Past As Present

In the '50s, we worried about the Cold War; today we're mostly concerned with wars staged in deserts. The '50s marked the beginning of the Mad Men era; today we just watch Mad Men on television. A lot of things have changed in the past six decades. But through it all — from Duane Eddy to Dwyane Wade, from Marilyn Monroe to Meryl Streep — the Lowe Art Museum kept on collecting art. Begun as a small, three-classroom space in 1950 and opening its doors for the first time as a free-standing museum in 1952, the Lowe bore witness to plenty of history — and it has the masterpieces to prove it. It will celebrate its 60th anniversary Wednesday with "Building a Legacy: 60 Years of Collecting at the Lowe Art Museum," an exhibition highlighting its most important and memorable acquisitions. These aren't pieces you can see just anytime. Because the museum doesn't have room to display all of its 17,500 works of art, many have been kept in storage for years. The exhibit presents the history of not only the Lowe but also the world.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sundays, 12-4 p.m. Starts: Jan. 28. Continues through March 25, 2012