As previously announced, the Fine Arts Center has been hard at work shifting its programming online, with the goal of streaming performances, providing interactive virtual gallery experiences, and sharing other engaging content and conversations with the public.
Released this week is a video tour of Hampden Gallery featuring its latest exhibition . The exhibition opened on March 7, but visitors only had two weeks to explore this collection of works by over two dozen artists before the gallery closed as part of the university's response to the coronavirus. The tour features the artwork as it was displayed on the gallery walls, paired with the catalog text narrated by Lombardi. A survey of artists who push the boundaries of fine art toward wit and whimsy, 鈥淎 Horse Walks into a Bar鈥 features artworks from over two dozen artists that reflect a very broad range of humor, including UMass Amherst alumni and lecturers in the Department of Art Cynthia Consentino and Sally Curcio.
On April 6, Augusta Savage Gallery released a , that would have opened in its space on the same day. The exhibition is displayed as an interactive PDF and has an accompanying virtual guest book for viewers to leave comments and feedback. Prakkamakul is a Massachusetts-based painter and landscape architect. Engaging with the landscape through searching, studying, sketching and collecting organic and non-organic materials to paint with, she investigates environments using the painting process as a tool to form connections with her surroundings.
In early May, Augusta Savage will also digitally release MFA costume design candidate Emma Hollows鈥 exhibition 鈥溾 featuring her research and designs for a production of the South African hit show "Sophiatown" amid the 2020 U.S. presidential elections.
At the University Museum of Contemporary Art, currently virtual visitors can browse the permanent collection, revisit recent exhibitions via archival video footage, and explore the Museum鈥檚 online project space, including 鈥淲under UMass鈥 which lets guests create their own virtual exhibition with objects from the Museum鈥檚 Collection and the UMass Natural History Collections. All content is available on their website at .
To browse all Fine Arts Center digital content and recommendations, visit or stay connected at .