The partnership between collectors and museums can be beneficial to both parties as well as the general public. “Building these special friendships is one of the many joys of the museum environment,” says associate curator Amanda Mobley. Bone Creek has been fortunate to receive loans by significant artists adding to the value of the collection as a whole.
One recent lender to the Jim Hamil exhibit is Wayne and Beth Fricke, now of Santa Rosa, California who have leant their iconic Kansas City Stockyards painting. “Paintings like this belong in museum collections” said Chief Curator Mark L. Moseman and the museum is proud to be able to display it for the public. Kansas City Stockyards communicates a significant time and place in American history that has not been preserved so powerfully by another artist. Bone Creek is grateful to the generosity of collectors and patrons, such as the Frickes, as we work together to create a stimulating environment, sharing the art and our own stories that accompany them.
The opposite side of the coin in the relationship between museums and collectors is when art enthusiasts come to the museum to discover new artists. Such was the case recently with patrons Easter and DeLynn Hay and artist Matthew Jacobson. The Hay’s had the opportunity to meet the artist and pose in front of a painting that they will be taking home after the exhibition comes down. “Wisconsin Workhorses” is a powerful body of work by draft horse and Amish community painter Matthew Jacobson presenting a potentially nostalgic subject in an honestly refreshing and observant new way. A number of his paintings meet the high standards of excellence to be preserved and presented in museum collections, and for the lucky few, enjoy the intimacy of home.
After being enjoyed in homes some of these paintings may return to museum collections for all to enjoy. Bone Creek is continuing to work towards ways that visitors can take a piece of the museum home with them and return often to learn, view, and experience Agrarian Art at its finest.