Menagerie

Animals in Art from the KAM Collection
January 16—May 16, 2026

This exhibition offers a menagerie of animals as represented in works of art from the KAM collection from a wide variety of cultures and historical periods. Like a living menagerie, the goal of the exhibition is to both educate and entertain. The exhibition begins with a selection of common domesticated animals, and continues with a larger number of wild animals representing different species and geographical regions. To reflect the varied historical functions of real menageries, each object label in this virtual menagerie contains a mix of biological and cultural information about the animals depicted. Together, the artworks and labels remind us about the wondrous variety of animals that exist, the vital roles they play in the life of our planet, and the moral obligation humans have to preserve and nourish that life in the face of dangers posed by pollution, habitat loss, and global climate change.

Image: Zebra. Sherrie Wolf (American, born 1952). 2011. Color etching, aquatint, and photogravure. Hope College Collection, 2025.32

Modern Pioneers

The Artistic Collaboration of Martha Graham and Barbara Morgan
January 16—May 16, 2026

Modern Pioneers highlights the artistic achievements of two major women artists of the 20th century: Martha Graham and Barbara Morgan. From 1936 to 1941, these two artists worked together on a remarkable collaborative project in which Morgan used her photography skills to capture the essential qualities of 16 important dance pieces composed by Graham between 1930 and 1940. The results of their collaboration were published in 1941 in the book “Martha Graham, Sixteen Dances in Photographs by Barbara Morgan.” Some of the photographs in the KAM exhibition were printed from negatives used for the images in that book. Other of the photographs were printed from negatives taken during the project but not used in the book. All of the Morgan photos were printed by the artist or under her direction by studio assistants.

Image: Martha Graham: Ekstasis. Barbara Morgan (American, 1900-1992). 1936 / Gelatin silver print. Hope College Collection, gift of the Peter C. & Emmajean Cook Foundation, 2019.32.15