Eskenazi Museum of Art to Reopen to the Public on Thursday, August 27

The IU Eskenazi Museum of Art is excited to announce that it will reopen to visitors following a five-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, August 27, the museum will open to the general public in accordance with the university’s latest safety guidelines, designed to keep both guests and staff safe. This will necessitate revised opening hours: Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 5 p.m., with galleries open Thursday and Friday from noon to 5 p.m., Saturday, noon to 7 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The Luzetta and Del Newkirk Café and Gift Shop will also be open for carry out dining only, with all purchases available through GrubHub, including gift shop merchandise. Guests will be able to enjoy their food on our outdoor back terrace, weather permitting.  

Guests may enter through the 7th Street Entrance as well as the back terrace. Per university guidelines, all guests will be required to wear a face covering and agree to abide by designated safety measures, including social distancing. Individuals who are sick, displaying symptoms (see coronavirus.iu.edu for more information), or have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past 14 days should not visit the museum. High-touch areas such as the front desk, elevators, and stairwells will be adjusted to minimize person-to-person contact and will be cleaned frequently through the day. All previously planned public events will be available online, including activities associated with First Thursdays and Social Saturdays. Check the museum’s website often for a schedule of events. 

In addition to our three previously announced exhibitions—Facing the Revolution: Portraits of Women in France and the United States, Living Treasure and Fabulous Follies, and House of the Singing Winds—we are pleased to share an exciting exhibition of work by renowned, contemporary artist Leonardo Drew. Shown in the Rhonda and Anthony Moravec Gallery in the Center for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Leonardo Drew: Cycles, From the Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation features thirty-two of Drew’s highly textured prints and four wall sculptures.  

Born in Tallahassee, Florida, Drew grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was heavily influenced by those early surroundings, in particular the city dump in Bridgeport, which he saw from the windows of his childhood home. Drew spent hours culling through remnants and discarded objects, providing new life to many items. He recalls, “It’s this metaphor and consistent weight of being which drives my work to this day. Though I do not use found objects in my work today (my materials are fabricated in the studio), what has remained from my early explorations are the echoes of evolution . . . life, death, regeneration.” Drew lives and works in Brooklyn and internationally. He attended Parsons School of Design and received a BFA from the Cooper Union in 1985.  

Drew considers his works as a continuum, with new projects feeding off those that came before. He is well known for his large-scale installations created through the transformation—often through oxidizing, burning, or decaying—of raw materials like wood, rope, animal hides, and cotton. The works on view in Leonardo Drew: Cycles demonstrate the artist’s similar approach to process, experimentation, and materiality in the making of prints, as well as several sculptures. The exhibition is curated by Loretta Yarlow, Director of the University Museum of Contemporary Art, UMass, Amherst, and organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation.  

Of the artist’s work, Eskenazi Museum of Art Curator of Contemporary Art Elliot Reichert remarked, “Leonardo Drew’s prints and sculptures convey the fascinating reciprocity between paper multiples and sculptural assemblages. Enthusiasts of art, music, design, and craft will especially enjoy the structure and entropy evoked by Drew’s works.”

Jordan D. Schnitzer said of Drew, “From the moment I first saw Leonardo Drew’s work published by Pace Prints in 2012 and the monumental wooden sculptures that we now collect, I have been in awe of his artistic genius! His art has no boundaries! He takes organic shapes and forms, sticks and stones, wire and shingles, you name it—he transforms it into inspiring art journeys.  Thank you Leonardo for your passion, vision, and the rare opportunity to exhibit both your prints and sculptures.”

“We are thrilled to reopen the museum and look forward to welcoming our staff and guests back to a safe environment by following the university’s guidelines to address this pandemic. The museum is also proud to partner with the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation in presenting the work of Leonardo Drew. This exhibition demonstrates the museum’s ongoing commitment to presenting and studying the work of contemporary artists. Drew’s work also provides another opportunity for us to further our mission as a teaching museum by engaging students with original works of art,” said David A. Brenneman, the museum’s Wilma E. Kelley Director.

About the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation  

At age 14, Jordan D. Schnitzer bought his first work of art from his mother’s Portland, Oregon contemporary art gallery, evolving into a lifelong avocation as collector. He began collecting contemporary prints and multiples in earnest in 1988. Today, the collection exceeds 13,000 works and includes many of today’s most important contemporary artists. It has grown to be one of the country’s largest private print collections. He generously lends work from his collection to qualified institutions. The Foundation has organized over 110 exhibitions and has had art exhibited at over 150 museums. Mr. Schnitzer is also President of Harsch Investment Properties, a privately owned real estate investment company based in Portland, Oregon, owning and managing office, multi-tenant industrial, multi-family and retail properties in six western states. For more information about the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, please visit jordanschnitzer.org.