The Canton Museum of Art Kicks Off 2022-23 Exhibition Season With Four New Fall Exhibitions

The Canton Museum of Art will open its 2022-23 exhibition season, starting with Fall exhibits, on Tuesday, August 23 at 10:00am. Fall exhibitions include: Unseen: The Process and Art of American Printmaking, Lessons and Landscapes: The Legacy of Gerry Bernhardt, Continued Continuing: Paintings by Amy Casey and Illusions from the CMA Collection: Seeing is Deceiving. Fall exhibitions will be on view August 23 through October 30, 2022.

Opening Celebration Friday, September 2nd, 5pm - 7pm - The Canton Museum of Art will welcome guests to an in-person opening celebration for the Fall exhibitions on Friday, September 2, from 5pm to 7pm. There will be light hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar available. The CMA will be offering free admission and extended hours, from 10am-8pm, in celebration of September's First Friday.

CMA Executive Director and CEO Max Barton II said, "CMA's fall exhibitions are a thrilling ride through diverse artistic processes and developments across the 20th century through today. We are pleased to welcome everyone to experience these can't-miss exhibitions, so we hope you will include CMA in your fall plans!"

Featured Main Gallery Exhibitions
Unseen: The Process and Art of American Printmaking
From the start of the 20th century to today, printmaking has played an integral role in American art and the history of the United States. Unseen: The Process and Art of American Printmaking explores the history of printmaking in America and the varying "unseen" techniques within the medium while showcasing pieces from the CMA Collection, many of which have never before been on view in the galleries.

Featuring works by printmaking notables including Thomas Hart Benton, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Robert Rauschenberg, and James Rosenquist, Unseen traces the medium from its European influences in 1920s and later in the 1930s, when printmaking was finally accepted as an art form in this country, to the explosion of the graphic arts at the time of the Great Depression, and further into the experimentation with printmaking in the 1950s with a revival of wood engraving and wider use of color screen printing.

In the 1960s, Pop artists used color lithography and screenprinting to further their societal commentary, while Op artists used color and geometry to experiment with movement and illusion. As Unseen demonstrates and celebrates, the tradition of printmaking in America continues today - and many contemporary artists consider the medium part of their main body of work and a significant component of their stylistic and intellectual journey.

Lessons and Landscapes: The Legacy of Gerry Bernhardt
The exhibition Lessons and Landscapes captures the creative journey of local artist, Geraldine (Gerry) Jane Cook Bernhardt (1924 - 2003). An avid supporter and student of the Canton Museum of Art's School of Art, her sketches, studies, and notes fill the gallery walls alongside many finished watercolor paintings. Gerry would often take road trips and create detailed sketches of the surrounding landscapes. Some of those sketches bear meticulous notes about the colors to incorporate in a later rendition of the design, and other notes and critiques about her composition. This exhibition highlights a talent and love for the artistic process while providing a glimpse into the dedication, thoughts and adjustments made along the way.

Gerry dearly loved the Canton Museum of Art, where she was able to further develop her natural abilities and find inspiration within the galleries. Her daughter Susan worked at the Cultural Center for the Arts for years, which gave her the opportunity to see the exhibitions at the Canton Museum of Art regularly. Susan vowed to come back to the Museum one day and give a gift in honor of her mother and their shared great love for the Museum. In doing so, Susan would fulfill her mother's dream to encourage other artists and to support the vitally important art classes, community outreach programs, and world class exhibitions of the Museum. In August 2019, the shared dreams of Susan and her mother came to fruition through a gift from The Anthony J. and Susan E. Paparella Family Foundation, in support of the Museum's exhibitions and programming. Gerry's life-long dedication to artistic development and support of artists is recognized with the naming of the Gerry Bernhardt Education Gallery in her honor.

Northeast Ohio has been home to a remarkable number of highly successful and sought-after artists. CMA is pleased to welcome the artistic accomplishments of Amy Casey to its galleries with the exhibition Continued Continuing. CMA curators selected Casey's work from her appearance in the CAN Triennial, a regionally focused exhibition featuring northeast Ohio artists, selected by an intergenerational and diverse curatorial team, and representing this moment in time, place, and history in Cleveland and the region. Amy's work has a unique voice; it is as if a part of her as been infused into each piece that she creates. This exhibition showcases an evolving series of cityscapes that reflect the artist's view of the world; a story tumbles out of each building, house, and vine, and causes viewers to ponder meanings - from hope to anxiety and everything between, to "continue continuing," finding moments of peace and connection amidst change and chaos.

Explore the world of deception and experience the incredible with Illusions from the CMA Collection. In this exhibit, nothing is what it seems. Through photorealism to op art and beyond, these illusions in art will test your confidence in your senses. Both playful and serious, the artists of Illusions toy with spectators' vision to raise questions about the nature of art and perception. All work in this exhibit is from CMA's Collection and includes artists such as Marilyn Levine, Richard Shaw, M.C. Escher, Claude Hirst, Gary Erbe, Salvador Dalí, and more.

The Canton Museum of Art's exhibitions, related programs, and operations are made possible in part through generous support from Arts In Stark, Visit Canton, Stark Community Foundation, The Hoover Foundation, The Paparella Family Foundation, the Canton Museum of Art Exhibition Endowment at Stark Community Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts and Institute of Museum and Library Services. PNC FREE Thursdays, offering free admission all day, are generously sponsored by PNC Foundation.

Recognized for powerful original exhibitions and national touring exhibitions focused on American art and its influences, the Canton Museum of Art makes the discovery and exploration of art accessible to all. The Museum's education outreach programs, School of Art classes, and workshops serve thousands of students of all ages. CMA's acclaimed Collection focuses on American works on paper, primarily watercolors, and contemporary ceramics. CMA's Artisan Boutique is open during regular Museum hours. Founded in 1935, CMA serves more than 45,000 visitors each year. Visit cantonart.org and follow the Museum on Facebook for updates, or call 330.453.7666 for more information.

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