Bakersfield Museum of Art

The CSUB 2020 Graduation Seniors Exhibition at BMoA was due to open in April of 2020, and marked the first collaboration between CSUB's art department and BMoA. Due to COVID and closure requirements, the show was finally installed in December 2020. "This exhibition is an opportunity for our students to prepare for their professional life, but it is also a rite of passage for them and their families, the culmination of many years of work on all their parts, and it was importan...t to us as a department that we find a way to honor that even in these difficult circumstances." - Jedediah Caesar Though closed to the public, we thank the CSUB Deparment of Art and the Todd Madigan Gallery Curator Jedediah Caesar for bringing that exhibition online and are honored to share it with you. https://www.toddmadigangallery.org/2020_seniors #thebmoa #museumathome #museumfromhome #beinbakersfield #photography #digitaldrawing #artstudents Rocio Lara, "My view," 2020, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 24 inches Ellis Loo, "Personal Growth," 2020, digital drawing printed on photo paper, 18 x 24 inches Magnolia Avina, "May Flowers to Mary #2," 2020, digital photograph, 20 x 16 inches

We hoped to invite you to take a stroll through our sculpture garden today as part of Bakersfield Second Saturday but the recent stay-at-home order nixed that plan. Undaunted, we're bringing our sculpture garden to you! BMoA’s garden has been a part of the museum since it first opened its doors as the Cunningham Gallery in 1956. The first sculpture was installed in 1961 and every new addition is thoughtfully placed allowing for visitors to explore and enjoy the lush garden ...surrounding the museum. We currently have eight sculptures installed - seven from our permanent collection and one long term loan - created from 1961 - 2016. Click here to read about the eight pieces installed in our garden. bmoa.org/sculpture-garden #thebmoa #beinbakersfield #sculpture

Click below for great way to support Bakersfield Museum of Art and get Date Night handled with Venue Unknown. Are you on the list? Thanks to Stefani Dias and The Bakersfield Californian for spreading the word!

Community means everything, especially this time of year. The ARTS are part of the solution! Let us do our job to produce events safely for the community healing to begin. #RestartArtsCA #artsareessential #CAGovernor #CAPublicHealth #thebmoa #beinbakersfield

Check out BMoA's latest #podcast, an interview between #theBMoA Curator Rachel Magnus and photography collector Julie Riegel. The podcast is co-hosted by David Anderson of Moneywise Wealth Management. bmoa.org/podcast. Richard Avedon (American, 19232004), "Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial," (detail) 1969, printed in 1975, gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches. Collection of Julie Riegel and Suzette Clerou #beinbakersfield #richardavedon #photography #blackandwhitephotography #musuemathome #museumfromhome

We're thrilled to announce a new accession into our permanent collection, "Night Horse, Study" by David Ligare. This piece, a gift to BMoA from both Ligare and The Winfield Gallery, was part of our Winter 2020 exhibit "One Night in California: Contemporary Nocturnes." As one of California’s foremost leading figures in Contemporary Realism, a North American style of painting that originated in the early 1970s, David Ligare’s work is celebrated for its delicate luminescence an...d heightened attention to detail in his depictions of nature. Describing himself as a neo-classicist artist, Ligare notes, I believe in the value of recognizing the integrity of the thing seen, that is, in representing every element of nature as carefully and reverently as I can. "Night Horse, Study" reflects this sense of clarity and composure. The horse feels isolated but appears rooted in a single entity, a body in line with the land. By centering traditional painting tropes such as the figure and landscape, Ligare gives viewers a space for total stillness. David Ligare, "Night Horse, Study," 2019, oil on linen, 12 x 16 inches, BMoA Permanent Collection 2020.09.28. Gift of the Artist and Winfield Gallery, 2020

Self-reflection happens a lot this time of year. We're reminded of introspection in "Vanity" by Linda Christensen. Her work will be on exhibit at BMoA in early 2021. Northern California based artist Linda Christensen is often considered part of the Third Generation Bay Area Figurative Painters. Christensen is greatly inspired by the movement’s First Generation of California masters, such as Richard Diebenkorn and David Park. In Christensen’s work, the figure plays a significa...nt role, but the desire is not to capture the likeness of the often female figure or her environment, but to capture the subject’s emotion. The evocative female figure is depicted in solitude and in private, at her vanity. The viewer sees this intimate setting and can consider her inner thoughts. It's in these moments of privacy when the mind is able to roam freely and introspectively. Christensen states there is something magical in seeing the humanness in others. What I see is that people come back to themselves; a check in. I think they are coming back to their own source, their soul, their gift. These women are depicted in a natural state -- relaxed, and unobjectified by a knowing gaze, a great departure from the canonically depicted female figure. Linda Christensen, "Vanity," 2013, oil on canvas, 36 x 30 BMoA Permanent Collection 2014.10.28. Gift of Christopher Winfield, 2013

Lorraina Paz, one of BMoA’s Art Educators did a great job on Do The Math today!!

Why are museums in purple counties closed while shopping malls and retail are open? We call on @CAgovernor and #CAPublicHealth to #RestartArtsCA safely #thebmoa #beinbakersfield

Bring your kids (and their masks!) to the return of Saturday Studio! Join us for a series of classes about the basic elements of art. First up: color! $10/class for members $15/class for non-members... Saturday 11/14, 10:30a - 12 Noon Ages 6-16 Click here to register: bit.ly/satstudio2020

The ARTS are part of the solution! Art experiences provide mental and emotional health benefits our communities need. We can do this with safe, controlled events! #RestartArtsCA #CAGovernor #CAPublicHealth #thebmoa #beinbakersfield

Join Melissa Bañuelos from BMoA’s curatorial department this Saturday, November 28th at 2:00PM on Bakersfield Second Saturday’s Instagram account (@ bakersfieldsecondsaturday) for a virtual guided tour of our currently installed exhibit Select Works from BMoA’s Permanent Collection. She will highlight some of the pieces that call our museum home, as well as discuss the process and importance of accessioning works into our permanent collection. #thebmo #beinbakersfield #museumathome #museumfromhome #virtualmuseumtour #virtualarttour #artathome Edward S. Curtis (American, 18681952), "Canyon Chelly," 1904, toned silver print, 8 x 10 inches. Courtesy of the Julie Riegel and Suzette Clerou Collection

Museums On Us is back! On the first Saturday of every month, Bank of America, Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank credit or debit card receive one (1) FREE ADMISSION to BMoA with eligible credit or debit card with valid photo ID. #thebmoa #beinbakersfield

First Fridays are back! This Friday, admission is free and we're open until 8 PM. #thebmoa #beinbakersfield

Thank you to everyone who joined us last night for our last Art After Dark of the season. Thanks also to our friends at Moneywise for supporting Art After Dark during what has been a very unique year! Huge thanks also to our new partners, guests and supporters who have been with us since Art After Dark began five years ago. ... Art After Dark will resume in February of 2021. Click the link in our bio to subscribe to our E-Newsletter and follow us to stay up to date on Art After Dark 2021 news, upcoming BMoA exhibitions, events, and educational programs. #BMoAartafterdark #beinbakersfield @mellowdoses @outofthetulefog @programharmony @trifecta_dj @thecenterbak @menudo.jpg @victorrrgonz @oh_no_sadboy_slim @beyinspireddiva_@webbchappel @skylaloveland @ovilo_nhoj @iamthatpicturedude @thosepictureboothguys @horstphorst

Art After Dark returns this Sunday, November one to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos! Artists and community members will display sacred altars in the BMoA Sculpture Garden. Gates open at 4 pm. We’ll have a flash sale on our Individual Memberships at the event. ... BYOM (face mask) or buy your own BMoA face mask to show your support for the Museum at the event. Visit bmoa.org/artafterdark for more information.

This is how we feel today: full of joy and optimism. We're finally open! Reputed as one of California’s leading contemporary artists, Roland Petersen’s vivid paintings masterfully synthesize gestural abstract expressionism, painterly realism and advanced color theory. In the case of The Sand Dunes of Summer, the fields and farms of the Central Valley are rendered with an undeniable vivacity that envelops the viewer’s entire field of vision. The thickly layered oil paint and... brushwork signals the artist’s hand and liberating process of artistic practice, that needs not a distinctive element of pictorial cohesion. He explains, Everything is in opposition to everything else. I push here. I pull there. Up. Down. In. Out. It’s all in a state of flux. Roland Petersen, The Sand Dunes of Summer, 1968 oil in canvas, 44 x 69 inches, BMoA Permanent Collection 2013.10.13. Gift of Caryl Ritter, 2013. #bmoa #museumathome #museumfromhome #abstractexpressionism #colortheory #rolandpetersen

We couldn’t be happier to announce this! On behalf of all of our staff, thank you for your continued support. Bring your masks and your love of the arts. Things will look a bit different. Visit bmoa.org/hours-admission for details. ... See you Tuesday! #thebmoa #beinbakersfield #finally #museums #californiaart

Today we're sharing the second of two pieces by Mexican-American painter and printmaker Javier Carrillo. Born in 1985 and inspired by the popular Mexican game of Lotería, as well as the vibrant colors of Andy Warhol and Wayne Thiebaud, Carrillo’s imagery acknowledges the current climate of place and status in America. With El Mojado (The Wetback), the artist elevates a group of people perceived as contravening the meaning of immigration. Widespread narratives of recent year...s have increasingly subjected those pictured to greater threats in their journey than the threats of their home. Thus, reaching The American Dream becomes ultimately uncertain, yet Carrillo recognizes their efforts as modern icons of national identity. In Fall 2017, the Bakersfield Museum of Art presented an exhibition by Carrillo entitled Nuestros Ojos or Our Eyes which documented the real-life Latino vendors and merchants of the artist’s daily life in Los Angeles. The pieces here on display were accessioned into the Museum’s Permanent Collection after the conclusion of the artist’s show. Javier Carrillo, "El Mojado," 2016 , Reduction linoleum on paper , 11 x 18 inches, BMoA Permanent Collection 2017.09.29. Gift of the Artist, 2017 #thebmoa #beinbakersfield #latinart #latinoart #latinxart #printmaking #loteria

An estate or planned gift to BMoA preserves collections, supports virtual and on-site educational programs, and enables us to bring special exhibitions to the Museum. Click the link to hear experts answer FAQs ranging from tax benefits common gift types. https://www.bmoa.org/plannedgiving/webinar

Our 2020 Via Arté Italian Street Painting Exhibition is in the books! Thousands of votes were cast for this year's People's Choice Award. It was a close race, but this year’s winner is... Ramiro Hernandez Sponsored by Walker-Lewis Rents "I decided to recreate this 2016 piece by Lucien Reblogs because it reminded me of a modern rendition of the Gorgon, Medusa, from Greek mythology. I was captivated by the use of color and value, and I hope to bring those hues to life as well. It is also perfect as a Halloween piece since it is in the month of October." -- Ramiro Hernandez #bmoaviaarte #beinbakersfield #thebmoa #halloween #octobermood #chalkart

Curator Rachel Magnus gives via Arté preview to TV 23. Things will look a little different this year, but the opportunity for community and the celebration of the arts remains the same! #thebmoa #bmoaviaarte #beinbakersfield #chalkart

Since we couldn't host our Via Bambino kids squares at this weekend's Via Arté exhibit, we decided to take things virtual! When you visit the exhibit, be sure to purchase a box of chalk to take home. Then artists of all ages can create their own Via Bambino masterpiece. Snap photos of the finished work and post them to social media. Don't forget to tag us @thebmoa #bmoaviaarte so we can share you work on our social media channels! Proceeds from chalk sales benefit the Bakersf...ield Museum of Art. Chalk boxes generously sponsored by Visit Bakersfield. #thebmoa #beinbakersfield #pastels #pastelart #chalkart #chalkyourwalk

An enormous thank you to the families and organizations sponsoring our Via Arté exhibit this weekend! What are you looking forward to the most about this weekend's exhibit? Comment below!