May 15 - September 12, 2010

The Massillon Museum has originated an important traveling exhibition, Against the Grain: Modernism in the Midwest, based on new research documented by a scholarly catalog. The Museum’s summer exhibition will open on May 15 and be on view through September 12, 2010 in the main gallery. The exhibition is funded through the National Endowment for the Arts’ American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius initiative. Focusing on the development of Modernism in the Midwest, the exhibition will highlight artworks made between 1900 and 1950. Through 67 paintings, it will explore similarities and differences in the development of Modernism by artists who were born, studied, or worked in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. The exhibition will include important works by artists such as Ivan Albright, Charles Burchfield, Manierre Dawson, William Sommer, Gertrude Abercrombie, and Clara Deike. The artwork is on loan from private collections, galleries, and museums throughout the United States. The exhibition was curated by Massillon Museum Executive Director Christine Fowler Shearer.

Essays by noted scholars—Dr. William H. Robinson, Curator of European Modern Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, and Christine Shearer, and biographical information about each artist will form the core of the 120-page full-color exhibition catalog.

Jill Malusky, the Museum’s educator, developed a family guide for the exhibition, workshops and classes related to the exhibition, and much more, through a grant provided by ArtsinStark.

After closing at the Massillon Museum, the exhibition will travel to three additional venues: The Riffe Gallery in Columbus, Ohio (November 3, 2010-January 9, 2011); the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center in Portsmouth, Ohio (March 5-May 29, 2011); and the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, Wisconsin (July 20-October 2, 2011).

The Massillon Museum receives funding from the Ohio Arts Council and Arts in Stark.

The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East (Ohio Route 172) in the heart of downtown Massillon. For more information, contact the Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org.

The Massillon Museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. A visit to the Massillon Museum is always free.

Modernism Murals Around Massillon:

The Massillon Museum has installed murals around downtown.
Click here to download the mural guide (.5MB, PDF)

Museum's murals brighten city's downtown blight
The Independent (Massillon)

Media Coverage for the Exhibit:

Midwestern Modernists in Massillon: Exhibition opens this weekend
The Repository (Canton)

Massillon Museum exhibit to feature modern Midwest art
The Independent (Massillon)

Midwest held high in urban art period
The Beacon Journal (Akron)