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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 26, 2017
Lyman Allyn Art Museum
Press Contact: Rebecca Marsie, Communications Associate
860.443.2545 x112 / [email protected]

DAVID SMALLEY MEMORIAL EXHIBITION OPENS AT LYMAN ALLYN ART MUSEUM

New London – The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is pleased to announce an exhibition of sculpture by the late David Smalley (1940-2015).  The David Smalley Memorial Exhibition includes more than 40 sculptures exhibited in the Museum’s galleries and outdoors on the Museum grounds and campus of Connecticut College. It will be on view from June 3 through August 13, 2017.

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of David Smalley’s 1997 Retrospective Exhibition at the Lyman Allyn. Smalley had considerable input in the early phase of planning the Memorial Exhibition; unfortunately he did not live to see its completion. His death in October of 2015 has transformed the exhibition into an occasion to celebrate Smalley’s life and work.

Smalley’s overarching vision for the Memorial Exhibition remains intact: the galleries feature sculpture created since the 1997 retrospective. Smalley typically worked in series, and the show is organized accordingly: kinetic works in stainless steel, which reflect and engage their environment; bent wood pieces, also kinetic, which reference more natural materials and contexts; experiments in 3D printing that produce dystopic industrial landscapes enclosed in bell jars; a somber series of bronze shipwrecks; and finally a mesmerizing “Spartina” series, inspired by the graceful movements of wetland grasses.

In studios in Connecticut and Florida, Smalley also created large-scale sculptures, made of steel, aluminum, bronze and wood, meant for outdoor display. Many of these are included in the exhibition, which extends from the grounds of the Museum through the campus of Connecticut College. Together, they comprise a retrospective of Smalley’s fifty-year career.

The Museum has collaborated with professors and students at the College to create a Smalley Sculpture Trail, a web-based tour beginning on the steps of the Museum and culminating at the top of the College Green, with informative commentaries along the way. Narrations are done by Sam Quigley, Director of the Lyman Allyn; Katherine Bergeron, President of Connecticut College; and other colleagues, relatives, and former students. Visitors may download the tour on mobile devices via the QR code or website address provided on the exhibition brochure and near the entrance to the Museum. The Sculpture Trail will remain on view through October 29, 2017.

The following programs will be held at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in conjunction with the exhibition. For further details about programming, please visit www.lymanallyn.org.

Saturday, June 17 | 5:30-7:00 PM: Walk Along the Smalley Sculpture Trail with guest curator and Professors Emeritus at Connecticut College, Barbara Zabel.

Thursday, August 3 | 5:30 – 7:00 PM: Lecture by Barbara Zabel, guest curator and Professor Emeritus at Connecticut College.

The opening reception will be on Friday, June 2, 2017 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM. Museum members are free and non-members are $10. Please RSVP to 860.443.2545 ext.129.

The exhibition is open to the public beginning Saturday, June 3. Museum admission is always free to all New London residents.

Check the museum website at www.lymanallyn.org and Facebook page for updates and additional programming.

Tours of the exhibition are available for groups. To schedule tours, call the Education Department at 860-443-2545, ext. 110 or e-mail [email protected].

For more information or images, please contact Rebecca Marsie at 860.443.2545 x112 or at [email protected].

About David Smalley
David Smalley received his Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art at the University of Connecticut and his Master of Fine Arts at Indiana University.  Smalley was honored with the Henry B. Plant Professorship at Connecticut College, where he taught sculpture and drawing for 36 years until his retirement in 2001.  David Smalley has exhibited his work in galleries in New York and in museums and galleries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. In his later years he divided his time between Crystal Beach, Florida, and Niantic, Connecticut.

About the Lyman Allyn Art Museum
The Lyman Allyn Art Museum welcomes visitors from New London, southeastern Connecticut and all over the world. Established in 1926 by a gift from Harriet Allyn in memory of her seafaring father, the Museum opened the doors of its beautiful neo-classical building surrounded by 12 acres of green space in 1932. Today it presents a number of changing exhibitions each year and houses a fascinating collection of over 17,000 objects from ancient times to the present; artworks from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe, with particularly strong collections of American paintings, decorative arts and Victorian toys and doll houses.

The museum is located at 625 Williams Street, New London, Connecticut, exit 83 off I-95. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, Sundays 1:00 – 5:00 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. For more information call 860.443.2545, ext. 129 or visit us on Facebook or the web at: www.lymanallyn.org.

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