Elmhurst Art Museum’s new exhibit to feature works from Salvador Dali, Mies van de Rohe

The Elmhurst Art Museum’s summer exhibition, “Legacies: Selections from the Elmhurst Art Museum Permanent Collection,” features dozens of artists from Salvador Dali and Mies van der Rohe to Kay Rosen and Michiko Itatani.

The group exhibition presents a rare opportunity to see the Elmhurst Art Museum’s permanent collection. It explores the relationships between artists, collectors and museums that lead to larger, ongoing narratives connecting people across time and place. Led by the museum’s curatorial team, “Legacies: Selections from the Elmhurst Art Museum Permanent Collection” is open from May 31 through Aug. 17 at 150 South Cottage Hill Ave. in Elmhurst.

“Museum art collections like ours would not happen without a community of collectors gifting their treasured artworks to us. With ‘Legacies,’ we are telling the story of the Elmhurst Art Museum by way of the individuals such as Cleve Carney, The Broidy Family, Carol and Dick Cline and artists including Suellen Roca and Phyllis Bramson, for example, who chose to put their artwork in our care so that it could bring joy to others for decades to come. Also, what does a collection say about the collector? We hope to broaden the conversation of collecting to think about how and why we all are attracted to collecting objects,” Allison Peters Quinn, executive director and chief curator of the Elmhurst Art Museum, said in a news release.

A regional center of 20th century American art and midcentury design, the Elmhurst Art Museum collection began in the 1990s and now includes approximately 1,000 works drawn from over 200 collections or donors, with a focus on modern and contemporary art works by Midwestern artists, architects and designers that have exhibited at the museum, and furniture design items related to McCormick House.

The exhibition will feature micro installations of paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures from over a dozen collections donated to the museum, and includes local, regional, national and international artists.

“Legacies: Selections from the Elmhurst Art Museum Permanent Collection” broadly considers the nature of collecting and how and why selections on view were collected by certain families, artists and individuals.

Accompanying the exhibition will be a lively program of music, film, talks and tours to address collecting practices and access to collections, while inspiring people to build collections of their own.

Summer visitors are also invited to see “CROSSINGS,” a solo exhibition of acclaimed Chicago-based artist Bernard Williams traversing the Museum’s campus. It includes several outdoor vehicle sculptures in Wilder Park, an airplane sculpture inside the Museum’s Hostetler Gallery and large paintings in the McCormick House. “CROSSINGS” is curated by Peters Quinn and will also be on view through Aug. 17.

RELATED PROGRAMS

Exhibition Reception: Legacies: Selections from the Elmhurst Art Museum Permanent Collection and CROSSINGS Friday, May 30, 6-8 p.m.

Elmhurst Art Museum celebrates the openings of its summer exhibitions “Legacies: Selections from the Elmhurst Art Museum Permanent Collection” and “CROSSINGS” with exhibition viewing and light fare with members, artists and community members. RSVP required. $28

Create With Us: Sculptures with Artist Bernard Williams Saturday, June 7, 1-4 p.m.

Chicago artist Bernard Williams presents an artist talk and art-making activity. Williams’s large-scale sculptures and paintings are featured in the museum’s summer exhibitions installed in Wilder Park and across the museum’s galleries and McCormick House. Williams will discuss his varied art practice and themes concerning Black farmers and cowboys, the life of Bessie Coleman and car sculptures. He will then lead participants in a workshop to create small cardboard sculptures of their own. Included with museum admission.

Soundbites: An Evening of Music Saturday, June 21 7-9 p.m.

Elmhurst Art Museum presents an evening of art and music. Groups of local musicians will perform in a variety of styles and genres throughout the museum’s campus. Inspired by the concept of a progressive dinner, guests will move freely through the museum’s galleries and art studios to listen to “collections” of live music at their own pace. $50

Film Screening: A Collection of Short Films from the Chicago Film Archives Media Mixer Series

Thursday, July 24, 7-9 p.m.

Elmhurst Art Museum in partnership with the Chicago Film Archives (CFA) presents an evening screening of selected short films from the Chicago Film Archives Media Mixers series. This project pairs visual and sound artists who collaborate to make new video work using archival footage from the CFA collection. The evening includes light bites, beverages and an opportunity to view the summer exhibitions.

The museum is open Wednesday and Thursday from noon – 5 p.m., Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Regular admission prices are $18 for adults (ages 18+), $15 for seniors, $10 for students and $5 for children.

For more information, call 630-834-0202 or visit elmhurstartmuseum.org.