New London, CT - Lyman Allyn Art Museum announces a new exhibition, Fifty Years of Collecting Contemporary Art at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, opening to the public on March 15 and on view through August 17, 2008. Contemporary art poses such questions as - where does the past stop and the present begin?  Where does the local artist meet with and become a colleague of internationally recognized artists? These are questions that will be posed and discussed at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum’s galleries this spring.  
 
The museum is hosting an exhibition of work drawn from its rarely seen collection of contemporary art, all of which has been acquired since 1958, both through purchase and donation.  Adjunct Professor of Art History at Connecticut College Janis Mink curates this exhibition with the assistance of the students in her seminar class “Issues in Contemporary  Art.”  Their goal is to offer an elegant and surprising presentation that will showcase the museum’s holdings.  Fifty Years of Collecting Contemporary Art at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum will exhibit photographs, paintings and works on paper from the mid-twentieth century until today, with an emphasis on the past twenty years.  An impressive list of artists will be on view including Richard Avedon, Ellen Carey, Nan Goldin, Alex Katz, Barbara Kruger, Annie Leibovitz, Sally Mann, Sol LeWitt, Sam Messer, Elizabeth Peyton, Andres Serrano, and William Wegman, among others.
 
Sundays, March 30 and April 27, 2008 at 1:30 pm : Who Gets to Call It Art?

Accompanying the exhibit 50 Years of Collecting Contemporary Art, the Museum is proud to screen this acclaimed documentary film.  In the 1960’s, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's first curator of contemporary art, Henry Geldzahler, bore witness to an exciting era in art and museum history that saw the rise of Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns and the iconic Andy Warhol.  This vibrant documentary combines Geldzahler's recollections of his experiences with rare footage and interviews with working artists of the period, including David Hockney, James Rosenquist and Frank Stella.  Free with admission.  
 
Lyman Allyn Art Museum is a community-based museum located in New London, Connecticut.  Founded in 1932 by Harriet Upson Allyn in memory of her father, Lyman Allyn, the Museum serves the people of Southeastern Connecticut and is free to the residents of New London. The Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a non-profit organization with 501(c) 3 status.  Housed in a handsome Neo-Classical building designed by Charles A. Platt, the permanent collection includes over 10,000 paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, furniture and decorative arts, with an emphasis on American art from the 18^th through 20^th centuries.  
 
The museum is located at 625 Williams Street, New London, Connecticut, exit 83 off I-95.  The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm and Sunday 1:00 – 5:00 pm, closed Mondays and major holidays. For more information call 860.443.2545 or visit us on the web at: www.lymanallyn.org.