Springfield Museum of Art marks 75th Annual Juried Members' Exhibition

The Springfield Museum of Art will celebrate a milestone starting this weekend with the opening of it’s 75^th Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition.

“A 75^th anniversary of anything is huge, and the 75^th anniversary of this Members’ Exhibition for us is very significant,” the museum’s Executive Director Jessimi Jones says.

The event, she says, predates the founding of the museum itself. The event started in 1946 as an exhibition launched by the Woman’s Town Club.

“There was such a great response that they decided to gather a group together that they called the Springfield Art Association, which was a group of citizens and artists who wanted to support arts in Springfield,” Jones says. Eventually, the Springfield Museum of Art was incorporated in 1952.

Jones emphasized this anniversary year and the importance of sharing the history of Springfield’s long-time commitment to art.

“It really tells the story of our museum being created by the citizens of Springfield itself,” she says.

The exhibition will feature the talents of member artists, who are both professional and emerging. The work of about 90 members from within the Miami Valley and across multiple states will be showcased.

In total, about 120 pieces of art – ranging from paintings to fabric work and photos to sculptures – will be on display.

The Springfield Museum of Art is the only museum in Ohio that is certified as a Smithsonian affiliate center. Because of this milestone anniversary of the exhibition, Jones says they reached out to the Smithsonian to ask if they would send a representative to serve as this year’s guest juror.

Joann Mosier, senior curator emerita of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, served as 2021’s juror, which Jones says is an honor.

“This has been so exciting and feels like a highlight for us to have a curator from the Smithsonian be our guest juror,” Jones says.

The exhibition opens Saturday, July 31, with a special celebration from 5 to 7:30 p.m. There will be a party outside the front of the museum – 107 Cliff Park Road – with music from The Crossover Trio and food trucks, including El Buen Taco and Pa Kettle Corn Road Side Grill. There will also be a cash bar and fun for kids, such as bubbles.

The gallery doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and exhibition winners will be announced that night. There will also be a community award that visitors can vote on once they see the exhibit. That award will be announced once the exhibition is complete.

Admission is free for members and for kids 17 and younger. Cost for non-members is $5. Free admission is also available for anyone who benefits from SNAP or WIC through Museums for All.

This exhibition runs through Oct. 3. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sundays.