The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art is inviting the public to the joint opening of Meet the Fletchers and Jim Mangan: The Crick, two compelling exhibitions that explore the American West through very different lenses on Feb. 21.
In conjunction with the opening of Meet the Fletchers, NEHMA is hosting a gallery talk at 5 p.m. featuring Ronald Jenkins, grandson of Calvin Fletcher, and the exhibition’s curators, Danielle Stewart and James Swensen.
Meet the Fletchers highlights artist Calvin Fletcher and his role in founding USU’s art department and establishing Logan as the epicenter of modern art in Utah. The exhibition explores intimate paintings of local landscapes, experimental techniques and the significance of family relationships.
It features the work of Calvin, his wife, Irene, and their son Dale, showcasing how the family members taught and cared for each other. While each of the three produced work in distinctive styles, they shared a common commitment to artistic experimentation and the Fletcher family legacy.
“Calvin was aflexible artist and beloved teacher,” says curator Danielle Stewart. “He was not dogmatic in his approach to art. He brought visiting artists to campus to expose students to styles and techniques beyond his own. Irene was a skilled portraitist adept at conveying human expression. Dale was extremely experimental; his ideas about the connections between art and spirituality were beyond his time.”
Jim Mangan: The Crick is a photographic meditation on the American West, highlighting a group of young men often referred to as the Lost Boys. Artist Jim Mangan originally traveled to Southern Utah and Arizona to photograph the architecture of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) community. Once there, he found a new subject: a hidden community of young men who seemed to live in a previous era, riding horses, wearing hand-stitched buckskin clothes, living communally and uniting in their distrust of the outside world. Mangan’s portraits convey the vulnerability andthe playfulness of youth against the capricious landscape of the American West.
NEHMA will host Jim Mangan for an artist talk on April 4. Together with NEHMA’s current exhibition — The Lure and Lore of the West — Meet the Fletchers and Jim Mangan: The Crick reflect on how art shapes our understanding of place, community and identity in the American West.
5-7 p.m. Feb. 21: Opening Reception and gallery talk with curators Danielle Stewart of NEHMA and James Swensen of BYU, and Fletcher descendant Ronald Jenkins. There will be live music and refreshments. The event is free and open to all.5-6:30 p.m. April 9: Artist Talk Jim Mangan and discussion with novelist Judith Freeman.
The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University fosters engagement with modern and contemporary art to facilitate learning and promote dialogue about ideas important to the people of Utah and the mission of Utah State University. Admission is free and open to all. Parking is available in the free museum parking stalls and at the Gateway Terrace. For more information, go to our website at usu.edu/artmuseum or contact Shaylee Briones at shaylee.briones@usu.edu.