READING PUBLIC MUSEUM ANNOUNCES UPDATES TO EXHIBITION CALENDAR
"Alphonse Mucha" extended and "Storyland" exhibit added to calendar lineup
January 6, 2021 — Reading, PA — The Reading Public Museum announced updates to its exhibit calendar amid December shutdown orders. The popular Alphonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau, originally set to close January 3, will remain on view into February 2021. The Museum also added to its calendar Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites™. This family exhibit, sponsored locally by Tompkins VIST Bank, promotes early childhood literacy through beloved picture books. Storyland will open February 13 and remain on display through May 16, 2021.
After the mandated closures were enacted through January 3, The Museum received many inquiries from the public hoping for an extension of Alphonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau. Museum officials worked with exhibit lender, Landau Traveling Exhibitions, and was granted permission to keep it on display for a few more weeks. Discussions around an exact closure date continue, but interested parties are encouraged to visit as soon as possible.
"By extending the Mucha exhibition into February, and adding Storyland this spring, we're hopeful that those families who missed out on their planned visits to The Museum over the Holidays will now be able to enjoy these world-class exhibitions. Thanks to the support of our sponsors and lenders, we are doing our best to make up for the lost revenues caused by the State's mandated closure, while continuing to offer a safe and responsible experience for our members and the public," stated John Graydon Smith, Director and CEO of the Reading Public Museum.
About Alphonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau: Mucha's work became synonymous with the international Art Nouveau style, popularly called "le style Mucha" in Paris at the turn of the century. With a focus on the works created during the 1890s, this exhibition shows a creative man exploring possibilities when the emphasis was on defining a new art, fit for the new century. Mucha's designs for posters, calendars, books and advertising labels circulated widely throughout Europe and America, and his Art Nouveau style dominated visual culture and graphic design for years. Highlights of the exhibition include four versions of a monumental poster Mucha created in 1894 for actress Sarah Bernhardt’s play “Gismonda” and two posters advertising Job cigarette papers (1896 and 1898). The exhibit includes vintage lithographs, original drawings, paintings, books, advertising ephemera, and more.
Works and objects in this exhibition are drawn from the holdings of the Dhawan Collection, Los Angeles, one of the largest and finest collections of Alphonse Mucha’s work in the United States. Alphonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau is organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, California and has been presented at the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio; The Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY, and the Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York, among others.
About Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites: This exhibit transforms seven beloved award-winning picture books – The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter; The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats; Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff; Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault; Abuela by Arthur Dorros; and Tuesday by David Wiesner into three-dimensional play and bi-lingual (English and Spanish) learning environments that highlight the six pre-reading skills defined by the Public Library Association and Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association: disposition to read, print awareness, letter knowledge, sound awareness, vocabulary, and narrative skills and comprehension.
Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites is presented by Target, with support from the State of Minnesota Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment. This exhibit is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.
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For image requests: Please contact Emily Moore at emily.moore@readingpublicmuseum.org
About The Museum: The Reading Public Museum is located at 500 Museum Road, Reading, PA 19611, and is typically open daily from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Admission to The Museum is: $10 adults (18-64), $6 children/seniors/students (w/ID) and free to Members and children three years old and under. Web: www.readingpublicmuseum.org <http://www.readingpublicmuseum.org>
