It started in 1981 with a group of teachers, artists and other art lovers who wanted to share that love with a wider audience. And the Elmhurst Art Museum has been gathering an impressive collection of artwork ever since.
“In the beginning, a lot of the local artists and people in the Elmhurst Artists’ Guild and local collectors donated their collections to start the collection,” said Allison Peters Quinn, the museum’s executive director and chief curator.
A little over 10 years later, they had enough clout and resources to acquire the Mies van der Rohe-designed McCormick House, built in 1952. It was purchased in 1992 by a group led by artist and educator Eleanor King Hookham and moved to the Elmhurst Art Museum Campus.
“That set us on the path of art, architecture and education,” Quinn explained.
Through Aug. 17, the museum is staging an exhibition of items from its permanent collection called, “Legacies: Selections from the Elmhurst Art Museum Permanent Collection.”
The focus of the show is on collecting and collections. “We wanted to show how collections work,” Quinn said. “Who gives and how.”
Initially, the plan for the museum was to exhibit and collect works of local artists, but that focus soon expanded. The museum now has a permanent collection of around 1,000 works by a diverse assortment of creators.
“It’s a collection that is focused on 20th century art and design by Midwestern artists,” Quinn said.
She noted that pieces have been donated to the museum in a variety of ways. “It could be a family member, it could be the artists themselves, it could be their friends who pulled together their resources to make sure that story is told by a museum,” Quinn explained.
One interesting item in the collection, Quinn indicated, is the Barcelona Chair, attributed to Mies van der Rohe.
“It was designed actually by a designer, Lily Wright, that he worked with but it was always attributed to Mies van der Rohe, as happened with women artists in the ‘50s,” Quinn said.
Although the primary focus era of the museum’s collection is midcentury modern, Quinn reported, because of the way the museum was started, they do have pieces as old as the 1800s.
“We’re telling the story of midcentury modern and contemporary because that’s what the charter of the institution is now,” Quinn explained. “When it started, it was a little bit more nebulous.”
One valuable item in the collection is a large painting by Michelle Grabner, who taught at the School of the Art Institute for a long time and had solo shows in important institutions.
Another interesting work that Quinn cited is “Circus Wagon” by Joseph Burlini. “It’s this magical metal sculpture, about six feet tall, three by three feet square, but it’s circular,” Quinn said. “It has all these metal parts. When you look at it, it feels like it’s moving.”
The work was a gift from the Elmhurst Fine Arts and Civic Center Foundation.
The museum’s current exhibition draws from donations from over 200 collections and donors. It features micro installations of paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures from over a dozen collections. Works by local, regional, national, and international artists are included.
The Elmhurst Art Museum is at 150 S. Cottage Hill Ave. More information is at elmhurstartmuseum.org.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
