A special thanks to everyone who attended our first annual Members Christmas Reception and Gallery Stroll. It was exciting to show off our three floors of gallery space and offer a few surprises throughout the evening including Christmas caroling by the Homenetmen Scouts.
During the event, Museum Trustee Charles Hajinian presented a delicate hand-knitted angora shawl to Museum President Michele Kolligian. The shawl was actually worn by Michele's grandmother Araxie Soursourian Kolligian on her wedding day, which happened to fall on the same day as this event but in 1914. Michele accepted the gift and made a wonderful announcement that she is going to donate the shawl to our textile collection. Stay tuned for more details about this story, and a temporary exhibit of the piece in our Family Case in 2023!
Become a Member of the Armenian Museum of America
This summer we hosted a book launch and conversation between New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Kurkjian
Dear Friend,
There is no better time to be a Member of the Armenian Museum of America. Our exhibitions and programming, both online and in-person, have taken the Museum to new heights. We hope this is a source of pride for you as much as it is for us. A few examples:
A book launch for New York Times best-selling author Chris Bohjalian
Online programming including concerts and videos with our Curator
Iconic portraits by Yousuf Karsh, a captivating visual narrative of the Armenian Genocide, and so much more
Harvard magazine recognized its importance in a recent feature-length article: “The Armenian Museum is a powerful experience for visitors. It’s a testament not only to the layered ancient world, but to a peoples’ resilient drive to survive and flourish.”
We have now opened our largest contemporary exhibit in 50 years, On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s–1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection, which features more than 75 works by leading artists such as John Altoon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Charles Garabedian, Frank Gehry, David Hockney, and Ed Ruscha.
WBUR called the show one of the top five things to do in Boston! We had a wonderful review in the Boston Globe by Pulitzer Prize-winning arts writer and critic Mark Feeney, and it has been covered by WGBH’s Emmy award-winning arts editor Jared Bowen.
The Armenian Museum of America is an influential national organization with members in 37 states! We have one of the largest collections of Armenian artifacts in the Diaspora and we host visitors every week from all over the country and all over the world in our three floors of gallery space.
Our Mission is more important now than ever, especially as Armenians are facing ethnic cleansing and cultural erasure in Artsakh. This is YOUR museum, so please respond with your membership commitment today.
Respectfully yours,
Jason Sohigian
Executive Director
California Dreaming in Boston with GBH’s Jared Bowen
GBH Arts Editor Jared Bown reviewed our current exhibit and said, "On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s-1990s tells the story of how California artists adopted a maverick streak in the 1970s. They broke out of what was the norm in the art hotbeds of New York and Europe. Unlike artists in those places, the California artists played with light. Fortunately, they had friends and collectors like the Quinns to fuel this innovation." If you have not yet had a chance to see this exhibit, we encourage you to do so since it will be on view now through Nov. 30. Our galleries in Watertown (Boston) are open Thursday thru Sunday from 12-6.
Jared Bowen is the Emmy award-winning host of the weekly television series, Open Studio with Jared Bowen, which takes viewers inside the creative process, offering a blend of profiles, performances, and contemporary exhibitions by artists in Greater Boston, New England, and across the country.
Los Angeles Art to be Explored in Panel and Reception in Galleries of the Armenian Museum of America
(L-R) Laddie John Dill, Gregory Wiley Edwards, and Joe Fay
Following a successful opening of “On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s-1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection,” the Armenian Museum of America recently announced a panel discussion with three prominent artists in the exhibition.
On Saturday, October 29, the Museum is hosting a conversation with Laddie John Dill, Gregory Wiley Edwards, and Joe Fay moderated by Bolton Colburn. The panel begins at 2:00 pm and will be followed by a gallery reception at 3:30 pm. The collectors Joan Agajanian Quinn and her daughter Amanda Quinn Olivar will also be present.
“On the Edge” includes more than 75 works by leading artists including Lita Albuquerque, John Altoon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lynda Benglis, Vija Celmins, Claire Falkenstein, Frank Gehry, David Hockney, Helmut Newton, Ed Ruscha, and Andy Warhol.
“Our new contemporary show has excited visitors and art critics in Boston so we are pleased to offer this program to the public,” explains Executive Director Jason Sohigian. WBUR called the show one of the top five things to do in Boston and it was reviewed by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mark Feeney in the Boston Globe. WGBH Arts Editor Jared Bowen has featured the exhibit on NPR’s Morning Edition, Boston Public Radio, and Open Studio.
“On the Edge” was curated by Rachel McCullah Wainwright. “The work and artists on display represent a period of history that transformed art making,” states Wainwright. “Art made in Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s onward is defined by a unique spirit of anti-conformity, a play of new materials, a celebration of light, and the California cool ethos.”
The panelists have several works in the exhibition. Laddie John Dill’s neon “portrait” of collector and muse Joan Agajanian Quinn sits on a narrow wall in the center of the large gallery. Dill gained notoriety with materials such as glass, metal, neon, and cement, and his work embodies gesture and dynamic physical presence through its use of industrial materials.
Gregory Wiley Edwards’ large abstract expressionist canvas “Expanded Resonance” captures your attention immediately upon entering in the Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries. His style is influenced by performance, activism, and his investigations into African art and philosophy.
Joe Fay has two pieces in the current exhibition including a colorful portrait of Joan Quinn. Inspired by the natural world, Fay gleaned a philosophy of experimentation that motivates his practice.
The moderator of this event will be Bolton Colburn, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University. He is a former director of the Laguna Art Museum, senior curator of the Laguna Art Museum, and senior curator of the Orange County Museum of Art.
The exhibition and this panel discussion are presented by the JHM Foundation. The suggested donation to attend is $15, and it is free for students and members of the Armenian Museum.
The Armenian Museum of America’s galleries are open Thursday through Sunday from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm and it is located at 65 Main Street, Watertown, MA. To RSVP for the October 29 event, please visit www.tinyurl.com/oct29ama.
Jared Bowen Highlights ‘On the Edge’ Exhibit on NPR’s Morning Edition and Boston Public Radio
GBH Arts Editor Jared Bowen covered “On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s-1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Collection” on NPR’s Morning Edition on August 11, 2022 and on Boston Public Radio on August 16, 2022.
"This is a great show because it introduces us to all of this fabulous art from the 1970s through the 1990s that was happening in California," said Bowen. What makes this exhibit particularly engaging is the role of Joan Agajanian Quinn, as "she is the one who has facilitated this major exhibition at the Armenian Museum of America because she has Armenian heritage."
The Quinns were immersed in artist circles and supported several now-famous artists in their early days, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Hockney, and Andy Warhol. Because of her charisma, Joan was an inspiration and muse for many of them, with renditions ranging in style and technique from Renaissance portraiture to pop art.
"Artists were sketching her or making their own interpretations of her — be it in neon or through sculpture. What I love about that is that you see this wide array, all of these different artistic viewpoints of her," Bowen said.