Bank of America Launches Major Art Exhibition and Loan Program

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Deepening its commitment to the arts, Bank of America today officially launched its Art Exhibition Program, which will make turnkey and customized exhibitions from the Bank of America Collection, one of the largest and most important corporate art collections in the world, widely available to museums free of charge.

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The Bank of America Art Exhibition Program offers museums the opportunity to mount shows curated from the company's extensive collection of paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures and art objects. Museums participating in the program in 2008 include the International Center of Photography (New York), the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Philadelphia), the St. Louis Museum of Art, the Mint Museum of Art (Charlotte), the Boca Raton Museum of Art and a number of other institutions across the country (full schedule below). These exhibitions will allow audiences to experience extraordinary works of art from the Bank of America Collection, some of which have never been on public view.

"We are pleased to offer this unique program to museums and to share our collection with the widest possible audience," said Rena M. DeSisto, Arts & Culture Executive, Bank of America. "From our perspective, sharing these pieces of art with the public through our museum partners is the best possible use of the collection. Not only is there a cultural benefit, but we are bolstering institutions which serve as economic anchors for their respective communities."

The Bank of America Art Exhibition Program includes exhibitions fully curated from the Bank of America collection that will travel to museums around the country, and exhibitions created in collaboration with curators from major museums.

"The scale and scope of this program is unmatched in the art world," said Millicent Gaudieri, Executive Director, Association of Art Museum Directors. "Bank of America - which is renowned for having one of the most expansive art collections in the world - is addressing a real need among museums. Not only do these exhibits have extraordinary curatorial value, but they help museums by covering most of the major costs associated with the exhibit. This program will be very popular, both for the museums and their visitors."

The largest exhibition scheduled for this year, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, is Reverberations: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Bank of America Collection, a unique collaborative exhibition of exceptional works from the 1920s through the present drawn from the Bank of America Collection. The show will feature approximately 80 paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints by prominent American artists including Milton Avery, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, Ellsworth Kelly, John Marin, Elizabeth Murray, Ed Paschke, Faith Ringgold, Edward Ruscha and Frank Stella. Reverberations, curated by Robert Cozzolino, Curator of Modern Art at the Pennsylvania Academy (128 North Broad Street, Philadelphia), opens on June 28 and will continue through September 21.

Other exhibitions include The Art Books of Henri Matisse; American Impressionists; The Wyeth Family: Three Generations; Andy Warhol Portfolios; the Hewitt Collection of African-American Art; and Art of the West featuring works by Oscar Berninghaus, Alfred J. Miller, E. Irvin Couse, Frank Tenney Johnson and others.

Future exhibitions will include the work of major photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, Diane Arbus, Gordon Parks, Walker Evans, Cindy Sherman and Thomas Struth. Additional exhibitions are also being planned from Bank of America's contemporary art holdings, which include artists such as Jennifer Bartlett, Jasper Johns, Robert Raushenberg, Jonathan Borofsky, Ron Davis, David Hockney, Mark Tobey, Robert Mapplethorpe, Pat Steir, Robert Motherwell, Roy Lichtenstein, Julian Opie and Richard Misrach.

The Bank of America Collection is one of the oldest and largest corporate art collections in the world, reflecting the diversity of artistic expression in America and internationally. These works of art are displayed in museums and Bank of America's public galleries as well as in corporate offices. As the company has grown in recent decades, the size and scope of the Bank of America Collection has also grown. Today, the collection has been enriched with the art from more than three thousand legacy banks, each with a particular emphasis - regional, thematic, contemporary, or historical.

Bank of America and the Arts

Bank of America is a leading supporter of arts and culture in the United States. Through a wide variety of programs, Bank of America works to strengthen artistic institutions and provide greater access to treasured works of art for both its customers and those who might not otherwise experience them. Each year, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation provides millions of dollars in grants to a wide range of arts organizations, supporting education and access programs and enabling institutions to expand their scope, and underwrites national and local performances, arts programs, and exhibitions. Through its unique loaned exhibition program, the bank offers its art collection to museums throughout the country, free of charge, so they may expand their offerings for the benefit of their communities.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, nearly 19,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with nearly 24 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock NYSE: BAC is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

                               Bank of America
                       Art Exhibition Program Calendar

    Timing                   Exhibition          Museum            Market

    October 12, 2007 -       The Making of      St. Louis          St. Louis
     March 9, 2008            the County         Museum of Art
                              Election

    February 17 -            Andy Warhol's       Loyola            Chicago
     April 22, 2008           Silver Clouds and   University
                              Portfolios          Museum of Art

    March 6 -                MultiXply           Columbia College  Chicago
     April 19, 2008                               of Art, A+D
                                                  Gallery

    May 7 - June 22, 2008    American            Boca Raton       Boca Raton,
                              Impressionists:     Museum of Art    Florida
                              Treasures
                              from the
                              Bank of America
                              Collection

    May 16 -                 Arbus/Avedon/Model:  International  New York City
     September 7, 2008        Selections from      Center of
                              the Bank of America  Photography
                              Collection

    June 28 -                 Reverberations:     Pennsylvania   Philadelphia
     September 21, 2008        Modern and          Academy
                               Contemporary        of the Fine
                               Works from the      Arts
                               Bank of America
                               Collection

    July 10 -                 The Art Books       Napa Valley     Yountville,
     September 26, 2008        of Henri Matisse    Museum          California

    August 1 -
     December 1, 2008         Hockney, Dine and   St. Louis        St. Louis
                               Diebenkorn:         University
                               A Print Survey      Museum of Art

    September - December      Celebration         Museum of      San Francisco
     2008                      and Vision:         African
                               Hewitt Collection   Diaspora
                               of African
                               American Art

    October 12, 2008 -        The Making of     St. Louis           St. Louis
     March 9, 2009             "The County       Art Museum
                               Election"

    October 18, 2008 -        Big Shots -       Chicago Cultural    Chicago
     January 4, 2009           Selections        Center
                               from the
                               Bank of America
                               LaSalle
                               Collection

    October 20 -              Andy Warhol       Mint Museum of Art   Charlotte
     December 30, 2008         Portfolios

    January - April 2009      American          Gilcrease Museum       Tulsa
                               Impressionist:
                               Treasures from the
                               Bank of America
                               Collection

    January - April 2009      Mexican Art       National Museum of    Chicago
                               from the          Mexican Art
                               Bank of America
                               Collection

    January - May 2009        African-American  40 Acres Museum    Sacramento
                               Currents

    February 21 -             Art of the West   National Cowboy  Oklahoma City
     May 10, 2009                                Museum and
                                                 Western Heritage
                                                 Center

    June - September 2009     Modern Works      New York State    Albany
                               of New York       Museum
                               Artists

    September 27, 2009 -      The Wyeth         Wichita Art       Wichita,
     January 10, 2010          Family: Three     Museum            Kansas
                               Generations

    September 2009 -          Andy Warhol       Union             Kansas City
     January 2010               Portfolios        Station

    February - May 2010       Alfred J.         Nelson-Atkins     Kansas City
                               Miller:           Museums of Art
                               Discovered
                               Watercolors

    September 2010 -          Photography       Sheldon Galleries  St. Louis
     January 2011              Exhibition:
                               Theme TBD



                          International Exhibitions

    January 17 -              Edward Steichen:   Musee de       Lausanne,
     March 23, 2008            Lives in           l'Elysee       Switzerland
                               Photography

    April 12 -                Edward Steichen:   Palazzo        Reggio Emilia,
     June 8, 2008              Lives in           Magnani        Italy
                               Photography

    June 24 -                 Edward Steichen:   Museo Nacional  Madrid, Spain
     September 22, 2008        Lives in           Centro de
                               Photography        Arte Reina
                                                  Sofia

    June - October 2010       The Wyeth Family:   Dulwich       London, UK
                               Three Generations   Picture
                                                   Gallery