Past Exhibitions
2015 - 2016 Season
Ferrari Gallery
Alphonse Mucha: The Golden Age of Art Nouveau, September 13, 2015 - January 10, 2016, organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, includes more than 70 original works by the artist many consider the creator of the Art Nouveau style. Vintage lithographs, including some unique proof copies, original drawings and paintings, books and advertising ephemera, make up one of the largest private collections of Mucha’s work. This exhibition shows Mucha at the height of his career in Paris during the years 1890-1910. His 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.
The exhibition is drawn from the holdings of the Dhawan collection, Los Angeles, which is one of the largest and finest collections of Mucha’s work in the United States.
Valley Focus: Betty Saletta Sculpture
January 27 - March 20, 2016
One of the valley’s most recognizable talents, Betty Saletta has been creating sculpture in her Oakdale studio for more than 25 years. After many years in a graphic arts career Betty was introduced to the practice of casting bronze sculpture. She has said that she was drawn to the freedom sculpting affords her to explore the complex beauty of the human figure and animals – the lines and masses of living forms are too interesting to be limited to a single view or two-dimensional representations.
Her lifelong interest in horses and the people who use them has shaped her work to a large extent. While not strictly a “Western artist,” many of Betty’s recurring themes are of the cowboy, Native Americans, and the animals of the west.
Betty may be best known in the Central Valley for her work on public art projects and monuments. Some of her iconic images include the statue of Chief Estanislao in front of the Stanislaus County Courthouse, the Oakdale Cowboy, the American Graffiti Kids on Modesto’s cruise route, and Stockton’s Memorial to Fallen Firefighters. Many of us pass by Betty’s works every day and appreciate the beauty and thoughtfulness they bring to our communities.
The retrospective exhibition at the Carnegie Arts Center will include maquettes and studies for public art projects, as well as small scale bronzes and portraits, allowing the viewer some insight into the complicated process of composing, modeling, enlarging, and finally casting works in bronze.
April 1 - May 27, 2016
The third annual Central California Art Showcase will take place at the Carnegie Arts Center in Downtown Turlock and at the Central California Art Association’s Mistlin Gallery in Downtown Modesto. Replacing each institution’s annual Spring Juried Art Show, this exhibition is the finest showcase in the region for new work by artists in a variety of media.
June 8 through July 24, 2016
The Carnegie Arts Center Second Annual children’s art exhibition in Downtown Turlock this summer.
Children in grades K-8 are given the opportunity to present their creative work to the public in the Carnegie’s Ferrari Gallery, a museum-quality exhibition space.
Matt Elson: The Infinity Boxes
July 31 through August 21, 2016
Modesto native Matt Elson brings his unique works of optical mystery to the Central Valley for the first time. The Infinity Boxes explore our humanity through sight, sound and relationship. By combining mirrors, light, and color we experience kaleidoscope-like reflections. The works challenge our understanding of perception while providing an experience that becomes as much about the viewer as the art when we interact with them. These pieces have to be seen to be believed!
To see more about Matt Elson and his Infinity Boxes, click here
Admission: $8 adults
$5 students and seniors;
CAC members and children 12 and under: free.
Lobby Galleries
October 14, 2015 - January 31, 2016
As a companion to the Carnegie’s fall exhibition of the works of Alphonse Mucha, the Lobby Galleries will feature works on the theme of Organic Designs. Artists may submit work that reflects an inspiration from any organic, natural or botanical sources. The works should not be inspired by Mucha directly, but rather by the spirit of nature that inspired the Art Nouveau movement.
Art Nouveau style was considered very modern when it first appeared in Paris in 1890s. Taking inspiration from natural forms and structures – flowers and plants, shells and feathers – artists produced elegant, yet stylized, organic motifs with flowing lines and dynamic rhythms. The Art Nouveau movement was also organic in its embrace of all creative forms: painting and sculpture, graphic arts, architecture, interior design, and the decorative arts including jewelry, furniture, textiles, metal work, glass and ceramics.
A Handful of Dust
February 10 - April 24, 2016
Once a fixture of the American West, ranching may not make it to the next generation. Facing numerous challenges, children of ranch families are not often motivated to take over the reins from their parents, and ranchers throughout the West feel their way of life is threatened. Allen Birnbach’s photographs create a portrait of ranchers that builds awareness and interest in preserving their way of life.
Sponsored by
Building Community: Regional Stories Through Architecture
May 10 through July 31, 2016
With images drawn from the collections of the CSU Stanislaus Library and the Turlock Historical Society, the exhibition looks at the concept of community as represented through our region’s historic architecture.
Photo Credit: Turlock Historical Society
Yosemite Renaissance 31
August 3 through October 9, 2016
Celebrate the centennials of the Carnegie and the National Park Service with this annual juried exhibition. Coming to us from the Yosemite Museum, the show provides a contemporary perspective on the century-old artistic traditions of depicting the landscape, issues and ideas surrounding this national treasure.
Gemperle Gallery
Centennial Pop-Up Exhibitions
During 2016 the historic Gemperle Gallery will feature “pop-up” exhibitions inside the historic Carnegie Building in celebration of the 100th anniversary of its construction. Working with four local artists, the Gallery Committee has developed site-specific presentations that uniquely showcase the historic building through the works of contemporary artists. The selected artists represent faculty members from both CSU Stanislaus and Modesto Junior College, and all are highlighting aspects of the architecture, the region’s history, or the legacy of the library.
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January 8-17: Gordon Senior: Hares, Birds & Butterflies
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April 8-17: Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Video
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August 12-21: Dean De Cocker, Sculpture
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November 11-20: Rob Stevenson, Printmaking