July 7 – September 17, 2011

Reception: July 15, 2011, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

The Riverside Art Museum (RAM) collaborated with three UC Riverside Creative Writing interns to create a poetic and literary context for works in a new Permanent Collection exhibit, Capturing Landscape: California Artists Celebrate a Sense of Place, the first of three exhibits from the Treasures of the Riverside Art Museum series orchestrated by New York-based Guest Curator Margaret Mathews-Berenson.

Capturing Landscape highlights 39 works from RAM’s Permanent Collection, spanning a time frame of 135 years. This exhibition’s repertoire ranges from William Huston’s romanticized Seascape with Sailboats of 1875 to the contemporary interactive sculptural piece by Benjamin Lord – Humaliwo Chambers – the latest addition to a collection of annual Christmas gifts from the Peter Norton family (of Norton Anti-virus fame who splits his time between Santa Monica and Manhattan). Rainbow Spiral by Peter Coffin is also part of RAM’s large Peter Norton-gifted collection and will be on display during this exhibition.

Capturing Landscape also unearths such gems as In the Thick of the Neck of the San Gorgonia Mountains, an intensely expressive gouache and ink work on paper by internationally-renowned artist Raymond Pettibon, created on site in 2008. Pairing notable works such as this side-by-side with monotype prints created by local artists at RAM’s own workshops, Capturing Landscape proves a truly unique museum experience and weaves a vast array of artworks into an intimate experience for the viewer.

Responding to pieces selected by Ms. Mathews-Berenson, the three UCR interns connected the works of art to excerpts from well-known works of literature and created their own literary responses in original poetry and prose. An accompanying self-published book with 15 full-color images of the selected works with companion excerpts and prose will be on display in the exhibit gallery.