Castellani Art Museum: 2013 'Meet Me at the CAM' series will explore 'Great Museums within a Day's Drive'

The Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University has announced its annual "Meet Me at the CAM" film and lecture series will focus on "Great Museums within a Day's Drive."

Susan Clements, the museum's coordinator of community Relations, said, "We're celebrating the fifth year of 'Meet Me at the CAM' with a return to our roots. This year, we'll be learning about some of America's great art museums, large and small, and all within a day's drive of Western New York. From nearby Rochester to the major east coast cities of Boston, New York and Philadelphia, these museums are easy to reach by car."

The popular art history series features award-winning documentaries and guest speakers from the art museum and academic world who expand on the topics presented in the films. Light refreshments are served.

The programs, which run from 10 a.m. until noon, are free to Castellani Art Museum members. A $5 suggested donation is requested of non-members. For information on becoming a member, visit www.castellaniartmuseum.org.

This year's series is based on the PBS documentary series, "Great Museums." The program schedule for this year is as follows:

Tuesday, May 21

PBS Great Museums: 'Riches, Rivals and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America'

Speaker: Shannon M. Risk, Ph.D,. assistant professor of history at Niagara University. Risk's studies involve comparative history of women in the U.S. and Canada. She is president of the WNY/NW Pennsylvania Chapter of the Fulbright Association, and held a Fulbright Fellowship in New Brunswick, Canada, in 2008-09. Risk worked for a decade as a museum professional. In 2012, she appeared with actress Helen Hunt on the NBC series "Who Do You Think You Are?" As a historian, Risk was able to help the actress trace her family's ancestry. The NU professor has also published two novels.

Tuesday, May 28

PBS Great Museums: 'Museum of Modern Art - In Our Time'

Talk: 'Contemporary Art at MoMA P.S. 1'

Speaker: Kurt Von Voetsch, an artist who teaches drawing and painting at Niagara University. He is the gallery manager at the Castellani Art Museum.

Tuesday, June 4

PBS Great Museums: 'George Eastman House - Picture Perfect'

Talk: 'The Western New York-Rochester Connection'

Speaker: Gerald Mead, a collector, artist/educator and independent curator. He partnered with the CAM on the 2011 exhibition "Public/Private: Pairings with Works from the Gerald Mead Collection."

Tuesday, June 11

PBS Great Museums: 'Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - Collective Vision'

Talk: 'Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard's Fogg Museum'

Speaker: Marian Granfield, director of the art history with museum studies program, a new academic major at Niagara University, and the CAM curator of education.

Tuesday, June 18

PBS film: 'The Barnes Collection: An Enigmatic Man, an Inspiring Collection of Art'

Talk: 'Pittsburgh's Warhol Museum'

Speaker: Michael J. Beam, an artist and curator of collections and exhibitions at the Castellani Art Museum. He teaches issues in contemporary art at Niagara University.

"Meet Me at the CAM" attendees may park in the lot adjacent to the Gallagher Center and directly across from the Castellani Art Museum. Visitors should plan to arrive early in order to secure a parking spot. For more information, or to register, contact Clements at 716-286-8201 or email [email protected].