- This Event & Exhibition has passed.
Bum Painter or so-called Architect?: Oscar Bluemner’s Transition to Painting
October 14, 2025 – December 6, 2025
Bum Painter or so-called Architect?: Oscar Bluemner’s Transition to Painting, an exhibition curated by Amarige Champion, chronicles the artist’s challenging shift from architecture to painting. Central to the exhibition is the court dispute between Bluemner and his former architecture partner, Michael Garvin, which fueled the beginning of Bluemner’s disillusionment with the profession. Featuring works ranging from Bluemner’s early architectural sketches to later paintings, the exhibition traces the key moments in Bluemner’s professional transformation.
By examining the Bluemner v. Garvin court case and its role in redirecting his career shift, the exhibition considers how legal conflict became a catalyst for professional reinvention. Accompanied by an exhibition catalogue and drawing on archival materials, Bum Painter or so-called Architect?, explores the intersection of legal conflict and artistic ambition, which ultimately set the artist on the path of becoming an important figure in American Modernism.
Curator: Amarige Champion
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Katya Kudryavtseva
Exhibit on view from October 14 to December 6. Catalogue debut and Curator’s Talk with Amarige Champion on October 16 at 5 pm. Reception on October 25, from 6 to 8 pm.
Sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts.
