Art History | Penn Today

Five events to watch for in March

Happening around campus this March: the world premiere of ‘Vessels’ at the Annenberg Center, a lecture on trees from China, and a visit to Kelly Writers House from reporter Emily Jane Fox.

Susan Radov leads a tour of the China Gallery with sculptures in the background

A tour of the ancient world—in Mandarin

The Penn Museum offers tours of its exhibits in Mandarin, increasing cross-cultural access to its invaluable assemblage of objects on display, the only known museum in Philadelphia with regularly scheduled tours in the language.

Iconic preservation: A plan for the O’Keeffe home and studio

A balance of science and critical thinking, plus reverence for the artist’s work and devotion to her space, makes the conservation assessment by a PennDesign team especially meaningful.

How a businesswoman became a voice for art’s black models

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of the School of Arts and Sciences spoke about the importance of contextualizing “African-American art and visual culture and artistic production.” She went on to note that many black students may not pursue the field of art history due to poor representation in faculty and curriculum.

Wide view of art gallery showing many paintings on the walls and about ten people looking at them

Engaging citizen curators

An innovative exhibition at the Arthur Ross Gallery features 50 works from Penn’s art collection chosen by the public in a crowdsourced exhibition. More than 600 people voted for their favorite to be included in “Citizen Salon,” on display through March 24.

closeup of student with paint brush painting red paint on small image on paper at a table

Pigment and parchment

Undergraduate and graduate students were paired with visiting scholars during a Penn Libraries workshop to paint illustrations like those in centuries-old illuminated manuscripts.

Thom Collins teaching class at the Barnes

In this photography class, students become curators—at the Barnes

This year’s Spiegel-Wilks Curatorial Seminar has taken students inside the world of the Barnes Foundation, where they learn about the history of photography and get a hands-on look at museum operations.

Penn-Libraries-Regan-Klastrup-with-Annie-Oakley-trunk-and-gloves-in-exhibition-on-women-in-the-American-wilderness

She did it herself

The Penn Libraries exhibition “OK, I’ll Do It Myself” with selections from the collection of alumna Caroline Schimmel features 145 books, photographs, manuscripts, artwork, and memorabilia on women in the American wilderness, even Annie Oakley’s trunk.

Penn-students-in-Cuba-with-artist-Salvador-Gonzalez-Escalona.

Cuba libre

The complexities of Cuba’s history and the response by artists were the focus of the summer abroad course “Penn-in-Havana: Visual Culture and Public Art in Cuba,” taught by art historian Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, and funded by a Making a Difference in Diverse Communities grant.

Philadelphia and Meiji Japan symposium marks 150 years of deep ties

Scholars from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, and the Meiji Jingu Intercultural Research Institute celebrate the 150th anniversary of Japan’s Meiji Restoration, and the surprising links between Philadelphia and Japan during a political period that set the island nation on a fast track to modernization.

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