'An Open Book: Work by Barbara Ellmann' on display

KALAMAZOO—Michigan native Barbara Ellmann's exhibit "An Open Book: Work by Barbara Ellmann" is featured at Western Michigan University's Monroe-Brown Gallery in the Richmond Center for Visual Arts through Friday, March 21.

Ellmann's exhibit is presented as an open book. With the absence of wall text, the exhibition is meant to be read, perceived and comprehended visually, so that any narrative paired with these images originates with the viewer. This model follows the nature of Ellmann's permutable painting arrangements, in which each panel is created individually and then placed within a different site-specific grid formation each time it is exhibited.

Barbara Ellmann

Born in Michigan, Ellmann now lives and works in New York. Ellmann was originally trained as a dancer and has been working as a visual artist for more than 30 years. She has been a teaching artist at Lincoln Center Institute since 1980, and serves as a consultant for universities, orchestras, theaters, private schools and arts programs. Ellmann is currently a museum educator at the Museum of Modern Art and a presenter in the Kennedy Center's National Partnership Program.

Among Ellmann's accomplishments are permanent public artworks that are part of the collection of the city of New York, commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Cambria Heights Public Library, as well as the city of Summit, NJ. Her paintings have been widely exhibited in galleries and museums, including at the Haslla Art World Museum, Bellevue Art Museum, the Montclair Art Museum and the Parrish Art Museum.

Gallery hours

RCVA galleries are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday.

For more information, contact Don Desmett at @email or (269) 387-2455.