Museum Studies Commons^™

Contemporaneous Collecting: A New Trend In Field Collection, Meghan Brady

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The collection of contemporary materials has become more common in the museum field since the 1980s. Many institutions in the 21^st century acquire contemporary material culture of all kinds, including t-shirts, posters, computers, sports equipment, photographs and other ephemera. Much finds its way into collections through the traditional means of donation and purchase. Museum professionals also engage in fieldwork of sorts, attending events such as rallies, protests, marches, sporting events, the aftermath of natural disasters and other tragedies in order to gather materials onsite, essentially capturing history as it happens. In this paper, the former will be referred to …

Because I Said So: Ten Tips For Finding Volunteers And Keeping Them Happy, Adam Stephen Guy Smith, Heather Hoagland

Library Services Publications

Volunteers, interns and student workers are indispensable at local museums and archives in achieving their yearly goals. Teaching and managing the occasional quirks of this important group of people is as important as knowing how to sew a tag on an artifact. “Because I Said So” will provide ideas for how to work with volunteers of all ages doing collections management and archival tasks without tearing out your hair, or ruining any artifacts.

Amazons, Indian Princesses, And The Artistic Matriarchs Of The Southwest: On Classicization And The Construction Of Native American Femininity In Museums, Kendall Lovely

Museum Studies Theses

This paper explores the Classical influence within the discourses surrounding museum exhibitions that helped to construct colonial representations of gender. I address how Classical receptions and images of Native Americans rendered into Classically influenced discourses have featured in anthropological and later art market structures within museum displays. Constructions of femininity play a significant role here as these representations, especially in the Southwest, serve to gender colonized and Othered subjects with parallels in Classical ideas about foreign others. My analysis is in two parts: I first explore constructions of femininity in museum exhibitions through these insights. I then consider the agency …

The Rockbridge Group: Masters Along The Maury, Teresa Gunter, Whitney M. Grim, Emma E. Noe, Grace Ragansky, William R. Tharp, Christine L. Moore

Student Scholar Showcase

For the last eight decades Rockbridge County, Virginia has served as an influential center for modern art. Neighbored by the capricious Maury River and nestled against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Rockbridge Baths significantly impacted the lives of four distinguished modern artists. Connected by ties of friendship or kin, the Rockbridge Group—Pierre Daura, Jean Hélion, Cy Twombly, and Sally Mann—drew inspiration and support from each other and from the people and places of the Rockbridge area.

In 1928, Catalan modernist Pierre Daura (1896-1976) married Louise Blair, a Virginian studying in Paris. His friend, the French painter Jean Hélion …

Contemporary Muslim Fashions: De Young Museum, San Francisco, Ca, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Calico, chintz, damask, muslin, cashmere, seersucker, taffeta, shawl, caftan, and cummerbund-all English terms derived from Islamic textiles and dress-are the products of textile technologies that resulted from colonization and trade. Their cultural origins are long forgotten, shrouded in the fast-moving commercialized fashion industry and haute couture ofthe West that developed during the 20th century. The exhibition, Contemporary Muslim Fashions, is a game-changer.

The exhibition organizers, Jill D'Alessandro and laura Camerlengo, curators of costumes and textiles at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, worked with Reina Lewis in London as a curatorial consultant. Together, they drew upon the local advice …

Mapping The Presence Of Latin American Art In Canadian Museums And Universities, Alena Robin

Hispanic Studies Publications

This essay overviews how Canadian museums and universities have historically accessioned Latin American visual culture and identifies potential ways of sustaining interest, streamlining initiatives, and promoting access. The larger project aims at contributing to a hemispheric and transnational understanding of the history and growth in Canada of the field of Latin American art and its subfields of Pre-Columbian, colonial, modern, and contemporary art. While the study of art history among Canadian museums and universities has kept up with the decades-long interest in Latin American art and visual culture, there remain considerable challenges in bringing Latin American art to the forefront …

Leadership And Community In The Arts: A Case Study Of Legend And Culture In Chiusdino, Italy, Amanda Svetlak

Arts Administration Masters Theses

The complexity of culture goes beyond artistic expression, nationality, race, and religion. Culture shapes our communications, interactions, and our perceptions of the world around us (Hall, 1989). Studies show that self-awareness of our own culture through exposure to the unfamiliar leads to intercultural competences (Herlo, 2015; Crossman, 2011; Hermond 2018; Hall 1989). As technology, travel, and community diversity continues to shrink our world and diversify our workplaces, these intercultural competences support modern processes of marketing, community engagement, and organizational leadership. This thesis is a case study of the community culture, organizational culture, and structure of arts institutions in Chiusdino, Italy. …

Couvrant Les Yeux, Les Oreilles Et La Bouche: How The Musée Royale De Batoufam Preserves Tradition And Culture For Multiple Audiences And Perspectives, Julia Hirsch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Museums are important to study as a way of representing, preserving, and teaching culture. In this study, I wanted to explore how James Clifford’s exhibitionary complex, about the interactions of the viewer, the museum, and the represented culture, applies in the unique case of Musée Royale de Batoufam, a living site museum full of art and rich with tradition. In studying this, I examined the way different audiences use the museum and how the museum can preserve the idea of the coexistence of modernity and tradition, which is integral to Batoufam life, for all audiences. In conducting 20 interviews with …

Antiquities Theft: The Role Of The Museum In Modern Symbolic Violence, Meredith M. Amato

Student Publications

Humans have been collecting artifacts for centuries, whether it is for their aesthetic value or for the acquisition of knowledge. However, these artifacts have, in most cases, been taken without permission from the countries of origin. Today, museums are struggling with the issue of repatriation and many refuse to return their priceless possessions. Western museums and their supporters are arguing that repatriation will put the artifacts in danger and hurt the chances for humanity to learn from them. The arguments of these museums are an attempt of symbolic violence on non-Western nations, who are seen as unfit or unable to …

An Example Of Reinterpretation In American Historic House Museums, Victoria Vanzomeren

Senior Theses

Despite their past importance, historic house museums have lost struggle to remain interesting to the general public because of the refusal to tell stories beyond those of wealthy, white men. In their 2018 restoration project on the Hampton-Preston Mansion, the Historic Columbia Foundation demonstrate how historic house museums can update their narratives to include the stories of marginalized people through the reinterpretation of their two Edward Troye paintings. This reinterpretation allowed Historic Columbia to tell a story that is not often told and represents the shift in new expectations for historic house museums in order to provide something meaningful to …

March 2019; Buffalo-Niagara Lgbtq History Project Minutes, Buffalo-Niagara Lgbtq History Project

Buffalo-Niagara LGBTQ History Project Minutes

The Buffalo-Niagara LGBTQ History Project is a collective network of peers documenting LGBTQ history in the Buffalo-Niagara Region. This page maintains archival copies of all meeting minutes and is a part of the Dr. Madeline Davis LGBTQ Archives of WNY, E. H. Butler Library, SUNY Buffalo State.

Engaging Visitors With Conservation: The Key To Museum Sustainability, Megan Crutcher

Graduate Student Research Symposium

What is museum conservation and why does it matter? Increasingly, museum professionals are having to answer this question not only for themselves, but for the public as well. I argue that conservation’s definition is twofold, encompassing the actual work, as well as public engagement and presentation. First, conservation is the act of preserving and protecting cultural heritage to improve its structural integrity and historical significance. Second, conservation’s ultimate effectiveness lies in its ability to leave the public informed and passionate. Two of the best examples of these programs are the conservation of the Star Spangled Banner at the Smithsonian in …

Bibliography Of The Published Works Of Stephen L. Williams, Suzanne Boyer Mclaren, Catharine A. Hawks, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Bibliography of the published works of Stephen Lory Williams (1948-2018).

February 2019; Buffalo-Niagara Lgbtq History Project Minutes, Buffalo-Niagara Lgbtq History Project

Buffalo-Niagara LGBTQ History Project Minutes

The Buffalo-Niagara LGBTQ History Project is a collective network of peers documenting LGBTQ history in the Buffalo-Niagara Region. This page maintains archival copies of all meeting minutes and is a part of the Dr. Madeline Davis LGBTQ Archives of WNY, E. H. Butler Library, SUNY Buffalo State.

Charged Spaces: Navigating Complex Exhibition Content For University Audiences, Craig Hadley, Alexandra Chamberlain

Art and Art History Faculty Publications

This paper explores some of the ways in which academic museums navigate politically charged conversations on campus, specifically addressing public programs, curatorial strategies, and administrative brokering. The authors discuss the complexities of collaboration and academic freedom when tackling such sensitive topics, and discuss lessons learned from a recent exhibition case study. This text is largely adapted from a panel presentation first delivered at the 2018 Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) Annual Conference at the University of Miami.

Making A Case For Local Relevance: Strategic Exhibition Planning For The Gordon W. Prange Collection, Yukako Tatsumi

Journal of East Asian Libraries

In the changing academic libraries environment, area studies and special collections, marked by a high level of expertise in a specialized area, are faced with the challenge of articulating their value and becoming connected with a broad range of local users. This article shows that exhibitions can be a powerful instrument for making a convincing case for the relevance of these specialized collections to local users. It discusses a model case of strategic exhibition development for the Gordon W. Prange Collection, which archives Japanese-language print publications issued during the first four years of the U.S. Occupation of Japan, 1945-1949. Making …

Expanding Experimentalism: Art And Popular Music At The Kitchen In New York City, 1971-1985, Sarah A. Cooper

Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores artists' engagement with popular music at the interdisciplinary alternative space, the Kitchen, from 1971 to 1985. It seeks a critical language to challenge institutional frameworks to account for the creative output of artists' bands and the relationship between parallel and hybrid popular music and avant-garde performance practices.

The "I" Of The Artist-Curator, Natalie Musteata

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation charts the proliferation of artist-curated exhibitions in museums and institutions of art from 1969 to the early 2010s. It is my contention that the artist-curated exhibitions of these four decades can be divided chronologically into several types: in the 1970s and ’80s, they disrupted museological conventions and helped contemporize the (perceived) aging collections of historical institutions; in the late 1980s and ’90s, they tackled pressing social and political issues, reimagining the practice of “institutional critique”; in the late 1990s and 2000s, they indulged in solipsistic investigations of the artist’s psyche, reinforcing the traditional, romantic conception of the artist …

Finding The Public: Models Of Interaction Between Curatorial And Education Departments In Three American Encyclopedic Museums, Liam Sweeney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Curatorial and education departments have coexisted for the last half century in American art museums, and have often had differing attitudes about who the museum is for and how best to convey the current and historical meaning of the works they display. This results from trends and transformations in the field, which have recently yielded an increased attention on broadening the definition of the public that the museum serves. This thesis examines interactions between curatorial and education departments in three encyclopedic art museums across the United States, in order to better understand how meaningful collaboration can be fostered between these …

The Practice Of Secularism In Religious Cencorship In Turkish Film (1939-1990), Aditama Aditama, Nadira Bella Rachmanti, Siti Rohmah Soekarba

International Review of Humanities Studies

This paper analyzes a film as one of the media with the ability to convey certain messages to the public. Films can reflect the social and cultural conditions of society, thereby they can be used to spread the current ideas, views, and ideologies of a country. Films in Turkey are part of a culture that has developed rapidly and has become an entertainment for the people. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk reformed and turned Turkey into a new country with the ideology of secularism, controlling religious institutions and expressions. This journal article aims to describe the implementation of Turkish secular ideology in …