Art is 80

Another Worthwhile Visit to a Museum

August 10th, 2026

The summer exhibits at American University’s Katzen Center Art Museum were on display for about two months. So why is it that we do not go until the very last day? It can’t be distance. We are talking about a museum a mile from our house. It can’t be cost. The museum is free. It certainly can’t be the quality of what they show.

This summer featured seven different artists in the large three story museum. All were worthwhile to see, but I will focus on two. There is, by the way, extensive information on all seven on the museum website.

Bonnie Lautenberg was married to Senator Frank Lautenberg of Ohio. Let’s say she is a photographer (because she is) with an imagination and a very creative eye. I am not sure how to describe this exhibit concisely, but here is attempt: she took a still from a film of a given year and paired it with a piece of art from the same year. Some times, she paired it because of color.

Sometimes, because of theme.

Sometimes, because of composition.

This is just a small portion of what was on display. Okay, since you asked, here is one more.

The other exhibit that was equally creative, if not more so, was called “Ghost in the Machine”, works by artist Timothy Makepeace. Let’s see if I can explain that one.

The art is based on NASA’s James Webb Telescope, and was created as the telescope was being assembled at the Goddard Space Center. It builds on Makepeace’s long concentration on (my words) the border between imagination and reality in looking at the solar system and beyond.

The top drawing is of the stars in Sagittarius, which I accept as a personal portrait. The middle drawing is one of a portion of the telescope itself. The bottom is a drawing of an orbital path across a sinusoidal rake of the stars (you probably have to look that up).

And here is Orion.