of Burning Man in a new exhibit this fall. Since the event relies on creating a temporary city (dedicated to art, self-expression and self-reliance) and leaving no trace, other museums haven’t tried to unravel it. Luckily for curators at the museum, they have the support of Burning Man’s founders and have been able to tell the story through photographs, artifacts, journals and sketches.
nevadaart.org/ THROUGH DEC. 3, 2017 An innovator in the stop-motion animation genre, Ray Harryhausen’s (1920-2013) work on The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger and Clash of the Titans inspired a generation of filmmakers. “Film giants from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to James Cameron, Peter Jackson and Tim Burton credit Ray’s work as an inspiration source,” said Scott Henderson, director of SMO’s smART Space. Science Museum Oklahoma’s exhibit includes nearly 150 original models, prototypes, bronzes, sketches and storyboards that Harryhausen used in his signature stopmotion animation process to make miniature creatures appear life-size.
www.sciencemuseumok.org/
EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI: NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART OCT. 6, 2017 TO JAN. 7, 2018
In partnership with the National Gallery of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art hosts a once-in-alifetime opportunity to see rarely-shown 19th-century American landscape photography made east of the Mississippi River. Since these images are sensitive to light, many have never before been on view to the public. Along with some of the earliest examples of photography in America, one can’t-miss highlight is the first photo ever taken of Canada, from Niagara Falls. Among the 150 works created in 1839-1899, the exhibit includes daguerreotypes, salt prints, albumen prints, stereographic images, and paintings.
https://noma.org/
FROGS: DAZZLING AND DISAPPEARING AT THE AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC IN LONG BEACH THROUGH MARCH 31, 2018
The Aquarium of the Pacific’s fall exhibit brings attention to an important issue: Amphibians are the fastest-disappearing group of animals on Earth. Visitors will learn about frogs and other amphibians with two dozen on display, including colorful poison dart frogs, Pacific tree frogs known for their “ribit” sound, and giant aquatic salamanders from the Ozarks known as hellbenders. The exhibit addresses the life cycle of amphibians, the threats to their continued existence, and steps that visitors can take to save them.
aquariumofpacific.org/