MUSCATINE, IOWA (January 8, 2025) — The Muscatine Art Center is set to open two new exhibitions on the top floor of the historic Musser-McColm mansion this Saturday, January 11. Both will be on display through Sunday, March 9. Mirrors and Milagros: A Collection of Art Collage by Corinne Stanley, features mixed-media collages inspired by the artist’s time spent living in Mexico. Beth Van Hoesen: Prints from the Permanent Collection, highlights twenty-six prints and drawings by American artist Beth Van Hoesen. A closing reception and “A Toast to Women in Art” is planned for Sunday, March 9. See below for details.
Beth Van Hoesen, California Poppies, 1991. Hardground etching, aquatint, crawl-bite aquatint, with burnishing, à la poupée
Corinne Stanley is a poet, memoirist, and artist, who currently resides in Iowa City, but has spent several years living in Mexico. Her time spent in Mexico inspired her to create Mirrors and Milagros, her most recent collection of mixed-media collages. The collages narrate an engagement with Mexican culture, featuring mirrors, and milagros, tiny metal figures that represent prayers. Tin hearts and sequined images create a vibrant and sacred environment, while loteria (Bingo) cards, and naipes (Spanish playing cards), colorfully represent popular Mexican culture. Figures of the Divine Feminine (La Virgin de Guadalupe, Anima sola) and Frida Kahlo, give tribute to an intersection of art and the sacred female journey.
Corinne Stanley’s work has been shown at the Iowa City Farmers’ Market and other venues for the past twenty years. Recent exhibits include the Iowa City Spring Gallery Walk, the Washington Public Library, and the Burlington Art Center. Her artwork has appeared in The North American Poetry Review, Mag Pie Magazine, and Bilingual/Borderless. Stanley has published three books of poetry, and her poems and translations have appeared in Feminist Studies, The North American Review, The House of Zolo, Bilingual/Borderless, Quartet Journal, and the San Diego Poetry Annual. Meet Corinne at the closing reception, Sunday, March 9, 1:30–3PM.
In 2012, the Muscatine Art Center’s permanent collection was enriched by a gift of twenty-six prints and drawings by American artist Beth Van Hoesen, from the E Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen Trust of San Francisco, California. The gifted work includes the medias of graphite, colored pencil, watercolor, aquatint, etching, drypoint, engraving, and lithography.
Corinne Stanley, Visiones, paper on canvas, plastic jewels, sequined flower, mirrors
Van Hoesen created a remarkable body of graphic art in a career spanning more than five decades. At a time when most contemporary art was conceptual or abstract, she pursued drawing and printmaking in an academic manner, reminiscent of the centuries old tradition of draftsmanship that includes the work of Albrecht Durer and Hans Holbein. Born in Boise, Idaho in 1926, Van Hoesen studied art at Stanford University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948. After graduating from Stanford, she studied art in France and later at the California School of Fine Arts (San Francisco Art Institute).
The charming prints and drawings in the Muscatine Art Center’s permanent collection all depict Van Hoesen’s beautifully rendered flowers. Some pieces show lone flowers, where they are almost portrait-like and evocative of the flowers done by Georgia O'Keeffe, while others embody a more formal still-life, such as her suites of prints entitled Cups of Flowers where she concerns herself with the small pleasures of the arrangement and the decorative elements of the cups.
Museums with works by Beth Van Hoesen in their collections include the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Art Institute of Chicago; Boise Art Museum; Brooklyn Museum; Cincinnati Art Museum; Honolulu Academy of Arts; Smithsonian Institution; University Museums, Iowa State University; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and numerous other institutions.
A Toast to Women in Art and Closing Reception for Corinne Stanley
Sunday, March 9, 1:30-3PM
The public is invited to celebrate Women’s History Month with a toast to some of our favorite women in art! View treasured pieces from the Muscatine Art Center’s permanent collection by women artists, such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Elizabeth Catlett. On view are florals by Beth Van Hoesen and collages by Iowa City Artist Corinne Stanley who will visit with attendees during the reception. Meet members of the Muscatine League of Women Voters and learn about the organization, its history, and how to get involved. No registration required. Free admission.
The Muscatine Art Center is open Tuesdays through Fridays, 10AM-5PM; Thursdays, 10AM-7PM; and Saturdays and Sundays, 1-5PM. The Muscatine Art Center is located at 1314 Mulberry Avenue in Muscatine, Iowa. Call 563-263-8282 for up-to-date details or visit muscatineartcenter.org for more information about programs and events.
