“ART21” Screening at Miller Art Museum

On Sept. 10 at 10:30 am, in conjunction with the museum’s monthly volunteer meeting, the Miller Art Museum will present two free short-format documentaries featuring contemporary artists El Anatsui and Cai Guo-Qiang, followed by discussions. The films are part of the PBS series Art in the Twenty-First Century, or ART21. The program is open to the public and will be held in the Friends’ Room, lower level of the Sturgeon Bay Library.

El Anatsui

The mission of ART21 is to engage audiences with contemporary visual art, inspire creative thinking, and educate a new generation about artists working today. “Participants will be challenged to enhance their ways of thinking about what art is,” says Kristi Roenning, program presenter and discussion facilitator. “These films provide a fascinating look at the story and process behind art today as explained by the artists themselves.”

El Anatsui, who currently lives and works between Ghana and Nigeria, is an internationally acclaimed artist who transforms simple materials into complex assemblages that create distinctive visual impact. His work can interrogate the history of colonialism and draw connections between consumption, waste and the environment, but at the core is his unique formal language that distinguishes his practice.

Cai Guo-Qiang, a Chinese contemporary artist currently living and working in New York City, has literally exploded the accepted parameters of art making in our time. Drawing freely from many sources, Cai’s art is a form of social energy, constantly mutable, linking what he refers to as “the seen and unseen worlds.”

The museum is located in the Sturgeon Bay Public Library at 107 S. 4th Ave. Hours are 10 am to 8 pm on Monday and 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, visit MillerArtMuseum.org or call 920.746.0707.