As you may be aware, the Valparaiso Center for the Arts (VUCA) Brauer Museum of Art has reopened. Some galleries that had been closed since the beginning of 2024 have re-hung their artwork, as you may have heard. Trust me when I say you need to make frequent trips there.
Why? The Brauer has a permanent collection of more than 5,000 works of art, so you can be sure that you will be able to view and appreciate a wide range of artistic styles. Silkscreens of Marilyn Monroe and Campbell Soup cans made Andy Warhol famous. If you are interested in seeing Warhol’s silkscreen print of Lakota leader Sitting Bull, you can find it in the 20th-century museum; however, the Brauer’s soup can is currently stored. Room 1212 is a fascinating addition to the gallery because it displays a variety of Warhol’s polaroids, some of which include Dolly Parton and a Campbell’s Chicken Wonton Soup can.
The Brauer also houses the work of Ansel Adams, a renowned American photographer best known for his Yosemite pictures. Also on exhibit is “Steerage,” the shot that Alfred Stieglitz is most known for. Given the subject’s continued significance, Stieglitz’s image may make a comeback as the country discusses immigration. Photos by Howard Bond, a pupil of Adams’, demonstrate the lasting impact of both Stieglitz and Adams, who helped to create art photography.
The first American gallery to display modernist art was Stieglitz’s in New York City. He found Georgia O’Keeffe, unasked her permission to hang up her art, persuaded her to let him support her, and they eventually got married. Paper works by other members of the Stieglitz Circle, a group of artists he helped fund, are also on show.
Please take your time as you will need to travel through the Ferguson Gallery on your way there. The Brauer’s permanent collection features works by Black artists as you enter the room. These artists include Romare Beardon, Charles White, Richard Hunt (sculptor), Dawoud Bey (photographer), Kara Walker (artist), Allison Saar (artist), and Sam Gillian (sculptor).
To fully appreciate the artists’ work and be excited about seeing their works on exhibit, it is recommended that you do some research on them before your visit. Before being let go in 2024, museum director and curator Jonathan Canning added two breathtaking works on paper to the collection: a lithograph by the influential 20th-century African American artist Jacob Lawrence and a print by the up-and-coming Black artist Whitfield Lovell. Both pieces are on exhibit.
Located in a little square room just beyond the main Ferguson Gallery, you will find four enormous watercolors created by the renowned American modernist Charles Burchfield. Since Burchfield’s daughter attended Valpo University, the Burchfield Foundation generously donated a number of the Burchfields on exhibit. Several well-lit and spacious works on paper by Stieglitz Circle members, as well as an Edward Hopper lithograph and a Burchfield drawing, can be enjoyed down the corridor.
Now you’re in a huge gallery surrounded by paintings by American impressionists if you follow this route sketched out. The Brauer Museum of Art’s “America the Beautiful: Impressionism” display is breathtakingly gorgeous. This summer marks 150 years since the first impressionist exhibition in Paris, and Canning has arranged an exhibition to celebrate the occasion. At this very moment, I do not believe you will find a more exquisite display of American impressionist art anyplace in the nation. Every piece is part of our permanent collection; the Brauer was born from a gift from Percy Sloan in 1953, and almost half of it is from that donation.
At the entryway, you will find a picture of Founding Director Richard Brauer by Caleb Kortokrax, an alum of Valpo, alongside a VUPD officer who is there to greet you. Their service is really appreciated.
If you were in a rush to enter or exit the Brauer, you might walk right by the Education Room that is located just inside the entrance. Look at it. The Education Room now features a selection of our finest Japanese Ukiyo-e woodcut prints, curated by the rehired former director Gregg Hertzlieb, who is responsible for the collection’s upkeep. This includes prints by the renowned Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige. Discover the enchantment of each display. We are fortunate to have a wide array of free creative pieces on campus to admire. I hope you and your friends will take the time to visit the museum, where you can appreciate the hard work of the staff.
