Artistry worn will be highlighted at the Hope College Kruizenga Art Museum as it features the latest spring and summer fashion alongside its ongoing exhibition of work from the college’s Permanent Collection on Tuesday-Saturday, April 12-16.
The “Spring Collections Reveal” will feature fully styled mannequins from six independent women’s clothing stores from downtown Holland: Blue Veranda, Frances Jaye, Jean Marie’s, Spring Sweet, Studio K and Yeta’s Fine Fashion. The retailers who have chosen to participate are working with the museum staff to identify pieces in the museum’s current exhibition, “Past Present East West,” that will best complement the clothing they will display, whether by color, texture, pattern or theme.
In addition to running during the museum’s regular hours, Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the week will feature a special event including light hors d’oeuvres and beverages on Thursday, April 14, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The public is invited to the museum during its regular hours and the evening event, and admission is free.
“We want to be a community resource in Holland, and saw this event as an opportunity to blur the line between fashion and art, community and campus,” said Emilie DeFrain, who is visitor services coordinator with the museum. “Our area retailers and the museum both have many new collection pieces that people haven’t yet had a chance to see. Now they can enjoy them together.”
Labels will explain the placement of placement of each mannequin and its relationship to the artwork nearby, complementing the descriptions of the artwork displayed, and will also provide information about the host store. In addition, patrons will have an opportunity to mingle with store honors during the Thursday-evening event.
Although “Past Present East West” opened with the debut of the museum itself in September, the exhibition hasn’t been static. About 80 percent of the 70 pieces in the exhibition have been changed since it opened, to help highlight the range of works in the college’s Permanent Collection. While the “Spring Collections Reveal” runs only on April 12-16, “Past Present East West” continues through Saturday, May 14.
The Kruizenga Art Museum has been designed to serve as an educational resource for the entire campus as well as beyond. The museum features two galleries, one of 2,000 square feet and the other of 1,500 square feet, as well as a classroom for viewing of select pieces and state-of-the-art, climate-controlled storage space for the Permanent Collection. The collection housed in the museum consists of more than 750 objects representing a variety of traditions but with a particular emphasis on Asian art.
The Modernist facility stands as a pavilion structure in the center of campus, and is sheathed in flame-cut charcoal gray slate panels and reminiscent of an artist’s palette in shape. It is named in honor of a leadership gift from Dr. Richard and the late Margaret Kruizenga of Holland, each of whom graduated from Hope in 1952.
The building was designed by architect Matt VanderBorgh of The Hague, The Netherlands, a 1984 Hope graduate who is director of C Concept Design, which has developed projects in 30 countries on four continents. Leadership guidance for advance programmatic planning was provided by Donald Battjes, a 1968 Hope graduate from Los Angeles, California, who is retired from a career in corporate facilities and real estate administration, most recently as chief of operations and facility planning with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The Kruizenga Art Museum is located at 271 Columbia Ave., between 10th and 13th streets.