The Lowe Art Museum has dug deep into its vault to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year.
Brian Dursum, the museum’s director and chief curator, said the 60th anniversary is the museum’s “Diamond Jubilee.”
The anniversary is being celebrated to show the progress that the Lowe has made since 2002, when the museum began to aggressively develop its collections and develop partnerships with UM faculty.
The Lowe also got more students involved in programming that year. Dursum said that the anniversary is an opportunity to showcase these rather dramatic changes.
The preview of the exhibition at the museum had an impressive turnout, from Lowe members to the public on Jan. 27.
Carol Blades, a member of the museum, was thrilled with the displays at the preview.
“Every work of art pulls you in,” Blades said. “For the size and dimension, there’s more heart in this museum than any other institution in South Florida.”
The museum is displaying highlights that pull from 18,000 works of art and showcases. The exhibition itself commenced Jan. 28 and runs through March 25.
Because of space limitations, most of the works have been in storage for decades. The exhibition featured works by famous artists such as James Dean, Nancy Graves, Wifredo Lam, Leonard Baskin and William T. Wiley.
Denise Gerson thinks that the works on display are beautiful and congratulates the Lowe on their 60 years.
“They absolutely set the bar for the visual arts in Miami,” said Gerson, who retired this year as the associate director of the museum.
Dursum said that the Lowe plans to get UM faculty and students more involved with the museum.
The Lowe is planning major renovations for the Alfren I. Barton Wing of the museum, which should be completed later this year.
The Jay Jensen wing is being renovated to create the Art Study Center, where UM faculty and students will meet to discuss art works owned by the museum. The renovation should be completed by summer 2013.