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Seen in Storage: Flies In The Window, Castletown House, Ireland

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March 17th, 2025

Alen MacWeeney (Irish, b. 1939)Flies In The Window, Castletown House, Ireland, from "Alen MacWeeney" portfolio, 197210.5 x 15.375 inGelatin silver printGift of Mr. James R. McNab, Jr. '66 I spent last fall in the Irish countryside at the Burren College of Art. The school was surrounded by green fields, rocky hills, and cows. On one of my first days, I remember walking behind all the studio spaces to the sink in the back to wash my paint brushes. The sun glowed through the window facing the sink, and empty bottles and colorful jars abandoned by previous students brought in a...
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Seen in Storage: Highlighting Feminist History and Female-Centered Art this International Women’s Day 

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March 4th, 2025

Screenprint with a bare woman pushing her hair upward. Another woman, whose eyes are covered by a dark box, holds an American flag.
Today, most of us recognize March 8th as International Women’s Day, yet the holiday was instituted in the United States less than a century ago. Situated within a rich tapestry of key moments in the feminist movement, both the advent of International Women’s Day and its significance are best understood in context. A brief investigation of the historical trajectory of landmark progress points in the women’s rights movement sheds light upon the gradual formulation and development of the holiday as we know it. Though the twentieth century brought with it many of the watershed events which combined to secure the...
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Material and Imaginative Worlds: Landscapes from the Collection

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March 3rd, 2025
As a senior art history major at the galleries, I had the honor of curating a landscape exhibition to accompany local artist Elizabeth Bradford's stunning exhibition Warp Weft Water Weeds. The show takes a look at landscapes, both historical and contemporary, to contemplate who creates and is included in the landscapes presented. Whether through imagined worlds or attempts at the "real," artists use landscapes as a medium to hint at deeper issues of identity, inclusion, and ancestry. Henri-Joseph Harpignies (French, 1819-1916), Autumn Landscape with Washerwoman at the River, 1906, Oil on canvas, 21.75 x 25.75 inches. Gift from the estate...
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Seen in Storage: Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Plaque, Kangxi Period

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February 26th, 2025

Unknown artistChinese Blue and White Porcelain Plaque, Kangxi Period, ca. 1662-1772Porcelain7.5 x 10.25 in.Gift of Dan McLawhorn, Class of 1970, and Robert J. Hazelgrove, Jr. While this may look like a simple painting, it is actually a porcelain plaque painted with brilliant blue and white glazes. I had the chance to examine and discuss this artwork in my Asian Art After 1000 class this semester. This porcelain artwork is from the Kangxi Period, although its artist is unknown. The Kangxi Period lasted from 1662-1772 under the reign of Emperor Kangxi within the Qing Dynasty, China. Blue and white glazed porcelain...
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Seen in The Galleries: Elizabeth Bradford, Warp Weft Water Weeds

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February 20th, 2025
"Firewood, Poke" "Dying Poke" "Rain, Redbud" "What the Beaver Did" For months leading up to Elizabeth Bradford’s exhibition, I passed by one of her pieces in the gallery’s office and hanging storage. Every time, I was completely captivated and seduced by its vibrant, intertwining colors. Now that the show is up in the Van Every Gallery, I see how Bradford’s work transforms familiar botanicals—plants I’ve always found beautiful—into something even more striking through vivid hues and intricate details. A few pieces have completely bewitched me, holding me captive and refusing to let me look away. As someone who loves the...
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