OUR SPRING IN TOWN | February 7 – March 29, 2020

Education Gallery
February 7 – March 29

Take a close look at the Swope’s painting by Grant Wood, Spring in Town. A typical small town like Grover’s Corners in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Wood set the scene to critique the myth if the American way of life pre-WWII. Discover the story of symbols embedded in the painting through real objects in this immersive exhibition.

In partnership with The Vigo County Public Library’s BIG READ 2020: Our Town

To access other e-materials available by the Vigo County Public Library, click on the VCPL logo above. The Library encourages customers to utilize digital resources to stream movies and music, listen to an audiobook, or read an ebook. If you do not have a Library card, you may get a temporary card number to access digital resources by registering online. This card number will be active for 90 days.

Click here to read the essay written by our Curator of Collections & Exhibitions, Edward Trover, about the exhibition.
Click here to be directed to the Vigo County Public Library’s e-book of Our Town by Thornton Wilder.

Other resources on Thornton Wilder or his book Our Town.

Welcome to the Swope Art Museum’s Education Gallery where the exhibition begins.
As one walks into the gallery, to the left.
As one walks into the gallery, to the right.
Exhibition Labels.
Grant Wood’s Spring in Town. Grant Wood (1891 – 1942) Spring In Town, 1941; Oil on panel, 24 x 21 1/8 inches; Museum purchase 1942.30; Artwork copyright Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licenced by VAGA, New York, New York.
Detail of Spring Iris’ in exhibition.
The quilt that was recreated by Debbie Thompson (O’Fallon, IL), commissioned by Dorothy Montgomery (Los Angeles, CA).

 

DID YOU KNOW?

The exhibition space at the Museum gave off a slight scent of Spring. The closer one got to the clothes line, the scent of fresh grass, and when one got closer to the iris’, the scent of fresh flowers.

SHOW US WHAT YOU CAN DO!

Second Saturday Studio artists created art works inspired by Grant Wood’s Spring in Town painting. Using painted and patterned paper, construction paper, and crayons artists created landscapes that represented towns.
You can create artworks of your own at home inspired by the exhibition! Use materials from around the house like, paper, tape, crayons, even old magazines. Make something at home and share it with us! Be sure to tag us or use our hashtag. #swopeartmuseum

What does your town/neighborhood look like?