The gallery opening is Saturday, and patrons are asked to call ahead for reservations at 989-356-2202. Host Brian Schorn, art expert and art exhibition curator, will give one-hour tours of “Modern Art at The Besser,” starting at 11 a.m., with the last tour at 3 p.m. Gallery capacity is limited to 25 people per hour.

The exhibition will be on display through Dec. 30. The 28 pieces of artwork on display are from the museum’s permanent collection, representing 23 artists from the Modern Art movement, including Picasso, Lichtenstein, Dali, Motherwell, Nevelson, and Vasarely.

With funding from the Robert and Candace Smith Endowment Fund, the museum contracted Schorn to serve as the fine art consultant. His duties include developing a three-year exhibit schedule, curating the first exhibit, and establishing a fine art committee comprised of other local art professionals to provide input into the revitalization of the museum’s focus on fine art, said Christine Witulski, Besser Museum executive director.

“So Brian already has set, for the next three years, the rotation of this gallery,” Witulski said. “He is also interpreting, doing all the exhibit labels to educate the public on why these pieces and these artists are significant to modern art.”

Above is a modern art piece by Pablo Picasso

Upon first examining the museum’s permanent collection, Schorn was impressed with the volume of artwork from many famous and talented artists.

“The collection was really founded in the height of modern art,” Schorn said. “And so, all of the artworks that were acquired during that period were some of the best works that represent what modern is today.”

Schorn will be compiling art from the museum’s permanent collection to be featured in upcoming exhibitions in a “prequel-sequel fashion.”

“Thinking about how to deal with a three-year plan that had a degree of cohesiveness over the three years that would allow for an audience to be informed of the historical context in which each show is placed,” Schorn said, “this is where you start. So it’s going to be modern art first … so the next show will be before modern art to find out how this stuff ever got here … And then, the last show will be going beyond modern art to what would be in the collection from 1970 onwards. So, more contemporary art.”

The permanent collection features works “that have been amassed over the last 50 years,” according to Witulski.

This piece by Karel Appel “has the relationship to a very aggressive, more childlike painterly approach,” Brian Schorn said. Appel was one of the founders of the avant-garde movement CoBrA in 1948.

Most of the pieces are editions in prints, but Witulski explained that even reproductions of famous pieces can be worth thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Signed, limited edition prints and reproductions are rare enough to be worth a lot of money, she said.

Witulski said renovations started at the end of 2019, after the Besser Foundation gifted the museum a $25,000 grant. The museum purchased modular walls from EmagiSpace and Alpena’s Panel Processing manufactured them. Museum Facility Manager Matt Klimczak and volunteer Scott Brooks installed the walls and attached the paneling. Local interior designer Pam O’Neil helped choose the gallery’s paint colors. Paint was purchased from Sherwin Williams and the new carpeting was purchased from Young’s Flooring, both in Alpena. Museum staff painted and installed the carpet tiles.

Witulski said the museum’s fine art committee has been working on several tasks to further the museum’s goals.

The fine art committee “is developing the strategic plan for exhibits and programming, curating the annual exhibits, and seeking community partners willing to help strengthen arts and culture, which is something that we’re always looking at,” Witulski said. “It’s just been a journey that’s been something that the Besser Museum has been thinking about for a very long time on how best to showcase the vast collection of fine art that we have here that has been acquisitioned into our permanent collection starting in the ’70s, ’80s,’90s.”

Witulski noted that while there have been seven executive directors over the past 50 years, about 140 people have served on the museum board and should be credited with helping to build the art collection. Jesse Besser, Russell Wilson, and Fred Trelfa served as the first board members in 1962.

This pop art piece by Roy Lichtenstein is one of 28 pieces featured in “Modern Art at The Besser.”

“Every contribution counted and we continue to benefit from the dedication demonstrated by past board members to this day,” Witulski said. “Their collective efforts ensured the legacy of providing culturally enriching opportunities in Northeast Michigan and helped pave the way for the recent art revival at the museum.”

Above is a piece by Salvador Dali, both featured in “Modern Art at The Besser” in the newly renovated Wilson Gallery.