Don’t miss these regional art exhibits this summer

Realistic dinosaur replicas lurking among gardens, images of endangered and threatened species created by a National Geographic photographer, 115 pieces from the American Folk Art Museum in New York and 100 works of modern art – including 50 by Henri Matisse – never before seen together in North America: If you’re looking for something new to see, there’s still time to visit these temporary exhibits that are all within a four-hour drive of Wichita.

‘Matisse in His Time’

Oklahoma City Museum of Art

The Centre Pompidou in Paris – home to the largest museum of modern art in Europe – has curated 50 works of art by Henri Matisse along with another 50 masterpieces by contemporaries like Pablo Picasso. It’s the first time these masterworks will be shown together outside of Europe, and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is the exhibit’s only stop in North America.

“Matisse in His Time: Masterworks of Modernism from the Centre Pompidou, Paris,” opened June 18 and attracted 12,000 visitors through its first three weeks. To handle demand, OKCMOA is selling tickets online for specific entry times ($10-$12, okcmoa.com). Walk-ins are allowed, but you might have to wait 15-30 minutes to enter the Matisse exhibit. Tickets to this exhibit allow you to view the museum’s permanent collection and three other temporary exhibits.

The Matisse collection includes paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints from throughout the career of one of the most influential artists of his time. The remainder of the exhibit highlights other celebrated artists of the 20th century, with iconic works by Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Andre Derain, Georges Braque and Joan Miro, among others. It is viewable until Sept. 18.

According to the museum, no days are completely sold out. However, they recently added guided tours of the exhibit that they do expect to sell out. On select Thursday evenings, a staff member will talk about the lives of the artists and the history of the pieces as you walk through the exhibit. The tours are 6 to 6:45 p.m. on Aug. 4, Aug. 25 and Sept. 8 and cost $12. This is part of Art After 5, which features live music and a cash bar on the rooftop terrace.

‘Jurassic Garden’

Powell Gardens, Kansas City, Mo.

A 32-foot Tyrannosaurus rex greets visitors as they leave the visitor center and begin exploring Powell Gardens. A menacing-looking Dimetrodon poses among the waterlilies on the Island Garden. Quetzalcoatlus juveniles cling to trees and shrubs next to a waterfall in the Woodland and Stream Garden. There are 18 dinosaur replicas in 11 settings throughout the 970-acre botanical garden east of Kansas City during “Jurassic Garden,” a temporary exhibit available until Oct. 3.

Missouri artist Guy Darrough, a well-known fossil collector and fossil preparation expert, creates the lifelike fiberglass models using fossilized bones and other materials. His attention to detail, including skin textures, and the natural settings add to the realism and offer fun photo opportunities.

“Jurassic Garden” is included in regular admission: $10 adults, $9 seniors, $4 ages 5-12. There are several special events tied into the exhibit; visit powellgardens.org/JurassicGarden for details.

Try combining your visit to see the dinosaurs with the 20th annual Festival of the Butterflies, Aug. 5 to 7 and Aug. 12 to 14. Powell Gardens brings in 2,000 butterflies, which emerge at varying times throughout the festival. There are native butterflies and education on ways to help conserve the monarch butterfly, as well as tropical species from around the world, such as the Costa Rican blue morpho and the Atlas moth from Malaysia. The festival also includes a caterpillar petting zoo, costume parade, storytime and crafts.

‘Photo Ark’

University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Neb.

Joel Sartore, a former Wichita Eagle photographer who is a long-time contributor to National Geographic magazine, said an article on amphibian decline inspired him to begin photographing threatened species as a way of documenting biodiversity before it’s too late. During the past two decades, he has photographed more than 6,000 species in 40 countries and is still working on his Photo Ark project.

“National Geographic Photo Ark” is an exhibit of 601 photos at the University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln, Neb., his hometown. The photographs are stunning studio portraits with black or white backgrounds, which puts the focus on each creature’s expression.

“I want people to care, to fall in love, and to take action,” Sartore said on Photo Ark’s website (nationalgeographic.org/projects/photo-ark).

The temporary exhibit is viewable through the end of the year. The University of Nebraska State Museum (museum.unl.edu) is open daily and features natural history collections. Admission is $6 adults, $3 for ages 18 and under. They offer family discounts and packages including tickets to the adjacent Mueller Planetarium (closed Mondays).

‘American Made’

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Ark.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which opened in 2011 in Bentonville, Ark., is featuring its first folk art exhibition through Sept. 19.

Created especially for Crystal Bridges, the exhibit features more than 115 works of art curated by the American Folk Art Museum in New York. The pieces vary in size, materials and subject matter, ranging from a set of 4-inch-tall paper figurines used as children’s toys post-Revolutionary War, to an embroidered silk map quilt of the United States that creates a snapshot of the nation’s geography in the late 1800s, to a weathervane featuring an 8-foot-tall copper figure of the Delaware Indian leader Tammany, possibly the largest surviving American weathervane.

“Many of the artists’ names in ‘American Made’ will never be known. They did not receive formal art education, but they had tremendous expertise and skill, and this exhibition is a way to honor their important contributions to our own artistic heritage,” Mindy Besaw, Crystal Bridges curator, said in a news release.

Crystal Bridges is free; however, tickets to see “American Made: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum” are $10 for adults, free for ages 18 and under. The special exhibit includes an audio tour sharing the stories behind 20 works, activities, local artist demonstrations and other programming for all ages (visit crystalbridges.org for the schedule). A guided tour is available from 1 to 2 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.

This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Don’t miss these regional art exhibits this summer."