10/11/96

CONTACT: Sally Delgado, Ohio University, 614/593-1304

ATHENS, Ohio -- As part of pre-dedication activities, the Kennedy Museum of American Art at Ohio University will open Oct. 18 with a special exhibition of contemporary paintings.

The museum will be open to the public on a limited basis through December. Gallery hours will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and admission is free.

The special exhibition, "New Voices, New Visions: Holly Lane, Eleanor Miller, and Hiro Yokose," will be on display from Oct. 18 to Dec. 27. The Friends of the Kennedy Museum will sponsor a public reception for the exhibit from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at the museum.

The exhibit is an homage to retired Florida gallery owner Foster Harmon for his dedication to the arts and to the vision of Ohio University's new museum. In addition to a gift to the museum of the Harmon Collection of American Paintings and Sculpture, Harmon, a 1934 Ohio University alumnus and 1992 honorary degree recipient, has provided funds for the Archival Center for the Study of American Art and serves on the museum's Board of Directors.

Official museum dedication ceremonies are tentatively scheduled to take place in February 1997, after a permanent director is appointed. Also on display for the museum's limited opening will be "Selections from the Martha and Foster Harmon Collection" and "A Century of Weaving: The Hanoolchaadi or Navajo Chief Blanket." Both of those collections will be among exhibitions to be showcased during grand opening dedication ceremonies.

The Kennedy Museum of American Art is located in Lin Hall on The Ridges on the Athens campus.