CU Art Museum News - February 2021 Newsletter

The CU Art Museum will remain closed to the public while the university continues to monitor the impacts of COVID-19.

We miss you and are committed to bringing the museum into your home by examining artwork in the collection as seen through a variety of personal perspectives. Please check out our virtual Close Looking programs and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

This month Pedro Caceres, exhibitions preparator, responds to an artwork in our collection.

For our February newsletter, I began the process of searching through our collection hobbled by an abundance of choice.  We have so many good things to choose from; so many different ideas are spawned by encountering as many objects as we have here. What was I to do? For me, this was a paralyzing problem and in desperation I started simply scrolling through our entire catalogue.  I was hoping to be struck by a bolt of inspiration while vaguely formulating a sense of direction for my writing.

Maybe the absurdity of my approach is one of the good things about having access to our collection’s database, because the idea of reflecting upon absurdity itself came upon me and in that instant...Goya!  Selecting Goya’s Disparate puntual, Una Reina del circo (Punctual Folly or The Queen of the Circus), from the series Los Disparates (Los Proverbios) (The Follies) seemed perfect.  The concept of “Disparate puntual” felt timely and its appearance before my eyes well, punctual.

Read his full musings at this link. 

Image credit: Francisco de Goya, Spanish (1746–1828), Disparate puntual, Una Reina del circo (Punctual Folly or The Queen of the Circus), from the series Los Disparates (Los Proverbios) (The Follies), 1816-1824, published after 1877, etching and aquatint, 11 15/16 x 16 7/8 inches. Gift of Anna C. Hoyt, CU Art Museum, 57.169. Photo by Wes Magyar, © CU Art Museum

Virtual Activities

During our COVID-19 closure we’ll be sharing artworks from our collection so that you can do some close-looking exercises from wherever you are. Invite a friend and do it together (virtually or physically distanced) to spark conversation or do it by yourself for some relaxation. And check out our new collection object inspired coloring book pages, available for free download here. 

Feel Good Fridays goes remote! You are invited to this weekly workshop to learn about a work of art and then participate in a related mindfulness practice. The powerful, guided meditation can undo stress, soothe the nervous system, and help you feel relaxed and revitalized. If practiced regularly, the meditation teaches a method for feeling calm, easeful, and resilient, even when facing life’s challenges. Meditations are open to students, faculty, staff, and the public. All are welcome and there is no need for past experience with meditation. Registration is required.