UA Gallery in Tuscaloosa’s Cultural Arts Center to Showcase Modern Art

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — An inaugural exhibition of artworks from the collection of University of Alabama alumni Jim and Myra Morgan will open Jan.16 at The University of Alabama Gallery in Tuscaloosa’s Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center.

The exhibit, “The Morgan Collection – Selections,” will be displayed through March 7.

A public reception honoring members of the Morgan family will be held Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the gallery.

The works on display at the UA Gallery are part of more than 150 works donated in 2008 to the University by the Morgan family. The late Jim and Myra Morgan founded the Morgan Gallery in Kansas City in the late 1960s.

The Morgan Gallery celebrated practicing artists in the Midwest and brought in artists from across the country to forge an appetite for contemporary art among corporate and private collectors. The Morgans embraced experimentation, blurred the lines between fine and folk art, and attracted artists who might be regarded as the satirists of the art world of the 1970s.

Artists featured in the exhibit include Terry Allen, Robert Arneson, William Christenberry, Ken Ferguson, Frank Fleming, Viola Frey, Mel Ramos, Robert Stackhouse and William T. Wiley, among others.

Jim Morgan, educated as an artist, devoted himself to collecting both contemporary art and Americana. He was most attracted to the “art of now.” His career as an airline pilot for Trans World Airlines afforded him opportunities to frequent major museums and art galleries from New York City to Los Angeles. Following Jim Morgan’s death in 1983, Myra Morgan remained active in arts communities and contributed her influence toward a public arts initiative in Kansas City.

The University of Alabama Gallery opened in August 2013 and offers a year-round schedule of exhibitions of artistic works, artifacts, textiles and more from permanent collections held by UA, as well as works by faculty, students, and guest artists and designers.

The UA Gallery is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. It is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and the First Fridays of the month until 8 p.m. For more information, phone the gallery at 205/345-3038 or phone 205/342-2060.

The gallery is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.