An exhibition of American West paintings and sculptures is opening at Northwest Missouri State's Olive DeLuce Art Gallery
Gallery director and associate art professor Karen Britt says this is part of the collection from Gray Manufacturing in St. Joseph.
Click the LISTEN button to hear Karen Britt's visit with KXCV-KRNW news director Bill Oliver.
The artwork is on loan from the fourth generation leader of Gray Manufacturing, Northwest graduate Pete Gray.
The exhibition, titled “For Love of the Land and Its People: Highlights from the Gray Manufacturing Collection,” also recognizes the 250th birthday of the United States.
Joe Gray, who collected the artwork, was described in a university news release as someone "who was passionate about art and its contribution to communities and workplaces."
Dr. Britt is a co-curator of the exhibition along with the curator of the Gray collection, Northwest graduate Ashton Markt.
Britt told KXCV-KRNW News that "We really, I think, have a stunning collection of work to present to the community an opportunity to really think about what American West can fully encompass."
Britt also says "By placing these works of art next to each other, creating interesting juxtaposition, that the phrase "American West" will be thought of as of a more complex tapestry of cultural perspective."
The exhibition opens Thursday (September 10) at 6 p.m. with a lecture and reception with Pete Gray, the son of Joe Gray who is chief executive officer of Gray Manufacturing and who is a Northwest Missouri State graduate.
The exhibition continues through October 23rd and includes lectures on September 24th and October 12th.
The gallery, located in the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building, is open Monday noon to 3 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday between 3 and 5 p.m., Wednesday between 2 and 5 p.m., and Friday between 9 a.m. and noon and from 2 until 4 p.m. There is no admission charge.
News release from Northwest Missouri State University:
Northwest Missouri State University’s Olive DeLuce Art Gallery opens its 2026-2027 season in September with “For Love of the Land and Its People: Highlights from the Gray Manufacturing Collection,” an exhibition featuring contemporary art that explores the American West.
The exhibit, in conjunction with America’s 250th anniversary this year, opens at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, with a lecture and reception with Pete Gray, the chief executive officer of Gray Manufacturing Co., in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. Gray will discuss the collection assembled by his father and its importance to their family and the company.
The exhibit continues through Oct. 23 at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. Dr. Karen Britt, a Northwest associate professor of art, is co-curating the exhibition with Ashton Markt, a 2014 graduate of the University, who is curator of Gray Manufacturing’s collection.
The artwork appearing at Northwest includes paintings and sculpture that are part of the extensive collection owned by Gray Manufacturing in St. Joseph, Missouri. Pete Gray attended Northwest and generously offered to loan artwork from the collection developed by his father, Joe, who was passionate about art and its contribution to communities and workplaces.
“The artwork is displayed throughout Gray Manufacturing’s facilities because Joe believed in the importance of integrating art within the workplace,” Britt said. “He understood that art plays a powerful role in making workplaces more creative and more productive. My sense is that Pete feels the same.”
Britt noted the Northwest exhibit celebrates the beauty of the land and its people while providing opportunities to reflect on America’s complicated history.
“I hope that visitors will look closely at the pieces in the exhibition and, in doing so, discover the invisible threads that bind us together,” Britt said.
The exhibit will feature two additional lectures at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, with Britt and Markt in the Charles Johnson Theater, and at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, in Room 244 of the Fine Arts Building with Dr. Elyssa Ford, a former Northwest faculty member who is now an associate professor of history at Washington State University. Ford’s lecture is titled “Defining the Cowboy.”
The Olive DeLuce Art Gallery is free and open to the public in the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. Fall gallery hours are noon to 3 p.m. on Monday, 3 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, 2 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, and 9 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday.
For more information about the exhibit or the Olive DeLuce Art Gallery, call 660.562.1326 or send an email to kbritt@nwmissouri.edu.
