Fresh Perspectives 2023

On view February 17 through May 14, 2023

The popular high school art exhibition is back with both online and in-gallery components. This juried exhibition began in 1989 as an outlet for artistically accomplished New Jersey high school students to express their curiosity and creativity.

Fresh Perspectives is a hybrid exhibition featuring a virtual gallery that will display the fifty entries recognized by our jury panel. From the fifty entries chosen by the jury panel for the virtual gallery, our curatorial team will select several 2D and 3D works for display at the Morris Museum in a curated Fresh Perspectives 2023 exhibition!

February Member First Tuesday

Art Therapy: Visioning Workshop

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

11:30 - 11:50 AM: Introduction to Art Therapy

11:50 AM - 12:30 PM: Mandala workshop

12:30 - 12:45 PM: Quilt workshop

Set your intentions and express your gratitude for the coming year in an experiential art therapy workshop led by Maria Lupo, DMH, LPAT, ART-BC (MFA, MA) Board Certified Art Therapist and Eco-Artist. The workshop will include creating a personal mandala to unlock your unconscious and initiate a mindful practice to continue in your daily life. Prior to the workshop, Dr. Lupo will give a brief overview of the art therapy field both historically and how it sits within the mental health field today. Following the seminar, attendees will be invited to write their intentions for 2023, which will be added to an eco-quilt made with discarded teabags by Dr. Lupo. The quilt will be displayed outdoors and, as it decomposes your special messages will return to the earth and be offered to the universe. Note that there is limited capacity for this event.

RSVP to: membership@morrismuseum.org

Mardi Gras Celebration with Thaddeus Exposé

Sunday, February 19, 2023, 3 PM

After a smash hit performance last year, Thaddeus Exposé returns to the Bickford Theatre. He is a professional jazz bassist, composer, recording artist, and successful inventor of the “BowStopper.” Thaddeus earned his bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Northeastern University and a master’s degree in Jazz Studies from William Paterson University.

During his career, Thaddeus has performed with the following jazz artists: Marcus Roberts, Red Holt, Stanley Turrentine, The Marsalis’, Jennifer Holiday, Billy Pierce, Billy Higgins, Betty Carter, Barry Harris, Donald Harrison, Ira Sullivan, Roy Haynes, Nicholas Payton, Savion Glover, and Winard Harper, as well as countless other artists.

TICKETS: General Admission is $25.00. Member tickets are $20.00. Become a Morris Museum Member today. A $3.00 handling fee applies to each ticket.

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The Morris Museum has adopted a dynamic mask policy for upcoming events in the Bickford Theatre. Face masks are currently optional in the CENTER and HOUSE RIGHT sections (indicated in blue) and are required in the HOUSE LEFT section (indicated in red). Face masks are currently optional for Children’s Theatre performances. This policy is subject to change at any time. Please check back on our website or call the box office for our current policy before your scheduled performance date. For assistance, call the box office at 973-971-3706.

Art on Screen

Maverick Modigliani

Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 2 PM & 7:30 PM

Told through the eyes of his muse, this brutally honest film dives into the soul of an indisputable master of 20th-century art. This film marks the 100th anniversary of his death and explores the life and remarkable talent of the avant-garde artist Amedeo Modigliani. Living a cinematic and bohemian lifestyle, Modigliani used art to express himself in the midst of his chaotic life which included drug and alcohol addiction and womanizing.

Maverick Modigliani was directed by Valeria Parisi, who interviewed curators and historians on the artist’s history.

TICKETS: General Admission is $15.00. Member tickets are $12.00. There is a $3.00 handling fee for each ticket. Become a Morris Museum Member today.

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One of the Best Informal Interactive Experiences in Morristown!

Spark!Lab, Where Everyone Is An Inventor

Warm your hearts and excite your mind with a visit to the Spark!Lab this February. A perfect escape from the winter doldrums, whether it be a long weekend, school closures, or a family day. We offer many unique, project-specific stations, where young inventors can engage directly with engineering and design challenges. Open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 4 PM. Timed tickets are available at the front desk for any child (ages 5-12) and accompanying adult.

Spark!Lab at the Morris Museum is made possible by leadership support from BASF. Generous support is also made possible by Gay H. Osborn on behalf of the Blanche and George Jones Fund, Inc.

Closing This Month!

Federico Solmi: Joie De Vivre

On View through February 26, 2023

This is the first exhibition to explore Federico Solmi's unique process—which combines traditional art practices and digital technologies—through a case study of his most ambitious video-painting to date, The Bathhouse (2020). This monumental, 20-foot-wide, five-channel, multi-sensory video installation depicts an excess of revelry by Leaders from across world history in the setting of a Roman bathhouse.

Along with new works, there will be an interactive Virtual-Reality (VR) installation, The Bacchanalian Ones (2020), composed of three VR headsets with accompanying 3D-printed character masks. The visitor is invited to enter the world of The Bathhouse as one of three characters wearing a VR headset. Manipulating hand-held controllers allows them to embody the chosen perspective through the eyes of one of these historical avatars.

Federico Solmi: Joie De Vivre is made possible through the generous support of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation.

Additional general operating support for the exhibition is provided by Luis De Jesus Los Angeles.

We are pleased to acknowledge the Ronald Feldman Gallery where the Morris Museum first discovered the work of Federico Solmi.

Image credits (from top to bottom): Fresh Perspectives illustration by Marcus Romero; Member Tuesday image courtesy of Pexel; Modigliani artwork courtesy of Art on Screen; Mardi Gras concert illustration by Jean Minthe; Spark!Lab image by Morris Museum; and Federico Solmi, Joie De Vivre (IX), Oprah Winfrey and Warren Buffett, 2021, Soft pastels, white pen and ink, gouache on wood panel, 60 x 36 x 1 in. (152.5 x 91.5 x 2.5 cm).