Faces of Breast Cancer: Photographs by Pete Byron

Available Fall 2013 and beyond

Pete Byron is a New Jersey-based freelance photographer with 30 years of experience. His forte is photographing people. The magic in his work is balancing energy and repose.

This exhibition features 20  powerful portraits of cancer survivors, exploring the personalities, beauty, and vitality of these brave women.

As a subject for exhibition, breast cancer can raise questions of taste, of privacy, and the uncomfortable reality of death. In Pete Byron’s photographs, however, the women who have suffered and survived breast cancer are testaments to the beauty inherent in life and the inextingtuished will to survive.

There is as much joy in Byron’s photographs as there is drama. The women in these photographs savor life. In posing for the camera, they shared with Byron—and share with the viewer—their scars, their fears, and their humor. Their vision of themselves, it is clear in these photos, is perhaps deeper than it was before they each faced their ordeal; each day, each moment is far more genuine than ever before. Their laughter, of which there is much in these pictures, is deeply exuberant.

Regarding the question of whether breast cancer and its sufferers are fitting subjects for a museum exhibition, we can only answer by insisting that as an institution committed to exhibiting art, there are two expressions of art on view in Pete Byrons work: the art of photography and the art of life. Both are worthy of public view.

Click here to download a PDF with more information: Faces of Breast Cancer

On Vacation with Winslow Homer: Wood Engravings of an American Master

Available Fall 2013 and beyond

This travelling exhibition features 27  framed wood engravings by one of the foremost American artists of all time, this exhibition celebrates Winslow Homer’s delight in depicting children as they explore the pleasures of the sea shore and countryside.  Approximately 10 works are drawn from 1870-1875, the period when Homer’s finest illustrations were produced.  The works selected examine a range of vacation activities, such as bathing, hiking, fishing, clambakes, picnics, games, and 4^th of July fireworks, and reflect the timeless appeal of Homer’s love of country life at its simplest.

The exhibition will have several innovative features.  In what is believed to be a first, Homer’s wood engravings will be exhibited side by side with the companion articles, poems, and stories that he was illustrating, revealing insights into the pictorial narrative that he crafted.  In addition, prints of paintings that are related to certain wood engravings will be juxtaposed to those prints for comparative study.

This exhibition presents a selection of some of Winslow Homer’s best illustrations that demonstrate the artist’s keen observations of Americans at play in the great outdoors, placing these works in their art historical and social history contexts.

Click here to download a PDF with more information: Winslow Homer

Mechanical Musical Instruments & Automata from the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection

Available December 2013 and beyond

Since the acquisition of The Murtogh D. Guinness Collection, the Morris Museum has proudly participated in several institutional exhibitions by loan of objects that have taken place here in America. These have been so widely appreciated that we are now in the planning stages of creating our first solo traveling exhibit focused on “Ragtime”, that uniquely American, late 19^th to early 20^th century style of ‘syncopated’ music, popularized & made accessible to the masses by period automatic musical instruments, namely: Cylinder Phonographs, Nickelodeon’s & Player Pianos. Premier exhibition opening is scheduled for June 20th, 2013 at the Morris Museum.Celebrating the origins & popularity of Ragtime music, this exhibit will feature a variety of mechanical musical instruments, automata and period sheet music from the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection. The craze that swept America in the 1890s was assisted by the availability of American-made musical boxes, self-playing pianos, and some of the first published sheet music originating from ‘Tin Pan Alley’. Its main characteristic musically, is having a syncopated or ‘ragged’ rhythm, the origins of which date back to the mid-1800’s. Explore this uniquely American sound through the sheet music and the mechanical musical instruments that brought the songs to life.Included in this 1000 sq.ft. exhibit will be over two dozen eamples of rare period sheet music with eye-catching tin pan alley artwork, numerous ragtime-playing mechanical musical instruments from the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection, as well as audio kiosk stations where visitors can listen to the samples of the tunes.

This will be a ”must see & be heard” exhibit!

Please call 973.971.3723 to inquire about use of this exhibition.

Once Upon a Dime: The World of Money

Available Fall 2013 and beyond

Designed to strengthen the financial literacy of school-aged children, this highly interactive exhibition involves visitors in the full story of money’s role and importance in our society and other societies throughout history. In an especially designed environment, youngsters and their families participate in a wide variety of multi-sensory, hands-on activities. While having fun, visitors can learn about the universal themes of money, from how it evolved to how it is used today.  Now owned by the Morris Museum, this exhibition is presented by Chase Bank and was organized by The Newark Museum.

What Makes the World Go ‘Round? The answer, of course, is money. This interactive exhibition invites you to discover the fascinating story of money over thousands of years and across the world. Peek into a large bank vault filled with different kinds of “money,” and follow the story of money from barter to digital dollars through a series of interactive stations. Visitors will be challenged to think about spending, saving and investing their own money. Play the Barter Game and explore the value of money. Become an inspector on the lookout for counterfeit bills in our Crime Lab. Then start your own Cookie Business.

Once Upon a Dime, presented by Chase Bank, will provide fun and educational financial literacy programs and invite school-aged children, families, and adults to explore the fascinating story of money through hands-on activities.

Once Upon a Dime will be available to travel or buy September 2013. Please contact 973.796.1234 for more information.