Sources: Martha Scott, 785-533-7718, marthas@k-state.edu;
and Andrew North, 785-532-7718, anorth@k-state.edu
Web site: http://beach.k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu

Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010

K-STATE ALUM'S EXHIBITION, 'GAIL GREGG: THE ALBUM SERIES,' COMING TO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART

MANHATTAN -- The work of abstract artist and Kansas State University alum Gail Gregg will be on display at K-State's Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art Jan. 29 to May 2.

The exhibition explores the power of visual autobiography.

The work in "Gail Gregg: The Album Series" features recycled pages taken from anonymous, cast-off scrapbooks and family photo albums Gregg gathered from flea markets and other sources. She has removed the photos from the album pages and, with graphite or pastels, replaced the form of the photograph with an abstract placeholder for a very specific moment in time.

"My hope is that this new 'non-photo' communicates a sense of loss, a sense of the tenderness with which important benchmarks in a life are recorded and, finally, a sense of possibility," Gregg said.

In conjunction with her exhibition, Gregg will present "Some Thoughts on Art, Memory and the Two Manhattans" at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, in the Beach Museum's UMB Theatre. The presentation is free and open to the public. Gregg will speak about the roots of her creative life in Kansas, the evolution of her paintings and her most recent body of work. Gregg is originally from Topeka and graduated magna cum laude from K-State in 1972 with a bachelor's in journalism.

The Beach Museum of Art also is offering a special tour for kindergartners and first-graders focusing on shapes in art using the Gregg exhibition and the Beach Museum of Art's permanent collection. The tours are free and bus funds are available through a grant from the Kansas Arts Commission. To schedule a tour, contact the museum's Kathrine Schlageck at 785-532-7718.

For more information, contact the Beach Museum of Art at 785-532-7718 or drop by the museum on the southeast corner of the K-State campus at 14th Street and Anderson Avenue. Free visitor parking is available next to the building. Normal museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. The museum is closed Mondays.