The Weatherspoon, described by Sunset Magazine as one of six museums in the Southeast to be visited, is a major tourist attraction in Guilford County. Recently described as one of 18 Hidden Gems in the Art World, its reputation has heightened as it celebrates its Diamond Jubilee.
Installation photo from the exhibition “Persona: A Body in Parts”, Weatherspoon Art Museum,
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2011
In the Beginning…
Gregory IvyUNCG’s Weatherspoon Art Museum was founded in 1941 by Gregory Ivy, an accomplished Columbia University-educated artist and chair of the Art Department at the Woman’s College. Today, celebrating its 75th Anniversary Year, the Weatherspoon is the oldest visual arts organization in the UNC system and second oldest in the state, after the Mint Museum in Charlotte.
Ivy believed in the value of students and community alike experiencing the art of their time. To support that belief—and with the help of other faculty and interested Greensboro citizens—he initiated an exhibition program and began building a permanent collection. The art world was smaller then which enabled Ivy to bring noted artists to campus frequently, like Sculptor Maurice Glickman who anchored the inaugural exhibit.
From its inception, the Weatherspoon focused on building a permanent collection of modern and contemporary American art, the only one of its kind in North Carolina and now considered one of the best in the Southeast. Numbering close to 6,000 works of art, the collection represents all major artistic movements from the beginning of the 20th century to the present.
Also included are the Claribel and Etta Cone Collection, Dillard Collection of Art on Paper, and Lenoir C. Wright Collection of Japanese Prints. These collections enjoy both a national and international reputation and the Weatherspoon regularly lends art works to major museums across this country and abroad.
Gregory Ivy with students in the gallery
Housed in various campus locations, the museum took up permanent residence in 1989 in the Anne and Benjamin Cone Building in order to professionally maintain its growing permanent collection and allow for more ambitious exhibition and educational programming. The Cone Building at the Tate Street-Spring Garden intersection was made possible by a lead gift from two key members of the Cone family. It has six galleries with 11,000 square feet of exhibition space, a sculpture garden, two art storage vaults, a large atrium, and an auditorium, which it shares with the Art History program.
The Weatherspoon supports UNCG’s academic mission through tours, gallery teaching, and interdisciplinary collaborations with faculty and programs across campus.
It also partners with other organizations in the community in offering educational and social opportunities for diverse audiences. Annual attendance is approximately 35,000 visitors. First accredited by the American Alliance of Museums in 1995, the Weatherspoon was reaccredited in 2005 and 2015.
Installation of Saul Baizerman’s “Pastoral or Third Sculptural Symphony II” (1933-1957, cast 1971-73) in front of the Weatherspoon, a gift of Carl and Emma S. Avery Jeffress in memory of Edwin B. and Louise Adams Jeffress, 1973.
Exhibitions and Education Programs
The Weatherspoon earns high praise for its calendar of 15-18 annual exhibitions. Nearly half are popular collection-based exhibitions that explore a variety of themes, genres, and styles. The museum presents major solo exhibitions and catalogues of the work of established and emerging artists through the Falk Visiting Artist Program.
Exhibition opening for Nancy Rubins: Drawing, Sculpture, Studies exhibition at the Weatherspoon.
(Photo: Carolyn de Berry, 2014)
Art on Paper survey of contemporary work in the medium
Art on Paper began in 1965 as an important art and business collaboration. Herbert Falk, Sr., engaged the financial support of Stark Dillard and the Dillard Paper Company for a national art exhibition that drew more than 1,000 entries. The Dillard Company’s $10,000 contribution supported the exhibition and provided for the acquisition of 25 original works on paper.
That first AOP exhibition established a model that has changed little to this day, although it moved from an annual to a biennial project in 2000. Artists are invited to participate by the exhibition curator, who also puts out a call for applications and selects works from those entries. The Dillard Fund continues to contribute $10,000 annually toward purchase of artwork for The Dillard Collection which now comprises more than 530 pieces. The Art on Paper Preview Party is one of the Weatherspoon’s signature events in the fall.
A vibrant education program offers K-12, college, and adult tours that serve an average of 5,600 people each year and public programs for nearly 3,500 that include films, artists’ talks, lectures by scholars, critics and curators, and social events. Professional staff work in collaboration with departments across campus and has become known for its Art of Seeing program, which teaches observational skills through looking at art.
Artist William de Kooning with the Weatherspoon’s “Woman” painting, unstretched and tacked to the wall of the artist’s studio. When Weatherspoon paid $1,800 for “Woman”, the campus and community were shocked by its new style distorting the female form. Today it is a priceless work of art, a testimony to a museum that has what money cannot buy…an eye for what is new.
(Photo by Harry Bowden in January 1950)
Outreach and Publicity
Nancy Doll, Weatherspoon DirectorThe Weatherspoon works with other community organizations, including art venues and institutions including GreenHill Center, Elsewhere, the Public Art Endowment of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, and ArtsGreensboro; and also Casa Azul, Greensboro public libraries, Preservation Greensboro, Well-Spring, and the Triad Health Project, among others.
Community-oriented events include the annual Summer Solstice Party, biannual Masquerade, Art from the Heart, and other special activities.