The Clymer Museum of Art in Ellensburg reopened on Friday after renovations, featuring a new exhibition titled "Plastic Souls" by Margot Massey, a junior at Central Washington University pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts. The show explores themes of artificiality and performance in social media, with paintings depicting actors, cowboys, showgirls, and rodeo clowns, and will later include two life-size figurative sculptures. The museum closed in January for renovations, which expanded wall space by roughly 30% and created a new gallery near the entrance for rotating student exhibitions.
This reopening matters because it signals the Clymer Museum's commitment to showcasing emerging local artists alongside its permanent collection of John Clymer's work, the largest private collection of his paintings in the country. By dedicating space to Central Washington University students, the museum strengthens ties between the institution and the regional art community, fostering new talent and diversifying its programming. The exhibition also highlights how younger artists like Massey engage with contemporary digital culture, bridging traditional painting with modern themes of online identity.