Seniors present art and research at the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College

The Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College will hold an opening reception for Young Ambitions: 2014 Senior Exhibition on Tuesday., April 29 at 4 p.m.

The exhibition includes works in a variety of media including paintings, photography, video, sculpture, and installation art by seven Randolph College seniors majoring in art with a concentration in studio art: Ashesh Maharjan ’14, Kelsea Hammoura ’14, Kelsey Abell ’14, K. Becker Bickley ’14, Jerelle Morse ’14, Kelly Wood ’14, and Mariah Reed ’14.

On Thursday, May 1, at 4 p.m., Randolph College’s graduating art history students will present their senior papers. Presentation topics include:

• “Physiognomy in the Works of Gianlorenzo Bernini and the Influence on Le Brun’s Treatise A Method to Learn to Design the Passions,” by Katherine Vance ’14;
• "Balancing Gender Roles: The Daphne and Apollo Myth in Victorian Paintings by Henrietta Rae and John William Waterhouse," by Monica Varner ’14;
• "Looking Through the Lens: Optical Means in the Painting of Fabritius and Manet," by Hannah Neifert ’14;
• "Mistress of Misogyny: A Gendered Reading of Feminine and Masculine Representations in Peggy Guggenheim's Collection," by Lian Aurora Perez ’14;
• "Nost-algia: Redirecting the Case for Repatriation of the Parthenon Sculptures," by Glenna Gray ’14;
• “Saving Grace: The Influence of Papal Acquisitions on the Conservation of Roman Monuments and its place in Modern Conservation Scholarship,” by Tierney Dickson ’14;
• and "Harmony with Strangers: Daily Tous les Jours 21 Balançoires (21 Swings)," by Melissa Halka ’14.

These events are free and open to the public, and refreshments will be provided at both the opening reception and the presentation. For more information on exhibitions and events, visit www.maiermuseum.org or contact them at (434) 947-8136 / museum@randolphcollege.edu.

Statewide art history symposium to be held at Randolph

The Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College will host the first annual Virginia Art Historians Colloquium Undergraduate Symposium this weekend.

The symposium will include five presentations on a variety of art history topics, including a paper by Glenna Gray ’14 about modern pillaging of Iraqi art. Presentations begin at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“This symposium gives undergraduate art history students an opportunity to share their research with their peers from other institutions in Virginia,” said Leanne Zalewski, a Randolph art professor.

The idea for a statewide symposium highlighting the work of art history students came up in a discussion between Zalewski and professors from other colleges at a conference last fall. Zalewski offered to host the first one at Randolph.

The presentations include:

“I Heard it Through the Grape Vine: Revelry Scenes in Ancient India” by Ellen Archie, Washington and Lee University

“The Truth Beyond the Loss Register: An Examination of the Economic and Political Factors Behind the Pillaging of Iraq's Cultural Heritage” by Glenna Gray, Randolph College

“She left the web, she left the loom: Pre-Raphaelite Representations of the Lady of Shalott and Gender Ideologies in Victorian England” by Virginia Lefler, Roanoke College

“Odilon Redon: Prince of the Fin de Siècle” by Stephanie Stassi, Hollins University

“Not So Happy Days: A Biographical Analysis of Happy Days (Edward Henry Potthast)” by Grayson Van Beuren, Virginia Tech

There will be question and answer sessions at 1:50 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Martha's Vineyard Museum internship confirms career choice

Lian Perez ’14 believes that she has discovered her future career through her Randolph College studies. Working as a public relations intern at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum this summer, she has explored that career path and learned more about museum promotion and marketing.

And it’s a perfect fit, she says.

“I’ve always wanted to do something related to art, but I didn’t really want to follow a curatorial route,” said Perez, who is majoring in art history and museum studies. “I love working with artifacts, but I’m more interested in working with people.”

On a trip to New York during her sophomore year, Perez decided to pursue a career in museum marketing and communications. She has been taking many communication studies classes, too, in preparation for that.

“Communicating effectively and putting out the best image of the museum helps the museum to grow,” she said. “If you are a nonprofit museum, you rely on your supporters. They want to see that their donations are being used wisely.”

Last year, she was excited to discover an internship opportunity at the museum of the well-known resort island Martha’s Vineyard. She worked with Maryam Brown ’02, Randolph’s internship coordinator, to perfect her application. An interview over the phone then went very smoothly. “The initial reaction was very positive and I could tell I would be able to work well with them,” she said.

After being selected for the internship, Perez applied for and received a Randolph Innovative Student Experience grant to help cover the costs of moving to Martha’s Vineyard for the summer for the internship.

Perez has been working on a variety of marketing and events tasks, everything from writing a press release to announce an upcoming program to crowd control during an event. This has taught her many aspects of planning and executing educational and fundraising events, lessons she looks forward to applying when she helps raise money and plan for Randolph’s senior dinner dance this year.

But most importantly, this internship has confirmed that she made a good decision to pursue this career. “I go into the internship every day exciting and smiling. Sometimes I don’t want to leave,” she said. “It makes me feel really confident that I’m going to be very happy with my career. A lot of people are unhappy with their employment, so it’s nice to know that I’ll be happy and really enjoy what I’m doing.”

Museum studies students work at Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum

Six Randolph students spent Thursday afternoon doing hands-on curatorial work in the former home of a famous poet.

Art professor Andrea Campbell took some of her museum studies students to the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum, where they carefully measured, photographed, and squinted at artifacts through magnifying glasses. This semester, they will be researching the artifacts so they can be properly cataloged and displayed in the museum.

Anne Spencer was a Harlem Renaissance poet who lived just a few miles from the College. Her husband, Edward Spencer, was a postal carrier whose route included R-MWC, and many artifacts in the home came from the College.

The students’ work was covered by two news organizations. You can learn more about their work in this News & Advance article and this WDBJ-7 video.

You also can view more photos of the project in this Facebook photo album.

This project grew out of a partnership the College has established with the museum to provide opportunities for students and to help the museum preserve the history there.

Apply for summer program in archeology and art conservation

What if you could spend your summer restoring ancient art and architecture in Italy—while enjoying the country’s beautiful scenery and fantastic cuisine?

That is the opportunity available through the Archaeological Conservation Institute (ACI), a unique month-long program offered by Randolph College’s classics department. For the past two summers, Randolph students interested in archaeology, art history, and classics have had hands-on experience with projects such as resetting ancient Roman mosaics.

This year’s program, from May 14 to June 12, will include the opportunity to excavate Sant’Imbenia, an ancient Phoenician port village on the Italian island of Sardinia. Applications are due Feb. 1, and you can download an application here.

Claire Sumner ’15 is excited to attend ACI for the second year in a row. “I think that if students have any interest in conservation or archaeology it is a great introduction to both fields. Plus, you get to explore Italy. What could be better?”

Randolph launched ACI in partnership with the Centro di Conservazione Archeologica (Center for Archaeological Conservation) and the renowned conservationist Roberto Nardi in 2011. Sumner, an art history and museum studies major from Bainbridge Island, Washington, decided to participate in ACI last summer after hearing a speech by Nardi.

Sumner said last year’s program included lectures as well as “lab work” that included excavation and restoration efforts. “From the lab work, I learned some of the more simple techniques for the conservation and restoration of art works,” Sumner said. “From the lectures, I learned Dottore Nardi’s philosophy on conservation and what a new generation of conservators could do to improve the field.”

The experience caused Sumner to consider making a career out of conservation and art restoration. She decided to apply to ACI again so she can talk more with Nardi and his staff about what how to reach that goal.

Susan Stevens, a classics professor at Randolph, said the program will allow students to gain experience with a wide variety of conservation principles, ranging from broadly applicable practices, such as video documentation, to techniques for specific restoration projects. “With the top-notch team of Italian conservators, archaeologists, trainees and their lab and field projects, ACI students participate in a fascinating profession,” she said.

Preservation and restoration summer programs give student a peek into career possibilities

The past two summers have allowed Monica Varner ’14 to hold history in her hands—and to make sure future generations can do the same.

Varner has traveled twice to Italy to help restore Roman paintings and artifacts. This summer, she spent eight weeks working on conservation on a historic island off the Massachusetts coast. The hands-on experience with archeology and art history opened a new world for her, she said.

Monica Varner ’14, right, spent her summer working on restoration and conservation
projects in Italy and in Massachusetts through programs connected to Randolph.

“There are these fields which I had no idea existed before I came to Randolph,” said Varner, who is from Northern Virginia. “Art history usually consists of sitting in a class and looking at a PowerPoint presentation, but in these programs, I have been fixing art, sorting it, and putting it back together.”

In 2011, she participated in the inaugural Archeological Conservation Institute, a program that the Centro di Conservazione Archeologica (Center for Archaeological Conservation) and the renowned conservationist Roberto Nardi launched in collaboration with Randolph’s classics department. Varner and five other students helped sort through rubble in a Roman villa, relaying a floor mosaic and repairing a fresco painting.

This year, Varner and six other Randolph students participated in the program, continuing the restoration work. Varner took advantage of the College’s RISE program to help pay for the experience this year.

After returning to the United States, Varner traveled to Massachusetts for Preservation Institute: Nantucket. This program run by the University of Florida lets students assist in restoration and preservation projects in one of America’s oldest settlements. This year, Varner and Laura Shearer ’12, a recent Randolph graduate, participated in the institute. Varner’s involvement was funded through an internship provided by A.J. Land and Lynne Coppage Land ’60, who pay for a current Randolph student to attend the program each year.

The RISE program and the alumna-funded preservation internship let Varner pursue interests that might have escaped her otherwise. “I'm so grateful that we have an alumna that is willing to support that scholarship every year, allowing me to come, not worry about paying for it, and be able to learn,” she said.


In the first few weeks in Nantucket, Varner and other students listened to seminars by various scholars, who gave them insight into the activities and goals of professional archeologists and conservationists. Then, Varner was paired with another student for a research project in a historic home.

“Our main goal was to extensively catalog the 54 windows and exterior doors of the Boston-Higginbotham House, which is a 240-year-old home in the historically black area of Nantucket,” Varner said. She and her research partner drew each of the windows and doors, analyzed paint samples, and made recommendations for the home’s restoration and repair.

The Preservation Institute added to the knowledge and experience Varner had gained in Italy and helped her solidify thoughts about her future studies and career. She plans to pursue graduate studies in art history and conservation.

Student-curated exhibition opens Friday at Maier Museum of Art

Lots of students can say they have visited to museums and analyzed exhibitions, but students at Randolph College can now talk about what it is like to curate one.

Watch this short video about what the students learned as they curated this exhibition.

Mirror of a Passing World

Ephemeral Places, Vanishing Spaces

Opening Reception: Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, 4 - 7 p.m.
On View Until: April 15, 2012

For the next three months, the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College will show Mirror of a Passing World: Ephemeral Places, Vanishing Spaces, which was curated by a group of six students last semester. The exhibition explores the way that art preserves memories, events, and locations that otherwise would fade away.

In the past, some students have had the opportunity to curate exhibits in the Maier’s small gallery, but this is the first exhibition curated by a group of students and taking up both of the museum’s galleries, said Leanne Zalewski, who teaches art history at Randolph College.

Zalewski decided to teach a student curatorial seminar so more students could work hands-on with the College’s art collection. This gave students experience with each stage of curating an exhibition, such as selecting, choosing artwork, writing wall text, and hanging art. The process also helped them learn about the strict deadlines involved, especially when the exhibition is curated in a short amount of time.

“In this situation we had to curate the exhibition in a period of one semester, which is unusually short considering the scope of the exhibition—we have almost 50 objects in the exhibition,” Zalewski said.

Glenna Gray ’14 said Zalewski suggested the class to her, and she jumped at the chance to have hands-on experience planning and executing the exhibition. “Since it's student curated, we had a direct role in each decision of the exhibit,” she said.

Stormy Clowdis ’13 said the class gave her experience in the career field she is pursuing. “I want to go into the museum field. I felt taking this class would prepare me for the real world in museum studies and I could establish a good career for myself.”

Zalewski said the exhibition has turned out to be a success, and she and the Maier Museum staff plan to have another student group-curated exhibit in the next couple of years.

The exhibition includes oil paintings, prints, etchings, and other works of art. Each piece inspires a sense of nostalgia for the past, emphasizing how art preserves memories and impermanent locations.

Melissa Halka ’14 said she hopes the exhibition inspires viewers to pause, consider how the world is passing around them, and resolve not to let life pass them by. “I hope it inspires a meditative state, and that visitors will notice more of the smaller details in life and have a richer experience in life,” said Halka.