P. H. Polk Photographs Capture Ordinary to Extraordinary in Tuskegee, Circa 1939-1984

To Make a Picture: The Photography of P. H. Polk from the Paul R. Jones Collection, on exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art from January 24 through May 23, explores the life’s work of Prentice Herman (P. H.) Polk (1898-1985). Polk was a Bessemer, Alabama native who became one of the most important African-American photographers of the 20th century. The 28 silver gelatin photographic prints in this exhibition are from the renowned Paul R. Jones collection of African-American art. To Make a Picture coincides with Black History Month and will be the second installation in the Museum’s gallery dedicated to African-American art.

Gallery reflects African-American experience and identity

August 27, 2009, Birmingham, AL — The Birmingham Museum of Art announces the opening on August 30, 2009, of a gallery dedicated to the work of African-American artists. One of the few in the U.S., the gallery will reflect the depth of the Museum’s permanent collection, highlight new acquisitions, and feature traveling exhibitions as well as works on loan from other institutions and private collections rarely seen by the general public. The Museum's curators of African, Contemporary, and American art will collaborate on installations to rotate on a quarterly basis. African-American art will continue to be shown in the Contemporary, American, and Folk Art galleries of the Museum.

Japanese and Chinese Galleries Reopen

ASIAN ART GALLERIES REOPEN AFTER TWO YEARS
Redesign Allows for Installation of New Collections

Birmingham, AL (June 22, 2009)-The Birmingham Museum of Art will reopen its Chinese and Japanese galleries on June 28, 2009 following extensive remodeling. The galleries were closed to accommodate the 2007 blockbuster exhibition, Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption. The redesign highlights the strengths of the collection and allows for the display of more objects.

"Many of the objects on view either have not been seen for many years or have never been seen by the public. The redesign gives us the chance to show the remarkable breadth and depth of our collections," says Don Wood, PhD, senior curator and Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. "Although no new footage was added to the galleries, a creative use of existing space enables us to show far more of the permanent collection than before."

Museum Facts

Birmingham Museum of Art Facts

The Collection:

The Birmingham Museum of Art, one of the finest regional museums in the United States, houses a diverse collection of more than 24,000 paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, and decorative arts dating from ancient to modern times. The collection presents a rich panorama of cultures, featuring the Museum’s extensive holdings of Asian, European, American, African, Pre-Columbian and Native American art.

General Information

Founding Date: 1951