The works featured in the exhibition – A Legacy of Art: Gifts to the Collection – have been accessioned into The Ellen Noël Art Museum Collections.  The exhibition will feature over ninety works that have been donated over the past twenty five years.  The pieces include sculpture, mixed media, and works on paper, paintings, and photography.  The subject matter and styles ranges from landscape, still life, figurative, and abstract to photorealism.  Many of the pieces have not been shown for many years and will be a great surprise and delight for donors and visitors to see again. Work will be shown in The Nelda Lee and Patrons’ Galleries, the George and Milly Rhodus Sensory and Sculpture Garden and the front lawn.  Donors are from as far away as Oregon, Virginia, and Florida. A special reception honoring the donors will take place on May 21, 2010 at 7:00 at the museum. 

One piece of particular interest, that will be included in the exhibition, is by noted artist Janet Fish entitled Red and Green Dishes Monarda.  This oil painting, completed in 2007, was purchased for the museum’s permanent collection with donations given by the citizens of the Permian Basin in honor of Mrs. Noël in 2009.  This is the first time this beautiful painting has been included in an exhibition here at the museum.  This piece exemplifies Fish’s fascination with intense color, her study of transparent objects, and her life-long exploration of the nature and substance of light.