By CGN Staff via PR

Last week the College of DuPage (COD) Board of Trustees approved the Cleve Carney Art Gallery to become a museum, and be renamed the Cleve Carney Museum of Art. The transition aligns with the museum’s upcoming 1,000-square-foot expansion plan, which includes installation of a museum-grade LED lighting system, security system and climate control system to maintain the standards set out by the American Alliance of Museums. The estimated completion date is March 2020.

This news follows Cleve Carney Museum of Art’s previously announced plan to host the most comprehensive presentation of Frida Kahlo’s work displayed in the Chicago area since 1978 in an exhibition titled Frida Kahlo 2020. Scheduled to open in June 2020, the exhibition will be the first in the newly renovated Cleve Carney Museum of Art and will expand throughout the McAninch Arts Center lobby and the Lakeside Pavilion area. Frida Kahlo 2020 is curated by Cleve Carney Museum of Art Director and Curator Justin Witte with programming directed by McAninch Arts Center Director Diana Martinez.

“The McAninch Arts Center seeks to provide the highest quality performing and visual art to Glen Ellyn and the greater Chicago area,” said McAninch Arts Center Director Diana Martinez. “This expansion is an incredible opportunity to enhance our visual art offerings and bring work by Frida Kahlo, a cultural icon, to our community in summer 2020.”

The expansion will add 1,000 square feet to the north side of the gallery, allowing an estimated 78 more people to move through the space per hour. The construction includes a distinctive exterior redesign featuring sculptural folded metal panels and a fully programmable HD LCD video wall along with the investment in a museum-grade security system, temperature control system and lighting system, which enable future presentations of large-scale exhibitions.

“While the benefits of the proposed expansion will certainly be foundational to the upcoming Frida Kahlo exhibition, they will also extend far beyond 2020 and open up the possibility of hosting more museum-level traveling exhibitions in the years to come,” added Justin Witte, Cleve Carney Museum of Art director and curator.

The expansion will also allow the Cleve Carney Museum of Art to have a space dedicated to both display and present educational programming for its permanent art collection, which is made up of over 800 works valued at an estimated $2.87 million. Celebrated artists represented in the collection include Rembrandt, Toulouse-Lautrec, Miró, Warhol and more.

A current exhibition, José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico, will be on view through September 13, 2019. The exhibition features one of Mexico’s most celebrated artists and printmakers, José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913), whose work has been cited as inspirational for Frida Kahlo. The exhibition serves as a precursor to the upcoming Frida Kahlo 2020

Additional info: 

Frida Kahlo 2020 is the largest Frida Kahlo exhibition in the Chicago area in more than 40 years hosted by the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage (COD) in June 2020. The exhibition is curated by Cleve Carney Museum of Art Director and Curator Justin Witte with programming directed by McAninch Arts Center Director Diana Martinez. The multifaceted exhibition will be the first in the newly renovated Cleve Carney Museum of Art and will expand throughout the McAninch Arts Center lobby and the Lakeside Pavilion area. The exhibition features 26 original artworks spanning Kahlo’s life on loan from the Dolores Olmedo Museum Collection, a multimedia timeline with over 100 photographic images from the artist’s life, a video presentation, reproductions of Kahlo’s clothing, a family-friendly children’s area, poetry garden and gift shop. The exhibition will run June through August 2020. Yearlong programming of national and international music, theater, dance, films and lectures will support and surround the exhibition. Pre-opening programming will kick off with Frida Fest on September 8. Frida Kahlo 2020 untimed tickets ($35) will be available for purchase in person at Frida Fest September 8 and online at frida2020.org September 10. Timed tickets will be announced at a later date. For more information, visit frida2020.org.

The Cleve Carney Art Gallery, located on the campus of College of DuPage, adjacent to the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd., offers year-round visual art exhibitions showcasing works by regional, national and international artists. Its goal: to encourage the growth and understanding of modern and contemporary art through exhibitions and educational programming that cultivate a variety of perspectives, and its vision is to be one of the best centers of modern and contemporary art in the Chicago area. Funding is provided by the Cleve Carney Endowment Fund, which supports vital programming including artist engagement opportunities for community members and students, gallery exhibitions, artist commissions, new acquisitions and other teaching and learning tools that foster cultural enrichment in our community.

The late Cleve Carney provided a significant legacy gift to establish the Cleve Carney Art Gallery. The gallery opened in February 2014 with its inaugural exhibition “Selections from Cleve Carney’s Art Collection.” The gallery recently announced it will be expanding to a 2,500 square-foot museum, titled the Cleve Carney Museum of Art scheduled to open spring 2020. The museum will maintain the standards set by the American Alliance of Museums. More information can be found at CleveCarneyGallery.org or by calling 630.942.3206.

The McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (the 780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; the 236-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), the outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.

The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. Visit AtTheMAC.org or facebook.com/AtTheMAC for more information.