April 5 – May 26, 2013
Members of the regional artist critique group, Points of Juxtaposition, will participate in a unique group exhibition within the Biggs Museum’s permanent collection galleries. Each of the eight artists of Points of Juxtaposition will display artwork within a gallery along the museum’s timeline display of the fine and decorative arts. Each artist of this diverse group is representing their own contemporary African American male artistic perspective that will be contrasted against a backdrop of historically significant local fine and decorative arts. The artists will be placed in specific galleries based on the quality and content of their work in order to maximize aesthetic contrasts and to accentuate artistic narrative within the context of each time period gallery.

July 4 - October 27, 2013
When Nathanial Currier, a young businessman in New York City, published a lithograph in 1835 showing Planters Hotel in New Orleans after a fire, it ushered in a new era of pictorial journalism. The print established the firm which was to achieve its greatest fame as “Currier & Ives” after 1857 when James Merritt Ives became a partner.

Over the next seven decades, the firm consistently provided the public with images that recorded the breaking news of the day. However, as the demand for decorative lithographs increased, Currier & Ives also published prints depicting almost every aspect of American life. Through an ever-expanding repertoire of images, the prints of Currier & Ives celebrated the activities, events and everyday life of nineteenth century Americans. Images included domestic life, historical events, city and country views, religious scenes, scenic wonders, westward expansion, trains, ships, winter scenes and hunting and fishing. Each print was titled and most were hand-colored by women who worked for the firm.

The prints were sold in the New York City shop, distributed through mail-order, and were offered by peddlers and by agents working throughout the United States and Europe. Working with speed and efficiency, Currier & Ives printed two to three images every week for 64 years, and the firm is believed to have produced more than 8,000 different titled lithographic prints.

Many of the images serve to document a wide variety of social trends and attitudes that reflect American culture during the nineteenth century. The Legacy of Currier & Ives allows visitors to experience American history and society through the extraordinary images produced by the legendary firm who called themselves “Printmakers to the People.”

August 2 - October 13, 2013
For thirteen years, the Biggs Museum has partnered with the Delaware Division of the Arts (DDOA) to showcase the artistic talents of Delaware in an annual summer exhibition.

The annual Award Winners exhibition features the talent of the current Individual Artist Fellows of the Delaware Division of the Arts (DDOA). Delaware artists: painters, photographers, sculptors, writers, musicians and craft artisans, have the honor of winning the DDOA’s annual distinguished fellowship prizes. The fellows are chosen by jurors from hundreds of entries. In a partnership with the DDOA, the staff of the Biggs Museum invites each year’s Award Winners to the only group exhibition honoring their combined accomplishment.

The annual Award Winners exhibition is one of the most important annual projects at the Biggs Museum in carrying out its mission to celebrate artistic diversity, provide public educational access to Delaware’s fine-arts community, and to bring more awareness of both the museum and art to the community.

Award Winners traces the evolution of the local art scene in Delaware and is presented to the public with hopes of encouraging conversation, comparison, debate and reflection of the diverse nature of work being created in Delaware.

September 6 – October 27, 2013
The Biggs Museum will host a juried member’s exhibition of the Delaware Watercolor Society. As many as 50 watercolors will be featured within the Museum’s galleries, many will be for sale. The Delaware Watercolor Society (DWS) aims to promote and encourage mutually shared interests in watercolor media among its members and the public. The Society works toward fostering high-quality, professional art and creative contributions to the Delaware community through education events, exhibits, cultural, and other activities.