Southwestern University Visual Resources Collection

Salon Friday: Brainstorming on Study Abroad in Italy

2011-10-26T11:21:00.003-05:00

An exciting message from our department chair, Dr. Howe, on a possible developing opportunity to study abroad near Naples, Italy:

TO:

SU Faculty

SU professional staff whose expertise intersects with a potential study abroad program (e.g. NITLE, Study abroad...)

I want to invite any SU community faculty/staff member who thinks they might be interested ideas for a potential SU-lead study abroad program in Italy, to an open salon-like discussion:

-at my house, 1205 Laurel St. (just across the street)

-Friday, Oct. 28

-5:00-6:30 P.M.

If too many people show up we may have to move to the street, but we'll see what happens! Red or white wine (cheap Italian, obviously).

Southwestern is seriously considering establishing a study abroad program at the Institute of the Foundation of which I a "Coordinatore Generale" (The Vesuvian International Institute of the Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation, and Italo-American Foundation), and possibly doing it rather quickly. It may be a semester program, it may be an academic year program, or May/Jan. terms, and it will work the NITLE to develop a component of distance learning (this will take more time) which may allow students there to continue taking courses from home campus, and vice versa. The Institute has c. 70/90 rooms with private bath, excellent dining, free internet, several classrooms, theater, auditorium, large secure property, breathtaking view, stands right over the connection to cheap (if bumpy) commuter rail connection to Pompei, Sorrento, Herculaneum and Naples. By spring 2013 there may well be other programs there, including semester programs of Univ Maryland Architecture students, Morningside college IA, lead by a specialist in philosophy of ancient sport; a Mediterranean culinary program by Johnson and Wales Univ.

The mission is to expand study abroad as absolutely essential to this coming generation's liberal education in a global world, and reduce its cost and increase its availability in ever-long academic programs.

We may partner with/lead other liberal arts colleges (e.g. ACS), or advertise our credit-granting program to them, in the manner of many who work through marketers/managers of study abroad like IES or ISA or others.

There could be a wide variety of courses, most likely concentrating on distrib. requirements, as does most study abroad, with rotating faculty from SU, or perhaps partner schools, and some hired locally in the Naples area, through Italian partner institutions of RAS Foundation (local universities) or American expat community.

Core programs would likely initially focus on language (Italian obviously, Latin, maybe Greek, maybe even Spanish or Arabic???) and other humanities, but could be a huge range, considering the resources of the Bay of Naples, and the institutional affiliations of the Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation and the Vesuvian Institute.

-volcanic geology

-world geography

-archaeology (duh).

-literature in context: Italian, Latin...et al.

-art history, ancient, medieval, southern baroque, Islamic, etc. History, ditto.

-music history, opera, comedia dell'arte

-performance arts (RAS Foundation has a lecture hall, proscenium theater, concert venues on the actual archaeological sites, relationship with the Ravello Festival/Domenico de Masi.)

-arts management, cultural properties management

-service learning (building websites for local start up entrepreneurs? etc.)

et alii ad infinitum

It's wide open. I will be taking notes.

Vi invito venerdi' p.v.

TNH

Go to the Restoring Ancient Stabiae website for more information.

New York Arts Program- On Campus Today!

2011-10-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

NEW YORK ARTS PROGRAM
Campus Visit & Info Session
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
(Open to all students)

Saturday Night Live --- Marvel Comics --- Ensemble Studio Theatre --- Prevention Magazine --- Metropolitan Museum of Art --- and the list goes on!

The New York Arts Program is one of the premier internship programs for students interested in gaining internship experience in the broad world of arts-related fields. Internships are in media, fine arts, museums, theater, music industry, publishing, entertainment, fashion design, magazines, casting agencies and the like. Internships with the NYAP provide 30 hours a week of real world experience and the opportunity to network with leading organizations and people in their industries. In addition, participating students are able to earn up to 16 hours of upper-level credit towards their degree plan. The NYAP now offers Bridge Programs for recent grads as well as a summer Theatre Conservatory Program.

Come and learn more about the program and tips for how to incorporate it into your academic experience at Southwestern. We are lucky to have Program Director, Linda Earle, visiting with us to talk about the cool internships our students are doing as part of the program.

Individual meeting times:

If you signed up for an individual meeting time, please visit with Ms. Earle in the lobby of the Alma Thomas Theater located in the Fine Arts Building.

Info Session:

12:20pm - 1:20pm
Dan Rather Room, Mabee Commons
Feel free to bring your lunch with you and spend time talking with Ms. Earle and NYAP alumna, Kelly Johnson '13, about the New York Arts Program.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 863-1346 or stop by Career Services in the Protho Center.

First Installment of In Progress: Art History Working Papers, Fall 2011

2011-09-21T11:42:00.003-05:00

Chasing Nazahualcoyotl's Portrait

Professor Patrick Hajovsky

Tuesday October 4, 11:30-12:00

Fine Arts Building, Room 235

Abstract:

The image above, from Codex Ixtlilxochitl (ca. 1579) is one of the only surviving portraits of the important Aztec king, Nezahualcoyotl (1403-73), who ruled the city of Texcoco, one of the principal cities of the Aztec Triple Alliance. This portrait, while important to indigenous claims upon their noble heritage in the Spanish colonial system, represents a somewhat different conception of the king than had it been produced for an Aztec audience, both in the medium in which he is illustrated (a manuscript illustration) as well as the manner (as an historical agent). Though true Aztec portraits of the king are known to have existed, they only survive by description, since they were destroyed during early anti-idolatry campaigns.

My current research attempts to reconstruct the limits and expectations of Aztec portraiture by researching indigenous notions of the body as described in Nahuatl texts, to show that the lost sculpture of Nezahualcoyotl relied more heavily on hieroglyphic inscriptions and ritual performance than on creating a "lifelike" portrait.

ArtStor Instructional Videos

2011-09-08T11:43:00.002-05:00

The official YouTube channel from ArtStor has several useful videos to help you best navigate and utilize the database.

Here is a good new one on Faceted Searching:

Here is one for registering for an ArtStor account. Remember that you MUST do this if you wish to use the flashcard feature from your iPad/Phone/Pod Touch.

Class quiz images are currently available for Dr. Hajovsky's Art of Mesoamerica class. Students, remember that you can email me at hookerk@southwestern.edu or stop by my office 9-1 for more help!

Gallery Opening Reception for "Lifeboats"

2011-09-08T11:26:00.003-05:00

Be sure to stop by the SSFA gallery reception today from 4 to 6. The impressive installation "Lifeboats" is by Southwestern University alum Heather Carter. The gallery is open 1 to 5 Monday to Friday and the exhibit will be up through September 29.

"In a time of massive environmental disasters, resource constraints, global climate change, economic upheaval, and geopolitical instability, this installation calls our attention to the signs of change. It urges us to consider the transition back to a simpler life, the strength in community and tradition and re-learning our ancestors' skills. This installation is a call to gather together and build lifeboats. "

Here is a write-up on Austin Art Blogs.
Heather's page on Texas Society of Sculptors' website.
The official SSFA event page.

Back from Maternity Leave

2011-09-08T11:21:00.003-05:00

I am glad to have returned to Southwestern half-time! Baby Elizabeth was born July 5th at 6lb 50z. She is healthy but extremely crabby! I will be working Monday to Friday 9-1. My wonderful student workers- who managed things beautifully while I was gone- will take over in the afternoons. I will return to full-time status in November and resume 8 to 5 hours.

Out on Maternity Leave

2011-06-17T14:23:00.002-05:00

Visual Resources Librarian Katherine Hooker will be out on FMLA Maternity Leave, beginning sometime around July 6th. She will be out full-time for 8 weeks (until just after Labor Day, approximately), then return 20 hours per week to stretch out the FMLA leave time. A more concrete calendar will be provided when possible.

In the meantime, student workers will steer collection operations. Professors can submit work requests using blank forms found in the VRC. For last-minute work, please see the Help Binder on the main desk. It contains instructions for self-scanning, photoshop editing, Artstor use, etc. Copies of all these documents may also be found on Moodle. Art and Art History professors have already been enrolled, and should see the VRC 'course' under Projects and Services. Email hookerk@southwestern.edu to be added to the roster.

Student workers or professors seeking access to the collection during business hours may borrow the key from Allison Fannin or Alena Garcia, 1st floor of the Fine Arts Building.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation, and please email Katherine at hookerk@southwestern.edu for further assistance (allow ample response time).

Faculty Workshop

2011-05-06T10:48:00.004-05:00

Supporting materials for the Studio Art faculty workshop; and items that may be of general interest.

ARTSTOR

Making an Image Group in ArtStor

Downloading Images to Powerpoint

Other helpful videos are available through ArtStor's Official YouTube Chanel.

MOODLE

Here are the official Moodle Docs, which cover a variety of topics.

Moodle looks slightly different in these videos than it does at SU, but it gives you the basic idea.

A video showing how to upload files.

A General Moodle Tutorial:

CANVAS

Again, I encourage you to go with Moodle, but here is a video for getting started with Instructure's Canvas system.

Japanese Woodblock Printing Process

2011-03-15T17:41:00.004-05:00

Just because I could during Spring Break, I created a short iMovie to illustrate all the steps that go into creating a full-color Japanese woodblock print. This particular example shows how 21 individual woodblocks add all the colors, shadows, and highlights to the final print. I always liked this genre aesthetically, but knowing the sheer amount of time and technique it took to create one of these images makes me appreciate it even more.

Encaustic show at Georgetown Public Library

2011-02-01T16:05:00.002-06:00

The Georgetown Public Library- located very close to SU at 402 W. 8th Street- will have an interesting art show up soon: "Hot Cakes of Wax: Encaustic Art". It will feature works by the Austin chapter of Texas Wax. The Show runs February 1st-28th with an opening reception Feb 5th 4–7 pm. Details are here.

It will be interesting to see modern artworks created with technique that is typically associated with ancient Egyptian portraits.

Here's a fun video from Youtube/EHow showing beginner encaustic techniques with an iron!

ArTalk

2011-01-25T15:26:00.004-06:00

Tonight from 7 to 8 pm in the Mood Bridwell atrium.

Art Association organizer Christine Harris says:

Join us as students, professors and the Southwestern community discuss and think about how the ideals of art play out in the everyday world. We'll think about how art and wealth tend to get tied up together and what the implications for that are. And of course, ArTalk will be a fun event where we'll be talking about art !
All those interested in art, economics and social structures are invited to come. There will be cookies.

Borrowing from Dr. Cooper: "Art? The Real World? That’s a “complicated” relationship. Come learn and think more about it at the ArTalk, organized by Christine Harris, with support from Think -- Converse -- Act: The Salon and Its Histories. Prof. Fumiko Futamura, a mathematician and extremely talented artist, is among the conversants!"

Here is a link to the event on Facebook.

Google and Cezanne

2011-01-19T09:23:00.003-06:00

Today Google's logo references Cezanne's 172nd birthday! Apparently the logo was created first as an actual oil painting and then digitized.

A quick search for Cezanne on ArtStor got over 1,000 hits! Good news for students in Dr. Smith's Modernism and Modernity class this semester.

ArtStor Mobile

2011-01-18T13:26:00.006-06:00

ArtStor can now be accessed via iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. Users can search and browse images, zoom in and out, read accompanying data, and view previously saved image groups. This feature is not yet Android compatible, but I'd be willing to bet that ArtStor is gradually working on that.

Official ArtStor mobile help page

This feature will be especially appealing to members of Dr. Hajovsky's 'Art of the Andes' course. Students can view image groups that are especially created to help them study for quizzes. Best of all, ArtStor provides a flashcard view, where users can flip the images over to test their knowledge.

For those without iDevices, fear not. Regular ArtStor provides a way to print out the images and information, which one can then take and fold or adhere to notecards. Go to 'Organize' then 'Open Image Group' and navigate to your folder (in this case Quiz 1). Then, go to the 'Share' tab and select 'Print Image Group --> Full Record'.

In order to access ArtStor mobile, you have to have an account. (On campus, Artstor recognizes your IP address, or does it via proxy within the Library tab on the SU Portal). The process is very easy: see this official step-by-step video. You'll need to do this with a regular computer.

ArtStor Help

2011-01-18T10:28:00.003-06:00

I've spoken recently to Dr. Laura Senio Blair's 'Latin American Cultures and Civilizations' classes and to Dr. Hajovsky's 'Art of the Andes' class. As promised, here are some helpful and official Artstor tutorial videos. Hopefully I covered most of these points in my presentations, but these tutorial videos are a great refresher.

As always, please feel free to email me at hookerk@southwestern.edu with any questions.

This one highlights how to download images from ArtStor and insert them into Powerpoint:

This one is a general introduction to navigating and searching the site:

Grant Wood Guest Lecture

2011-01-14T15:22:00.004-06:00

"Paint Like A Man: Gender and Disguise in the Art of Grant Wood"

R. Tripp Evans, Professor of Art History, Wheaton College Thursday, January 20. 5:00PM. Olin 110
Reception and book signing to follow.

Abstract:
Grant wood was the first overnight sensation in the history of American art. From the moment his now-iconic American Gothic caught the nation's attention in 1930, his work has become a blank canvas for audiences- who see what they will in his dream-like landscapes, unconventional history paintings and forbidding portraits, with little sense of the man who created them.

R. Tripp Evans's new biography of the painter, Grant Wood: A Life (Alfred A. Knopf: 2101), challenges Woods public image as a simple "farmer painting" and proponent of conservative values. In this lecture, Evans will explore how this deeply closeted artist both reinforced and subverted traditional gender expectations in his work, often at considerable risk to his own career.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sponsored by the Sarofim School of Fine Arts Visiting Artists and Scholars Series.
Co-sponsored by the American Studies Program, Art & Art History Department,
Communication Studies Program, & Feminist Studies Program.

For more information about the lecture, please call 512.863.1379.
For more information about the author and book, visit grantwoodalife.com

Here is the link to the book on Amazon. Below are the book cover and a fun picture of the author and his partner at the American Gothic house in Eldon, Iowa.

Check out the American Gothic House Center's website. They have fun visitor photos and parody photos, and you can even find them on Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter!

Spring 2011 Semester

2011-01-14T15:01:00.005-06:00

Another semester, another chance to keep up with this thing! Spring 2011 promises to be a good semester for SU Art History. Dr. Hajovsky will be running another of his helpful Fulbright workshops, Dr. Smith will be hosting a guest lecturer on the artist Grant Wood, and Dr. Cooper from the music department has organized this year's Brown Symposium centering around Salon culture. Plus, we are conducting the search for a new tenure-track faculty member specializing in Asian art.

Here's the weekly course schedule- packed with interesting offerings, as always. (Click for a more eyeball-friendly view).

Art History Working Papers

2010-10-18T15:55:00.005-05:00

Super short notice on my part, but today at 5:00 the department will host an installment of its new Art History Working Papers lecture series. With this new program, "we hope to call attention to innovative scholarship, to provide a forum for faculty to get feedback on their work at a formative stage, and to demystify for students the process of researching and publishing in art history."

The talk will last 20 minutes in art history classroom FAC 235, followed by an informal discussion/Q&A.

Dr. Smith's topic is "Vision and Primitivism in Franz Marc's Slow Paintings".

Abstract: "In 1913, the German Expressionist painter Franz Marc began producing paintings in a style which departed from the fluid, organic compositions for which he was then known. Although he continued to focus on animals as his subjects, these creatures were now translated into fractured, prismatic forms. In this paper, I argue that, from 193, Marc's paintings facilitate an awareness of the temporal nature of vision, repeating the conditions in which one learns gradually how to see. This slow model of looking produced a cerebral kind of primitivism, in which the complexities of optical perception became married to the atavistic promise of a long remembered past, an approach which sheds new light on Marc's late animal paintings."

Franz Marc, Horse in a Landscape, 1910

This should be an interesting lecture, and students from Dr. Smith's Expressionism capstone seminar this semester should find it particularly relevant. About a month ago, Dr. Hajovsky delivered a well-received 'Working Papers in Art History' talk on representations of Aztec leader Moctezuma. So far this lecture series has been great, and look for more topics to come.

iFlipr Flashcards

2010-10-04T15:23:00.002-05:00

We've got a new way for students to study for exams and quizzes in the SU Art History department. Students in Dr. Hajovsky's 'Art of Mesoamerica' and Dr. Smith's 'Revolution, Romanticism, and Realism' may want to check out iFlipr, http://iflipr.com/.

Anyone with an iPhone or iPod touch can purchase the iFlipr application for $5.99 and download course flashcard packs. They can also use the application to create their own flash cards, useful for science terms or foreign language coursework.

Students without smart phones, or not wishing to pay for the flashcards, can still view/practice with the flashcards online. On iFlipr's homepage, just hit 'Use the Web App'. Search for the decks using the names given by your professor, and you can be studying for your quiz or midterm very quickly.

Here is a useful video tutorial by iFlipr's creator:

The department welcomes feed back on our experiment with digital flashcards. Know of other applications that would be useful? Would you like to see similar offerings on an Android platform? Let me or your professors know!

Old Circuit boards become New Art

2010-09-01T15:50:00.003-05:00

I came across the artist Theo Kamecke through this interesting Wired article. He uses old circuit boards from computers and arranges them into very intricate patterns on things like boxes and armoires. It's interesting that he can take technology and turn it into items that look Byzantine, Egyptian, or even Asian.

This piece is titled Harlequin. The artist's official site can be found here. Now if only someone could come up with a creative and aesthetically pleasing use for slide carousels. The VRC has recently received at least a dozen from the SU ceramics studio, and there's plenty more squirelled away!

Oops!

2010-09-01T15:36:00.003-05:00

A story from the UK's Daily Mail online: 'Art Courier sued after losing $1.3 Million Painting on Drunken Night in Manhattan'

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot's 'Portrait of a Girl' formerly in LA's Hammer collection is missing. Wonder if she'll turn up on roof of the hotel, ala The Hangover?

Kindle Pilot Program

2010-08-25T10:18:00.003-05:00

Exciting news from SU's Smith library: they now have five Kindle e-readers for circulation to the campus community. This is a great way for people to try them out and see if this technology could be a good fit. Additionally, it allows the libraries to electronically purchase a title once yet make it available to five people at once.

Any SU professor, staff member, or student can reserve a Kindle by visiting the library's Kindle page. You can select up to three titles from the SLC's e-book collection, which presently consists mostly of popular fiction like 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. They note that the collection will be user driven, so people can request the purchase of particular titles that interest them.

I myself am on the waiting list, and look forward to playing with a Kindle in about 3 weeks. I believe that these particular e-readers are black and white only, which means they might not have great use for art history in particular. Maybe in the future though- I would have loved to have had Stokstad's mammoth History of Art on a sleek Kindle when lugging it to class in the early 2000's! We've already started to dabble into image flashcards for smart phones, but a similar setup on a slightly larger e-reader could be very useful to students. The popularity of the iPad means that competing devices will probably start to add new features.

But even for those not concerned with what e-readers could do for the field of art history, the SU Library has provided a really welcome opportunity to try out new technology before investing personal money into it.

Updates to the Department's Official Web Page

2010-08-20T16:58:00.003-05:00

2010-2011 brings many changes in the curriculum structure, daily schedules, and in major and minor requirements. I've just updated the department's official SU webpage, and there students can find the definitive requirements from both new and old catalogs.

And since we're such a visual department, I had to add some attractive images! Have a look at the new courses gallery, sort of a visual catalog of class offerings. It was all pretty straightforward to do, thanks to the Live Whale's WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web editing.

Welcome New Students!

2010-08-19T16:33:00.002-05:00

The latest and largest class ever arrived on campus last Friday, August 13th. Through orientation activities such as the prospective arts majors luncheon and departmental interest meetings, members of the SU Art History program were able to meet some of these bright new students.

For those students who attended these events, or those who missed them but may still be interested, click on the Students tab. Here you will find some of the information covered in these sessions, such as links to program requirements, study abroad and internship opportunities, the Art Association student organization, and how to address the ever-dreaded "What can you do with an Art History degree?" question.

Summer Progress

2010-08-17T16:46:00.009-05:00

Another academic year has started and the SU VRC has been busy as ever over the summer!

We've greatly expanded the image collection supporting the Introduction to Asian Art course. Dr. Xin Wu will be joining us this year, and we are all very excited to work with her. Her survey course will be much broader and more extensive in coverage, encompassing Indian, Chinese, and Japanese Art as before, but adding intriguing touches of Korean, Islamic, and Balinese.

Dr. Patrick Hajovsky's first year seminar, entitled 'Visions and Virgins' is underway. The new students are already diving into this fascinating topic, before regular classes resume next week. They will be looking at Byzantine icons and contributing to a wiki on the class Moodle site, a new feature this year.

Additionally, the VRC has a fresh new look. I have condensed the lonely slide collection into fewer cabinets, and have rearranged almost everything. I like to think that the space is more inviting and functional now, and comes complete with a small hospitality area, where I hope students and faculty alike will linger.

It doesn't look like much on film, but to me it's a vast improvement. I encourage anyone to stop by for candy, coffee, and image help! Computer compatibility issues withstanding, I hope very soon to have an extra scanning station where my students can work, and where members of the wider SU community can come to digitize things.

Architecture and Activism in Brazil

2010-04-15T16:18:00.004-05:00

As part of the 2010 International Studies Lecture Series: Contemporary Visual Culture in East Asia, Latin America and Europe (organized by Dr. Smith's Paideia cohort: Kimberly Griffin, Emily Gutzmer, Connor Hanrahan, Kinsey Keck, Dianna Parra, Tommy Rogers, & Stephanie Taylor):

Daniela Sandler

Department of the History of Art & Visual Culture

University of California at Santa Cruz

"Urban Stagecraft:

Architecture, Public Space, and Social Inequality in Sao Paulo"

Friday April 16

12:00 PM, Cullen 37

Since the 1990s, high-profile architectural and cultural initiatives have popped up in the middle of crime-ridden, dilapidated neighborhood of Luz, in Sao Paulo. The district, nicknamed "Crackland" for its drug problems, has become home to cutting-edge urban design and adaptive-reuse projects.

While the government attempts to refashion the area into a Cultural Pole, the population- including slum inhabitants, homeless, street vendors, and mass-transit commuters- has been further segregated. Local social movements, however, have found ways to demand a more demographic and divers city by transforming the meanings, perceptions, and images of buildings and urban space.

Student Works Symposium

2010-04-14T10:52:00.002-05:00

Another campus event for today, the annual student works symposium.

Student Works Symposium - From Every Voice

April 14th at 5:00 pm

McCombs Campus Center

Oral Presentation 5:00-6:00 and 7-8:30 pm

Poster Presentations 6:00-7:00 pm

Exhibitions and Creative Works 6:00-7:00 pm

The official SU news story can be found here, and full details with schedule here.

A few that caught my eye for being relevant to art or technology:

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Zhao Mengfu's Handscroll Autumn Colors: Antiquity and Politics in Early Yuan Paintings. Elise Huff. Roy B. Shilling Jr. Room, 7:45PM.

Shen Zhou's Lofty Mount Lu: Revitalizing Antiquity. Derryn Jameson. Roy B. Shilling Jr. Room, 8:00PM.

Suspension of Disbelief: Baroque Fascination with the Fantastic and Fallacious. Andrea Loer. Marsha Shields Ballroom, 7:15PM.

Computers for Honduran Children. Natalie Sanders and Kim Garcia. Merzbach Room 7:30PM.

LOL Mom and Dad, Who's Txting Now? Remedying Middle-Aged Resistance to Text Messaging through Advertising. Lili McEntire. Merzbach Room, 8:00PM.

Paint the Light: A Series of Multimedia Artworks. Duncan Alexander. Bishops Lounge, 6:00PM.

Insect Macrophotography: Portraiture as a Presence. Carlos Barron. Bishops Lounge, 6:00PM.

Reconstructing High-Resolution Images from Multiple Blurry, Noisy Low-Resolution Images. Tommy Rogers. Poster presentation, Bishops Lounge.

------------------------------------------------

There's a ton more, representing every possible field or interest that Southwestern's students are involved in. Should be interesting!

Aztec Lecture Today!

2010-04-14T10:30:00.003-05:00

It's a busy time of year with several events around campus. Today don't miss Dr. Hajovsky's lecture 'Portrait and Portrayal: Betraying Personhood in Aztec Stone Sculpture', April 14th (today) from 4:45-5:15 in the art history classroom FAC 235.

Image: Portrait of Nezahualcoyotl from Codex Ixtlilxochitl, page 106 recto. Texcoco, Mexico, ca. 1580

Here's the official blurb from campus notices:

Though Nezahualcoyotl’s sculpted portrait at Tetzcotzingo was destroyed by Mexico’s first bishop in the sixteenth century, it was constructed at the same time that itinerant Aztec sculptors were developing a common imperial style in the Valley of Mexico. This paper considers the limits and expectations of Aztec sculpted portraits from Texcoco and Tenochtitlan by studying their features and comparing them with ritual performance and Nahuatl categories of the body. Although many of the fragmented sculptures remain stripped of their original contexts, I suggest that Aztec portraits of rulers and warriors were distinguished not by the physical attributes of the body and face, but rather by positioning sculpture in the landscape and by verbalizing it in specific ritual contexts. Portraits exist in tension between the verbal recognition of an individual’s merit and the visual expression of aesthetic and social ideals, and this tension reveals Aztec notions of personhood as it coexisted with a public ritual structure.

Old/New Images

2010-04-09T14:20:00.005-05:00

During a lunchtime perusal of CNN I came across an interesting iReporter gallery where users have aligned historic photos to the modern-day sites. That probably made no sense so click here to see what I mean.
I liked this shot of the Alamo. The photographer explains how it took a long time to line up and how he got lots of funny looks from tourists and Alamo guards. I actually had wedding party pictures taken in front of the Alamo so I can sympathize. This is a great shot and amazing that there aren't tons of people in the shot- the site, in downtown San Antonio, can be quite a zoo.

If you read through, it's interesting how and what many of the photographers discovered during their projects. Just another example of how images can be powerful learning tools!

Someone with spare time ought to do similar shots with historic photos of the Southwestern campus! For instance, the picture in the Cullen business office of the 1901 (or similar) women's tennis team perched on the steps of Mood Hall.

Lady Gaga and Polaroid

2010-04-09T14:01:00.005-05:00

A bit of interesting news that I found out about through my husband, who's in the ACC Photography program.

After ceasing production last year, Polaroid is relaunching itself with Lady Gaga as creative director. This article is a bit vague about how she will "blend the iconic history of Polaroid with the digital era", but it should definitely prove fascinating. Music aside, I personally am intrigued by her creative collective 'Haus of Gaga', ala Andy Warhol, and the fact she started out as a New York performance artist. And I was definitely sad about the discontinuation of Polaroid, so am thrilled that it will go on!

Senior Exhibits: Barron, Haberl, Hayes

2010-03-25T10:33:00.005-05:00

Graduating seniors Carlos Barron, Michelle Haberl, and Ashley Hayes have been hard at work this week preparing the gallery for their joint exhibition.

'Panoramic Sculptures' by Barron, 'The Big Picture: Contemporary Abstraction" by Haberl, and Hayes' work will be on view through April 1, from 1 to 5PM daily.
The opening reception will be today from 4-6PM.

Fulbright Workshop Part 2

2010-03-25T09:25:00.003-05:00

Part 2 of Dr. Hajovsky's helpful and informative workshop guiding students through the process of applying for a Fulbright Grant will occur today, Thursday March 25, at 5:30 in the art history lecture room. Today's area of focus will be evaluating rough drafts of student grant proposals. Scroll down a few posts for full details on application deadlines and guidelines.

Important Meeting Friday March 26

2010-03-25T09:16:00.001-05:00

Students, don't forget to attend the department meetings this Friday at 3pm:

"Don't forget!

ALL DEPARTMENTS will be hosting Departmental Meetings Friday, March 26, at 3p. See below for locations. At these meetings, faculty from every department and program will highlight changes coming for 2010-2011, as well as help students decide whether or not switching to the new Catalog will be of benefit.

You will still meet with your academic advisor in preparation for registration, but these meetings offer additional information for you as you make your plans for summer and fall."

Art History will be in FAC 235, and Studio Art in FAC 166.

Back from Conference

2010-03-23T16:11:00.002-05:00

I'm back from the Visual Resources Association annual conference in Atlanta. I found the programming particularly relevant and useful this year and my brain is crammed full of new ideas and things to research and pursue. I went to an entire session just on blogs, and found I wasn't the only one whose blog had stagnated from being too busy and too concerned that posts be perfect before getting published. I plan to revitalize this blog and make use of the new tabs feature to help various user groups get the information they need most.

I've also started to redesign the site a bit so that it's not using the exact same template as everyone else, complete with homemade logo. Look for more changes (hopefully improvements) soon!

Looking for Student Volunteers, Brown Symposium

2010-02-08T13:46:00.002-06:00

Students, if you'd like to help out the department and be up close to all the Brown Symposium action, please consider volunteering. We're looking for people to help hand out programs and sit at the registration/check in desk. The Brown Symposium runs this Thursday and Friday, February 11th and 12th.

If interested, please contact department secretary Allison Fannin, x1504 or fannina@southwestern.edu

Bonus: Free T-Shirt!!

Interested in Applying for a Fulbright Grant?

2010-02-05T10:26:00.005-06:00

The Art History program invites Junior and Senior Art History majors, and other upper-level students working in the visual arts, to participate in developing a successful Fulbright IIE Grant Proposal.

This 2 part workshop is intended for the Fulbright Full Grant for Study and Research (not for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships). Graduating seniors and recent bachelor's degree recipients usually propose projects for which they have had some undergraduate preparation and/or direct work or internship experience. Preparations can begin as early as the sophomore year. A brief description of the Fulbright IIE Full Grant can be found here.

Workshop dates:
Thursday, February 18: 5:30-6:30 p.m., FAC 235. Workshop 1: Strategizing your Grant.
Thursday, March 25: 5:30-6:30 p.m., FAC 235. Workshop 2: Critiques and Suggestions.

Other Important Dates:
May 1: Student Program opens online
September 20: Final Campus deadline
October 19: National Deadline

What you need for a successful grant will be covered in detail in the workshops. For now all you need is:

- An interest in living in a foreign country for nine to twelve months.
- An interest in developing a research project to be carried out in that country.
- A faculty liaison at SU to help you gain letters of invitation to one or more foreign institutions.
- Language skills, depending upon your country of research. These can be developed to sufficient quality by the October deadline, again, depending on your country of research.
- To explore the Programs Portal to see how many grants are offered and their requirements. Each country is host to a different number of grantees and has different rules in effect. These will be updated May 1: www.iie.org

One early suggestion: Ask an ex-Fulbright recipient to view their successful grant! It's easier than it sounds:

- Look at the Previous Grantee Directory for areas of your interest: click here. You Can search for countries, project titles, specific areas of study, and individual names.
- Get onto Facebook and look up those persons who have recently won grants in your area.
- Introduce yourself on Facebook and politely ask if they would share their winning grant. It never hurts to ask, but please respect their privacy if they are unable or unwilling to share their information.

Senior Exhibition opening Thursday December 3

2009-12-01T16:19:00.005-06:00

Be sure to have a look at the latest offering in the SSFA Gallery, a senior exhibition titled 'Flickerings in the Grotto of Duality'. It will be viewable December 3-12 from 1 to 5 daily. The opening reception is this Thursday at 6.

From the official SU news blurb: "The investigation of duality in art ties the artworks of Duncan Alexander and Jennifer Krenek together. Krenek’s paintings of glass, textiles, and organic forms examine physical existence within her personal interpretations of Manichean dualism. Alexander’s “projection paintings” explore through superimposition the two planes on which culture exists today-the digital and physical worlds."

I had the privilege of working with Duncan a couple summers back, and of course enjoyed his work in the Color of Dissonance opera, so I am particularly excited to see this show.

Here is a clip of Duncan's work from Color of Dissonance, which deservedly won the 2008-9 Austin Critics' Table Award for best design in a local artistic production.

Last Chance to See Chinese Facsimile Scrolls

2009-11-23T15:44:00.007-06:00

Before you leave for Thanksgiving Break, stop in and see the SSFA's gallery exhibit ''Turning the Tradition: Transforming the Past in Chinese Landscape Painting". This lovely show was put together by students in Dr. Tenckhoff's Chinese Painting capstone seminar. From SU's Freeman-funded holdings, each student selected a full-size facsimile reproduction of a Chinese landscape in the Palace Museum collection. Students researched each piece and wrote all the captions for the show, as well as arranged the attractive layout within the gallery space. The best part is that you get a sense of how large and impressive these scrolls are- an aspect that just never comes through in lecture courses.

Photos courtesy of Stephen Hooker.

The gallery will be open 1-5pm through tomorrow, November 24.

Internship opportunity: New York Arts program

2009-11-16T14:17:00.001-06:00

This announcement went out on campus notices today, and flyers are posted around the art history hallways:

New York Arts Program - On Campus Thursday - Nov. 19th
Maria Kruger
Internship Development announces...

New York Arts Program
INFORMATION SESSION
Thursday, November 19th
Noon - 1:00pm
Roy Shilling Room in Commons

INDIVIDUAL APPOINTMENT TIMES
Thursday, November 19th
10:00am - 11:30am & 1:30pm - 4:00pm
To reserve an individual appointment time, please contact Career Services.

If you are interested in talking with the New York Arts Program
representative, SU Alumnus Eric Feldman '08, he will be on campus next
Thursday, November 19th to talk with interested students about
interning in New York City. Eric is an alumnus of the NYAP and is
currently a member of their staff. He interned with Ensemble Studio
Theatre in Fall 2007.

Former SU students have interned with record labels, MTV, NBC Nightly
News, professional artists and sculptors, publishing firms, SNL,
fashion designers, magazines, Marvel Comics, talent agencies, major
advertising firms and many more.

The New York Arts Program is a great opportunity to gain real world
experience in an arts-related field whether you are a Studio Art major
or a Business major. You are able to earn up to 16 upper-level credit
hours during a spring or fall semester by participating in this
program. Several of our SU students have been able return to NYC
after graduation within their chosen career field based on contacts
made through this program.

With a new leadership team, the New York Arts Program (formerly the
GLCA New York Arts Program) has also now partnered with the Ensemble
Studio Theater to offer a Summer Conservatory Program. This new
program is designed for students interested in pursuing acting,
playwriting or directing. It is a six-week program which will allow
participants to study with master professionals in the art of new play
development. The summer conservatory program will feature a
culminating project at the completion of the six weeks.

For more information about signing up to talk with Eric, please
contact Career Services at x1346, or reply by email to
krugerm@southwestern.edu.

San Antonio Field Trip

2009-11-04T10:31:00.010-06:00

Dr. Hajovsky's Colonial Latin American art class is taking a field trip to San Antonio this Saturday November 7th, and seats are still available for interested campus members.

The trip will visit two missions, San Jose and Conception.

Particiapants will need to bring their own sack lunch to enjoy on site.

Then, the tour will continue to San Antonio Museum of Art, to see the groundbreaking exhibit The Arts of the Missions of Northern New Spain: 1600-1821.

There will be time also to see some of the museum's other impressive holdings; I particularly like the Asian galleries and the Roman sculpture collection.

As an added bonus, the excellent movie 'The Mission' will be played on the bus. Here's the trailer:

The tour departs from the FAB parking lot- meet at 9am sharp- and should return by 6:30pm. There is no cost to participants except for providing one's own sack lunch. Special thanks goes to the Dean of Fine Arts for securing museum admittance fees.

Seats are still available but are starting to go fast. To sign up, email me at hookerk@southwestern.edu or call x1024, or drop by my office on the third floor of FAB. All I need is you name and a cell phone number.

Classroom Presentation on Research: Hellenistic Art

2009-09-29T10:25:00.003-05:00

For any students who missed the September 29th Hellenistic class, or for anyone wanting a refresher, here is a list of the various resources mentioned.

Library Research:

SU's Smith Library homepage.

Voyager library catalog. Useful subject headings include: 'Art, Ancient', 'Art, Classical', 'Art, Greek', 'Art, Hellenistic', 'Classical antiquities', Greece--Antiquities, Greece--Civilizations--To 146 BC, Hellenism, Sculpture--Greek, Sculpture--Hellenistic, Mediterranean Region--Antiquities. These subject headings are also useful for databases.
Use combined keywords to find text on topics: for example, sculpture + Greek, + Themes, motives. Combine with the keywords 'Exhibitions' or 'Pictorial Works' to find resources with images, or add History, Culture, Religion, etc. (i.e. Hellenism + History) for a focus on historical content. Remember that truncation can help broaden your search. A search for 'Hellenis?' will bring up items keyed to 'Hellenism' and 'Hellenistic'.

Check out the library's Subject Guide: Art and Art History for an expansive list of useful resources. Check out the full list of guides by subject to peruse holdings for Classics or History, e.g.

JSTOR: An online database of specialized journal articles, with keyword or advanced search. One can browse by Discipline to see what titles they have for Art History.

Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad): A way to acquire resources that we don't own locally.

An FAQ on the system is found here. Remember, ILL takes time- up to 10 days, so start early! Sometimes things come quickly, but you never know. To request a resource that the SU library doesn't have log on to ILLiad using your SU name and password. Fill out the form as thoroughly as possible- details like ISBN really help speed up the process. Searching in WorldCat can help you get all the bibliographic details. There's no need to identify what library has the item.

Remember! These online resources are available on campus with the correlating IP address. But, when off campus, you can still access many resources. Log In to the My Southwestern Portal. Click the Library tab. You can search the local Voyager catalog, access ILLiad and 'ask a librarian' from this screen. The pop-down list under Library Quick Links will let you have off-campus access to licensed databases.

Images:

The class blog is located at http://howehellenistic.blogspot.com/. Remember, you have to find your invitation to view the blog in your email. then click the link. Then set up a Google account if you don't already have one. Login with your Google name and password. Dr. Howe's powerpoints are viewable online through Slideshare- sometimes they take a minute to load. (The blog is meant for online study/review, so it won't be a source of material for your actual assignment.)

Artstor: online subscription database of over a million images and counting! Offers both keyword and advanced searching. Double click an image to open it up- be sure your pop up blocker is off! Click the floppy disc icon to download the image or a detail. You are allowed to use images for papers- just no putting them on tshirts or similar.

Google Advanced Image Search: likely to produce lower quality results than Artstor, but worth a shot. Try to look for and respect any sort of copyright or usage stipulations you come across.

TinEye: this is a reverse image search engine. Instead of searching via textual data, it searches for images that visually match. It can either search for an images based on its web address, or you can upload an image from your computer to check against. This can be useful for finding different sizes for images, but it doesn't always work- fun to play with though.

Contacts:

I'm Katherine Hooker, Visual Resources Librarian. You can email me at hookerk@southwestern.edu, call x1024, or drop by my office (directly above Dr. Howe's office).

Dana Hendrix is Head of Collection Development and Acquisition over in the main Smith Library, and she's our knowledgeable subject specialist for art history. You can email her at hendrixd@southwestern.edu or call x1241.

Other librarians are on duty at the reference desk near the entrance of Smith Library. Don't hesitate to contact any of us if you have any questions!

SSFA Gallery Show: Holly Hughes, 'Off the Plate / Under the Sheets'

2009-09-10T10:12:00.004-05:00

The first gallery show of the academic year is now up. It features colorful and vibrant artworks by Holly Hughes, and I'm really intrigued to see it all up close at today's opening.

Here's the official blurb:

Holly Hughes, "Memento Mori", 16''x12'', gouache on paper on panel, 2008

"Holly Hughes’ playful, intensely colored paintings, monotypes and ceramic plates combine imagery and abstract design exuberantly. Hughes helped to jump start the 1980’s East Village gallery boom in New York with her first solo show at Piezo Electric. Since then, her works have been shown in over one hundred exhibitions, most recently in solo exhibitions at ArtStrand/Project Space in Provincetown, MA; the Joyce Goldstein Gallery in Chatham, NY; and the Shelnutt Gallery in Troy, NY.

Born in San Antonio, Texas to a jazz percussionist, Hughes moved with her family to the east coast at an early age. The influence of her travels across the United States and abroad enters her work in integral ways. She is currently a Professor of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design and maintains a studio in Manhattan."

The show will be up until October 8. The opening reception is today, Thursday the 10th, from 4-6pm.

ITS Help event tomorrow

2009-09-03T11:17:00.002-05:00

Noticed this on the SU Calendar within the Portal: ITS is hosting a 'Braniac Bar' (certainly a reference to the handy Genius Bar helpdesk within Mac stores):

"Do you have computer questions, laptop problems, or need advice on all things digital? Then drop by the Brainiac Bar and ask the experts from ITS. We will be set up outside the Commons on Friday helping students with their laptop issues, dishing out advice (like how to get MS Office 2007 for less than $60), and answering tech questions. So bring your laptop for a checkup and stop by and visit the "Brainiacs" in the McCombs Center from 11:30-1:30pm this Friday, September 4th."

Help with Artstor

2009-08-25T15:23:00.002-05:00

Students in Art History classes will definitely want to become familiar with Artstor, our fantastic subcription-based image database. It's very user friendly and fun to explore.

For students in classes that presently have image study folders (Intro: Image, Object, Text, Art Since 1945, Intro to Asian Art, and Art of China):

You will have received- or will soon receive- some flyers describing how to register for an Artstor account, how to unlock the course folders, and one advising you to adhere to copyright restrictions.

If you need guidance through the sign up process (and video is a better tool for this than a textual flyer), here is an official Artstor video demonstrating the process:

Be sure to check out ArtStor's Youtube Channel for more.

Fall 2009 Course Blogs Active

2009-08-25T14:15:00.003-05:00

A small view of this semester's offering of course blogs:

Since our successful pilot project with putting up individual course blogs last semester seems to have been well received (i.e. I heard no vocal complaints), we will continue with them this year. They will essentially provide small versions of the class powerpoint lectures for the students to review online at their convenience, made possible through applications such as Slideshare and iMovie.

For students who are enrolled in courses with private blogs, instructions from your professor will be forthcoming. Essentially, as blog administrator, I will email everyone registered for the course inviting you to view the blog. To do so, you need to set up a free and easy Google account. If you already use Gmail or any other Google applications, you can just use your existing password and user name.

This video from Atomic Learning guides you through the Google account signup process:

New content will be added to the blogs as we progress through the semester. As always, they are limited to students actively enrolled in the course so as to respect copyright concerns.

Save the UCLA Arts Library

2009-08-25T09:27:00.005-05:00

Another distressing sign of the economy, and the disturbing trend that it seems the Arts are the first to be sacrificed in hard times.

UCLA, like many entities in the struggling state of California, is having severe financial problems and has responded to a need for budget cuts by proposing to close the entire Arts Library. Much like this summer's sudden closure of the Image Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, this decision seems to have been made in haste and without the knowledge of the people the decision will affect the most; the collection's staff and the students and faculty that depend on its resources to learn and teach.

There is now a formal petition to stop the library's closure. (Link below). Here is its official statement:

"UCLA Library Management, behind closed doors and without consultation with the UCLA community has decided to close its Arts Library, potentially as soon as January 2010.

For decades, the Arts Library has served faculty, students and the Southern California community as an essential cultural resource. In terms of research and scholarship it supports some of the nation's best programs in the arts, architecture, art history, film, television, theater and the humanities. With over 270,000 volumes and unique collections, the Arts Library is a singular institution in Los Angeles, a burgeoning center for the arts. It must be preserved.

We understand that the UCLA Library must meet a nearly $2 million shortfall. However, the permanent elimination of a critical UCLA institution must not be the solution to a short term budget crisis."

I encourage anyone to sign the petition to stop the Arts Library's closure.

There is also a Facebook group you can join: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=132785048409&ref=nf

Perhaps I am especially biased because the closure of resources such as this library indicates that my own job security could be in question. But any member of our Southwestern University community ought to recognize this as an alarming situation. If reputable Academic institutions are desperate enough to shut down invaluable resources- Art related or otherwise- where does that leave students, teachers, and even society in general?

Realistically, I understand that something does have to give so that UCLA as a whole can continue to exist. But the utterly final closure of an entire library collection just doesn't seem reasonable. Obviously I don't know any of the real details, but it would seem less drastic cuts and scaling-back across the board- i.e. extending beyond just the arts- would be advisable in the long run.

True this is not a case of fascist book burning, but the end result is the same- resources and information in them are fully taken away from those who would use them. It might save some money, but at what real cost?

Update: I've just found a very eloquent and moving open letter by a student named Wesley Pinkham that sums everything up beautifully. Read it if you've got a moment.

Chuck Close Exhibit at AMOA

2009-08-21T09:12:00.002-05:00

Austin Museum of Art has a new Chuck Close show opening this weekend. It's called 'A Couple Ways of Doing Things'.

Self portrait of Close and also cover of the exhibition catalog:

In typical Close fashion, the show will feature ultra realistic portraits, in this case of notable contemporary artists such as Cindy Sherman and Andres Serrano. But this time the chosen media is a very old and traditional one, the daguerreotype (which someday I will learn to spell without looking). These same portraits are also done in a variety of media like photogravures, digital pigment prints, and large-scale tapestries- thus the show's title. Finally, each portrait is accompanied by the poetry of Bob Holman.

The exhibition opens tomorrow and runs through November 8th. AMOA charges admission but I can't seem to figure out how much from their website. Looks like you can see the show for free though on Austin Museum Day, September 20.

And because it's Friday, here's a short and cute video of Chuck Close hanging out with Big Bird on Sesame Street. Why not?

Our Department is Growing!

2009-08-19T15:50:00.003-05:00

Excellent news for SU's Art History department and the campus community in general. After having success with last semester's search for a Latin Americanist we are very proud to add a full-time tenure-track professor to our program, bringing our number up to 4.

Many of you may remember Dr. Patrick Hajovsky from the 2007-2008 academic year when he was a visiting professor. Students consistently spoke highly of his enthusiasm and passion for his topics, so we are all very glad to have him back permanently.

His official blurb:

"Dr. Patrick Hajovsky came to Southwestern for the 2007-2008 academic year as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Sarofim School of Fine Arts - Art and Art History Department. He joins Southwestern this fall as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Art History after serving on the faculty of The University of Texas at San Antonio for the 2008-2009 academic year. Patrick earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in art history from the University of Chicago, his B.A. in art history from Tulane University and B.A. in anthropology/drawing from the University of North Texas."

This fall he'll be teaching a class on ritual landscapes in Meso- and South America, and another focusing on audience and spectatorship in colonial Spanish America.

The official SU News story is here.

Dr. Hajovsky at back right, along with SU new faculty members, from left, Dustin Tahmahkera (Communication Studies), Kenneth Mello (Religion and Philosophy), Reggie Byron (Anthropology and Sociology).

Gearing Up For the New Semester

2009-08-19T15:02:00.006-05:00

Campus has sprung back to life as this year's batch of new students- roughly 379- moved onto campus last Friday. It's Southwestern's largest group ever and we welcome them all!

Today marks the 60th day this summer to meet or top 100 degrees; unbelievable. During this oppressive heat the Visual Resources Collection has tried to stay busy. This summer saw the scanning of materials pertaining to Chinese painting, Colonial Latin American painting, Garden designs, and Mesopotamian art, among others.

In other news, Dr. Howe was quoted in a USA today article: "Digging Deeper: Archaeologists race to show Pompeii Daily Life". Kodak announced that it would cease production of Kodachrome film after 74 years; sorry Paul Simon :(. And a crazy woman literally hurled a mug at possibly the most famous mug in art history, the Mona Lisa.

The coming semester looks to be a good one. We excitedly welcome the 4th full-time tenure-track faculty member to our department (more details in separate post). November will see a gallery installation of some of our fantastic facsimile Chinese painting scrolls, curated by capstone students. If you missed the similar exhibit a few years back you really should check it out; the large scale and intricate details of the scrolls are quite impressive.

Here's our fall class lineup:

(you can view the course offerings in a more attractive format by clicking the video on the sidebar to the left)

Harlem Renaissance video

2009-06-03T16:28:00.005-05:00

Here's a recent summer project- another iMovie compilation, with art and photos from the Harlem Renaissance. It's set to a very upbeat piece by Duke Ellington from 1927. This was a fun one to do as many of the paintings are so vibrant and depict fun-looking social events. Hopefully this can be utilized as a mood-setter for the relevant lecture in the course 'Modernism and Modernity', which was just offered in the spring.

I especially love the pictures of the dancers in the Savoy Ballroom- they're having so much fun!

Friday Fun with Legos

2009-05-22T10:41:00.004-05:00

Looks like Lego is gearing up for a fun architectural line.

The blog at Gadgets.boingboing.net shows Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum and Falling Water.

These could make for some fun teaching tools or office decor. Not fully related, but I still remember a unique demonstration in Intro to Art History I, where the professor built the dome of Hagia Sophia out of a cantaloupe to show how pendentives work.

Anyone with an extra $300 and patience to put together 6,000 pieces could try Lego's Taj Mahal:

Warhol Rant

2009-05-21T15:01:00.005-05:00

For some variety, here's an interesting- and to me, infuriating- story that I've heard about from friends for once and not from listserves or Google. So I know friends of friends who had started a modest nightlife establishment in San Antonio, Texas. It's a tiny, dark, and sparse place that specializes in live music and cheap beer. It is near the San Antonio riverwalk, but is still rather on its own, isolated and not on a busy path like Austin's Sixth Street. The young guys who own it had really done a good job of taking it from nothing to a place that has started to draw real talent. It was called, up until recently, 'The Warhol'. It had a cool ring to it. If there was any real reference to the pop artist Andy Warhol on the wall- cheap dorm style posters perhaps- I really didn't notice it on my one visit. The emphasis here was definitely squarely placed on beer and music, not decor.

While on that one visit I commented, only half jokingly, that the Warhol Foundation would hunt them down like dogs. I'd always heard how overly zealous the foundation was when it came to protecting the artist's copyright. In fact, Warhol is the one artist whose works I really don't dare digitize in any form. (Warhol Foundation, if you are watching, Southwestern University relies on legally licensed images!) I am personally glad that courses here only deal with this particular era of art history once every two years or so, roughly.

Anyway, although it took a while to occur, my joking statement has in fact come true! The Warhol Foundation actually delivered the proprietors of 'The Warhol' with some scary paperwork demanding that they drop the name and any association immediately, or be sued. Since the name of the bar has now conspicuously changed, it's no secret what happened.

It just seems silly and absurd to me that the foundation would take the time and trouble to draw up extensive lawsuit paperwork and serve it to, let's face it, a little hole in the wall in provincial San Antonio that only draws a select local crowd. (With all due respect.) I find the whole thing bizarre to begin with since the majority of Andy Warhol's pop art couldn't even exist in the first place in this overly litigious society! Frankly I'd like to see Campbell's Soup corporation, Coca-Cola, Brillo (if they still exist), and the individual photographers of those Marilyn Monroe and Jackie O portraits sue the Warhol Foundation in an ironic twist.

I do understand that artists should have rights to protect their works and their legacy. I suppose 'The Warhol' was profiting monetarily, but I really doubt it was to do with its name. Its patrons were coming there because they either liked alcohol or liked the bands that were booked. Honestly, the name itself was probably lost on half of them to begin with. The bar most certainly wasn't selling reproductions of paintings. In the end it doesn't matter, and while the name has changed the place's music and beer will certainly remain constant. It's just petty in my opinion.

I think they should change the name to 'Factory' just to anger the Foundation; a reference to Warhol's collective 'The Factory', but safe since there's no reasonable way you can copyright a common noun. Andy himself probably would have liked the bar 'The Warhol'. Andy Warhol's group favored mylar and art films while this group prefers Shiner bock and studded punk belts, but the underlying spirit of gathering together and being creative and mutually appreciative of art and/or music is essentially the same.

To read about the Warhol Foundation's mission, "the advancement of the visual arts", click to their home page. And here's a few articles on other legal issues the foundation's been involved in: 'Warhol Foundation Accused of Dominating the Market', 'Warhol Foundation Sued on Authenticity', and 'Warhol Estate Sued Over 'Rigged' Market' all from 2007. I am very glad I never wanted to go into the Art Gallery world.

In that last article, where the Foundation is the one being sued, a spokesman describes the suit as "shocking nonsense". I think that sums up the current legal papers perfectly.

Tate Online

2009-05-14T10:36:00.005-05:00

The esteemed Tate galleries in Britain have certainly embraced the full range of technology to reach a wider audience. The Beyond Tate Online page shows that the museum has a presence on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Myspace, Blogger, AND iTunes U. Whatever your preference, they've got it.

Dr. Smith alerted me to the material on iTunes about a month ago, but I am just now getting around to looking at it. You can subscribe to audio podcasts here, and over on their iTunes University channel they have a wealth of material. Looks like there are videos, audio commentary/tours, teacher packets, all sorts of fun stuff.

To try it out, I downloaded a 4 minute video tour of the recent 'Triennial Altermodern' show, hosted by a jazz musician. He mentions that they also loan out free ipods for audio tours in the museum. when I last went (way back in 2001, sigh) they only had clunky audio wands which you had to pay for. Since I won't be getting to London anytime soon, I thought this video was really great and it gave me a sense of the space and the art within.

Here is a screenshot of the appealing Tate iTunes U main menu:

I thought this sculpture by Indian artist Subodh Gupta was rather interesting. It's called Line of Control, and deals with some serious subject matter. "The name of the piece refers to Kashmir- the contested border between India, Pakistan, and China. The work imagines the possibility of a nuclear exchange, the resulting mushroom cloud of the atomic blast created from everyday household items such as kitchen utensils." (From this Art Observed article.)

Quite imposing and visually arresting, as you can see.

Remember, iTunes itself is an application that can be downloaded for free and run on either Mac or PC. All these Tate videos, podcasts, etc. are also free and easy downloads. There are of course many other art related free resources available through iTunes, so I encourage anyone to try it out.

Kimbell acquires Michelangelo

2009-05-14T10:25:00.002-05:00

The Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth will soon be the first museum in the US to own/display a Michelangelo painting. It is a very early work, said to have been painted when the artist was only 12-13 years old, and depicts the temptation of St. Anthony. Experts at the Metropolitan Museum have apparently been able to confirm its authenticity.

The work will go on display at the Kimbell in the fall, following a summer showing at the Met. Read more about it here.

Artist's Home and Studio Destroyed in Fire

2009-04-27T13:05:00.002-05:00

Came across a sad headline: famous pop artist James Rosenquist lost his house and his studio filled with artworks. A brushfire swept through his California residence and a propane tank exploded in the studio, making things difficult for the firefighters. The 75 year old artist was safely evacuated, but he's got to be devastated.

Read about it here.

If you're unfamiliar with his work, take a look at this 20 second video showing his large painting 'F-111'.

Spring Senior Show, Part 2

2009-04-09T12:28:00.003-05:00

The second exhibition of graduating art majors' work opened on Tuesday. Here's another quick video to get a taste of the excellent show. The three parts are: Casey Grier- Shades of Inequity, Sarah Reesor- Canine Casualties: Genetic Disorders and Health Problems in the Domestic Dog, and Bernardo Schirmer- Metonymy.

The Fine Arts Building's gallery is open 1-5 weekdays. Stop by and have a look! Next up will be the general student show, opening on April 23.

SU Radio

2009-04-07T15:38:00.002-05:00

I've found a good alternative to listening to my ipod at work- Southwestern's student-run internet streaming radio station. Looks like the project was begun with a 2007 King Creativity Grant, and is run by Kaitlyn Dennis, Brooke Lyssy, Katy Siciliano, and Andrea Plybon.

Have a listen.

The Color of Dissonance

2009-04-02T16:29:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is the big day- a full day's symposium leading up to the premier of 'The Color of Dissonance'. This exciting original collaborative opera has long been in the works at the renovated Sarofim School of Fine Arts. It will explore the relationship between the artists Gabriele Munter and Wassily Kandinsky and the composer Arnold Schoenberg in pre World War I Europe. While the original music, singing, and dancing will no doubt be interesting, I'd say the most compelling aspect for me personally is that there will be continuous projection of images, video, and text throughout the entire performance. About 7,000 images in all!
Key minds behind the production are our own Kim Smith from Art History, Sergio Costola from Theater, and Jason Hoogerhyde from Music.

Performances will take place Friday and Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 3. Tickets are FREE to all associated with Southwestern University, and $10-$15 for the general public. Running time is approximately 100 minutes. The Box Office link is here and here is the official SU news story. Austin360.com has a good article on the opera with pictures and audio clips.

The Symposium will build up to the Friday opening. Entitled 'Making Modernism in Central Europe', here is the wide-ranging and intriguing lineup:

10:30 Welcome and Opening Remarks. Dean Paul Gaffney, Art History professor Kim Smith, and German professor Erika Berroth.

10:45 "Occultism and the Creative Unconscious in Fin-de-Siecle Germany". Corinna Treitel, department of history, Washington University.

1:30 "Munter and Kandinsky's Masquerade of Modern Love". Bibiana Obler, department of fine arts and art history, George Washington University.

2:30 "The Air of Another Planet: Kandinksy, Schoenberg, and Stefan George's Entruckung". Severine Neff, department of music, University of North Carolina.

3:30 Coffee break- free caffeine and cookies!

4:00 "Making Modernism in Central Texas". Costola, Hoogerhyde, Smith.

5:00 Wine and cheese reception.

Newest Course Blog!

2009-04-02T15:34:00.004-05:00

Another spring course has been added to the blog list- Professor Rivera's History of Photography.
For students in this class, here is the instructional video from Atomic Learning on how to sign up for the required free Google account which will grant you access.

New Copier

2009-03-31T11:27:00.002-05:00

The SSFA's old copier finally died and we have a new Xerox Workcentre 5655. The representative from Dahill gave an in-depth demonstration on all the fancy features. The touch-screen menus seem very intuitive. Just in case problems arise or one wants to put all the bells and whistles on copy jobs, here is Xerox's official user documentation page.

Blog Mentions

2009-03-30T15:54:00.002-05:00

Just a quick thank you to a few people outside the immediate department who have put mentions of this blog out there.

Dana Hendrix from Southwestern's main library was nice enough to include a link on the very helpful Subject Guide to Art and Art History. Also be sure to explore the one on Digital Art and Virtual Reality.

As a long-time lurker on the VRA listserv, I was surprised to see my blog mentioned in a list of feeds that a fellow VR librarian subscribes to. So thank you Elaine Paul from the department of art and art history at University of Colorado at Boulder! Be sure to visit her very good blog Derivative Image. I will need to figure out how to subscribe to this and other blogs/RSS feeds that have been mentioned!

Image Search Resource: TinEye

2009-03-30T12:40:00.004-05:00

This was one in a slew of resources mentioned in the VRA conference's session on new technology, many of which I intend to get to eventually.

TinEye is a reverse image search engine. This means that it will search for images based strictly on visual image identification technology. It will find other versions of the exact image- same view or angle. It does not search metadata, tags, or other textual information. Searches are compiled through automated webcrawling bots, and since the site is relatively new, much of the web has not yet been crawled. In other words, with time searches will become more successful.

Here's an example. I asked it to find images like the one I took of the facsimile Narmer's Palette that I took in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. You can see from the partial screen capture that it brought up other images of this particular side of the sculpture, also in situ in the museum. I did not receive any images of the other side, of the original in Egypt, or any sketches or related material.

Why can this be useful? One helpful thing is when you've found an image you like on Google image search (yes I do believe you can and probably should utilize it along with ArtStor and other formal VRC sources) but it's too small or low quality. You can search that image and TinEye will bring up other versions- some hopefully with better resolution.

It can also be useful if you have an unidentified slide. The other day I was able to confirm that what I had was indeed a Kandinsky painting, and that it was oriented the correct way. I was ultimately unable to glean details like date or title, thanks in part to the fact that TinEye gave me the same image on a very foreign (Hungarian?) website. This illustrates how TinEye can actually widen your search, since your search is not constrained by spellings or even alphabets.

It would be interesting to understand exactly how the algorithm identifies images matches. Then again, it might be better to leave the complicated stuff to computer programmers and simply enjoy the benefits of an alternative search method!

Senior Gallery Show

2009-03-26T18:24:00.005-05:00

It's that time of year again- the always excellent SU student shows have begun in the Fine Arts Building's gallery. Opening today was the first senior exhibition, featuring Laura Bishop (Cirque), Ricardo Levario (Liminal/Subliminal), and Isaac Rivera (The Love In Loss).

The opening reception was very well attended- have a look at the short video, and be sure to come see the exhibit in person. The gallery is open 1-5 on weekdays, and is on the ground floor right next to the FAB parking lot.

Also, SU's website has a story on Levario here.

Dallas Museum of Art Internships

2009-03-25T10:13:00.007-05:00

Students- you may have seen posters around the department for the DMA's 2009-2010 paid McDermott internships. The original deadline was March 27, but their website says the deadline has been extended to April 3. So there's still time for anyone thinking about it, and they're good to keep in mind for the future if you're a junior.

Details here.

Fun with iMovie and Toronto Architecture

2009-03-24T13:13:00.007-05:00

Before I left for the conference, I attended a great NITLE webinar on digital video in the classroom. It discussed how professors at other universities have given students the assignment of creating a digital narrative, incorporating audio, video, and still images. Such products could potentially be of use in the art history department. One could almost assign a digital formal analysis. Students could use computer microphones to record their thoughts and use images and video to illustrate their points. Or the videos could be useful in a study abroad/research trip context. One nice feature is that unlike a one-time class presentation, these videos can be saved and shared to a wider community via iTunes University or classroom programs like Segue.

Melanie over at ITS mentioned how intuitive iMovie is so I though I'd give it a shot. I was amazed at how easy it was to figure out, and enjoyable to use! So here I've simply used some amateur photos and video that I took in Toronto of BCE Place, and overlaid some music from my iTunes. (It would be better to record an academic-style voiceover with in-depth structural or critical information, but I didn't have time for that.) The result is pretty slick looking, despite the fact it took little time or effort.

VRA Conference keynote speaker

2009-03-23T13:47:00.004-05:00

One of the highlights from the 2009 Visual Resources Association conference was the keynote speech given by Michael Edson, director of web and new media strategy at the Smithsonian Institution. A very engaging and entertaining speaker, he argued emphatically for the concept of a commons- a collection of useful resources maintained for the use and benefit of everyone- even within the exclusive museum setting. He shows how new technology can be utilized to share images and information to the general public, which will in turn help them to value the Smithsonian Institution even more. Opponents to this idea worry about letting go of their precious content into the hands of basically the uneducated rabble. Edson argues that such a democratic approach to knowledge lets people contribute in unexpected ways and that the collective benefits outweigh any drawbacks.

His actual powerpoint presentation can be found on Slidshare.net. Given the nature of his talk- underscoring the value of sharing content and ideas- I think it will be safe to embed it here. I was also thrilled to hear that he uses Slideshare, since that is what I've been relying on for the class blogs. If a high-up from the Smithsonian sees it as useful, then it must be a respectable way to share SU's lecture presentations!

VRA 2009

View more presentations from edsonm.

Edson also has a humorous flash animation called 'Web Tech Guy and Angry Staff Person' which explores the resistance to such progressive ways of sharing knowledge.

Click here to view it.

A viewer wrote a comment about the video that I think is really relevant:
"Mike, thanks for this. Honestly, it says it all and I am somewhat ashamed to say that I was driven out of the museum business because of it. I just had to go to a place that embraced the possibilities of new media and new spaces in order to make the world a better place. Museums that don't stop trying to control the conversation risk becoming irrelevant. Those conversations will (and are) happening without them anyway."

Although issues at a museum and at a small liberal arts college are different, I think that it is just as vital here to incorporate new modes of sharing content, which should in turn lead to new ways of thinking and learning, and enhance the exchange between professors and students.

Conference sessions on new technology- wow!

2009-03-19T14:26:00.004-05:00

I've found a random laptop station at the conference hotel so I figured I'd hop on and update. The two part session on emerging technology was very impressive and I have tons of new things to investigate. Here are only a few that were touched on: wikis, photosynth, zoomii, coolIris, teamviewer, webex, jing, twitter, blogs, jobo, geographical tagging, google's ancient Rome 3D, 360 cities, Panoramio, social bookmarking, second life, LionShare, iTunes U, NetVibes, TinEye, Animoto, pocket projectors, web 2.0, web display for mobile devices, camtasia, adobe captivate, mobot, friendfeed.

Obviously a great deal to look into, a large portion of which could be very useful to us at SU! On my lunch break I took some pictures and video of the Gehry designed Art Gallery of Toronto. I could be cool and upload them straight onto here, but sadly I do not have a smart phone. All I have is a dumb phone that doesn't even work in Canada.

Next up is the ArtStor user group. My brain is getting full!

VRA Conference

2009-03-16T21:11:00.001-05:00

I will be attending the Visual Resources Association annual conference in Toronto until Sunday March 22. This year it conveniently syncs up with SU's spring break.

The Turbanizer

2009-03-13T11:25:00.003-05:00

Even though the internet can be a powerful pedagogical tool, I'd be flat out lying if I didn't admit it was also a huge, though diverting, waste of time. So for the Friday before spring break, I present to you The Turbanizer. This site lets you add a variety of turbans to any photo. And naturally it works with Facebook, as if we didn't all waste enough time there already.

Click the arrow to play a humorous slideshow of Turbanized works of art.

(Let it be known that I created this in my spare time. Yes I am that easily amused.)

All joking aside though, this is a way for those outside of the blogged art history classes to see how Slideshare.net works to convert Powerpoint shows.

How did I learn about the Turbanizer? The SU music department has a bulletin board with some Turbanized composers. So at least I am not the only one in the Fine Arts Building to be so frivolous!

Happy Spring Break!

Artstor Information

2009-03-12T11:08:00.003-05:00

This is primarily for the benefit of students in Professor Rivera's History of Photography class to whom I will be talking to in the library, but the information can benefit anyone at SU who uses Artstor.

Here is a great overview/refresher video on how to use all of Artstor's features.

This comes from Artstor's Youtube page, where they have a total of 6 instructional videos on a variety of topics. They also have an official Facebook page as well as a user group so there are many ways to connect and learn more about this truly great image database.

SU VRC on Facebook

2009-03-11T13:11:00.004-05:00

We now have a Facebook presence. If you're an FB user, search for the 'Southwestern University Visual Resources Collection' organization page. While there you can also check out the pages of SU, Career Services, the Theater Department, Artstor, and VRA.

Proliferation of Class Blogs

2009-03-09T12:14:00.009-05:00

The idea of posting powerpoint lectures to private class blogs using Blogger and Slideshare is really catching on in the art history department at SU!

Since Friday, I've set up 3 new blogs to support Architecture Studio III: Design of Modern Structures, Introduction To Art History: Image Object and Text, and Modernity and Modernism.

Thanks to Blogger's attractive and readily available template designs, I've been able to instantly make each one look distinctive. Here are screen shots:

Students, you should all have gotten invitations to the blog for your class/classes. As noted in my handout, you've got to have a Google account to do this. Check out this helpful instructional video from Atomic Learning for step-by-step guidance through this quick process.

It's clear that our professors seem to like this format, but how about students? I encourage feedback- both positive and negative- in many formats. You can comment here, on the SU VRC Facebook page, shoot me an email, or even drop by my office and let me know what you think in person.

smARThistory (dumb Facebook?)

2009-03-05T11:11:00.009-06:00

Have a look at smARThistory, a site which offers the sort of text and images one finds in a standard textbook, but incorporates audio, interactive timelines, and other interesting features. EDIT: The co-editors are Beth Harris, Director of Digital Learning at MOMA New York, and Stephen Zucker, dean of School of Graduate Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York.

The site itself explains that "smARThistory.org is a free multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional and static art history textbook."

The video discussing Velazquez' famous painting Las Meninas is an interesting example of how the site works. There is a lengthy and lively conversation about the painting (rather like a podcast), and the video zooms in on relevant details. To the side you see a map visually placing the work into geographic context, and below are links to the Prado's site and to related Flickr images that can lead to further exploration. Also you'll see that it solicits contributions to its Flickr group, indicating the collaborative nature of the whole thing.

Lately smARThistory has been getting a good deal of buzz at the CAA conference and on the VRA listserv. It certainly seems like an innovative idea that would appeal to many people.

On the flip side of this story about an exciting new online resource, have a look at this provocative article from the Guardian in the UK: 'Facebook and Bebo Risk 'infantilising' the Human Mind'. Greenfield, a neuroscientist, warns that the prevalence of social networking sites, like the omnipresent Facebook, can actually negatively shape young brains by decreasing attention spans and harming the ability to carry on real relationships.

Here is the audio interview about the issue, although choosing the fancy sound clip over reading is rather ironic, given the circumstances!

So is the creation of smARThistory an innovation, or could it be viewed as the precursor of inevitable trends? Will undergrads of tomorrow even be willing or able to immerse themselves into the typical art history tomes like those by Stokstad or Jansen? (See Mike Judge's film Idiocracy for a disturbing and exaggerated view of a future dumbed-down, miniscule attention-spanned society!) I personally think a combination of both dynamic learning sources like smARThistory and static sources like traditional textbooks can be beneficial as each appeals to a different way of learning.

But, as I've been putting this post together, I've become painfully aware of the fact that I'm simultaneously running a scanner, checking in on my email. and fiddling with the iTunes radio settings. Multitasking, or troubling evidence of technology overload on my decreasing attention span?

Experience Externships: Blanton Museum of Art

2009-02-23T16:12:00.005-06:00

Students, don't miss out on this great opportunity from Southwestern's Career Services Office.

Friday March 6th, 1-6 PM (dinner included).

Anyone interested in museum or gallery work should benefit from this trip, which will include a tour of the Blanton and a roundtable discussion with:

Associate Curator of prints, drawings, and European paintings
Registrar
Manager of Docent and University Programs
University Programs Coordinator
Tour Coordinator
Manager of Visitor and Volunteer Services
Museum Gift Shop Manager
Museum Director (tentative)

Interested students should sign up in person at the McCook-Crain building.

Here's a video that lets you get a feel for the Blanton and its fantastic collection (could take a minute to load):

Austinville: The Blanton Collection
Director: Chris Telles
Music: Blur, 'The Universal'

Modern Architecture Website Up

2009-02-19T13:25:00.006-06:00

Great news for students of Dr. Howe's Modern Architecture course this semester! His image-rich and lengthy powerpoint presentations are available for online review and study. This is made possible by the handy open-source Slideshare. In order to comply with copyright concerns, the site and its corresponding flash videos of the powerpoints are available by invitation only to students enrolled this semester.

Here is a screen shot of the resulting site:

For any students in the class needing help signing up for the google account that will grant you access to the site, check out this instructional video from Atomic Learning.

Hopefully I'll get some feedback on how this site works for students. If it gets a positive reception, we could see more course material available for a variety of art history classes online next semester?

Fun Image Search Toy

2009-02-18T12:18:00.009-06:00

Check out Tag Galaxy!

It's a really neat way to search flickr tags, and it's graphically laid out like a solar system. Each tag search has little satellite planets with related terms. (Some are helpful, like 'Daibutsu' related to 'Todaiji'; others show how one tag can have alternate meanings- 'caesar' brought up 'salad' and 'Las Vegas' as well as 'Rome'.) If you click on a tag/planet, you see a sphere covered in images. You can rotate it and explore individual pictures. Tag Galaxy is a diploma project by Stephen Wood for the Georg-Simon-Ohm University of Applied Sciences Nuremburg.

Not only is it a cool interface and fun to play with, it's potentially useful as well.

Library of Congress on Flickr

2009-02-17T15:08:00.004-06:00

In honor of President's day (although a day late), check out Library of Congress' photostream on Flickr. They've posted a bunch of nice images from their collection- free of any copyright restrictions- on topics such as Abraham Lincoln, and the 1930s and 40s in color.

I particularly like this one:

Since they've got access to the original materials, the image quality is excellent. And because Flickr is part of the social web, you'll see all sorts of comments and tags that people have added. This communal, social aspect of describing images and making them available is really catching on and we'll no doubt see more and more institutions taking part in it.

Campus Event: Drive By Press

2009-02-12T15:11:00.001-06:00

Drive By Press made an exciting visit to Southwestern's academic mall today. Out of the back of a van, this unique group travels around creating one of a kind t-shirts embellished with ink patterns off of original woodcuts.

The combination of old (the technique dates to the 14th century) with the new (hip designs including boomboxes and Luchador masks for example) was pretty intriguing. Judging from the sizable crowd of SU students, staff, and faculty members, the event was a hit.

Here is an interesting video showing DBP and its techniques:

Drive By Press's Myspace and Webpage. If you wanted to purchase a shirt but missed your chance, they have online shopping.

News Item du Jour: The Politics of Copyright

2009-02-10T14:01:00.001-06:00

From the New York Times, Artist sues the AP Over Obama Image

Shepard Fairey, the artist whose portraits of Obama have been widely seen during his campaign and recently on the cover of Time magazine, is preemptively taking legal action against the Associated Press. The AP has asserted that it owns the photo which serves as the foundation of Fairey's art, and that it is owed payment for its use. The artist meanwhile invokes the principal of Fair Use and intends to prove that his work has transformed into something wholly different from the original photo. Copyright is undoubtedly a hairy issue, and this story will likely get more heated and interesting as it progresses.

Accordingly, I've decided not to post either image here, so you'll just have to follow the link! Please don't sue me.

If Andy Warhol lived today, would any of his pop art images have made it?

Art History lunch

2009-02-10T12:57:00.002-06:00

Today, with the help of a tasty pizza lunch, the department gathered together Southwestern students either majoring or minoring in art history and discussed future directions. The course lineup for fall was revealed, and early March was announced as the time for on-campus interviews for candidates for our new and very exciting full-time Latin American position. Students were advised to look for announcements of scheduled talks and lunches so that they can give their important opinions regarding the candidates.

The importance of study abroad and internship/work experience was underscored during the meeting. Two very important names:

Sue Mennicke, Director of Study Abroad International Programs Office at Southwestern

mennicks@southwestern.edu

Maria Kruger, Internship coordinator for the Great Lakes Colleges Association New York Arts Program

Some students expressed interest in combining their study of art history with other fields, such as business, accounting, or law, for a future career. There are undoubtedly many resources addressing this issue out there, but I've quickly compiled just a few starting points:

UT Austin's Career Guide for Art History

UC Santa Cruz' outline of Career Options in Art History

Notre Dame's Career Alternatives for Art Historians

Princeton Online's Careers In Art Links

University of Denver's What to Do With Your Art History Degree

(Caveat: I haven't had time to look these over, so they might not be the best resources! I hope to refine the list after I've gotten through the urgent slide scanning.)

No matter what a student chooses to do with his or her art history degree, Dr. Howe, Dr. Smith, and Dr. Tenckhoff expressed their willingness to look over applications and to write recommendation letters. They advised to consider taking a year off to get experience before applying to grad school, and assured students that their letters would be waiting for them!

Disheartening news from Brandeis University

2009-02-06T16:22:00.001-06:00

A rather shocking news story from Brandeis University in Massachusetts: it seems that recently the university's board of trustees voted to fully scrap the campus' art museum.

An excerpt from Roberta Smith's New York Times article:

"Few things are more poignant than a gem of a museum whose days may be numbered. So it was at the Rose Art Museum at Bradeis University on a visit Friday, days after the university's trustees voted unanimously to trash the institution by closing it and auctioning off the 6,000 works in its collection. The action came without consulting either the museum's own board of governors or its director."

..............."the greater the art, the greater number of people "own" it. The greater its power, the more it expands our lives. In a just and moral society, art is crucial to our understanding of freedom, difference and individual agency. The message out of Brandeis University last week- to its own students and to the world- was that when the going gets tough, none of this matters. Art is dispensable."

Above: student protest signs in the doomed museum's entry. One reads "Integrity for sale. All must go! Accepting all offers."

Brown Symposium

2009-02-06T15:39:00.001-06:00

This morning the Brown Symposium "Science and Religion: Conflict or Convergence" wrapped up downstairs. The event seemed very well attended, and KXAN ran a story on it.

Through March 7th, the department's art gallery is running an exhibition by artist Christian Lavigne. His interesting artwork, termed 'robosculpture', 'telesculpture', and 'cybersculpture' makes use of cutting-edge technology such as rapid-prototyping to meld aesthetics and mathematics.

Next year's symposium is sure to be a hit, when Dr. Thomas Howe presents his fascinating topic 'Imperium', comparing ancient Rome to modern America. Make no mistake though, there will be no Toga Parties held in conjunction with the 2010 event!

Blog Experiment

2009-02-06T14:57:00.000-06:00

Inspired by colleague Heather Seneff's VRC blog at the University of Washington, I have decided to set one up myself.

Here I will post any new or interesting developments having to do with the SU image collection, with services like ArtStor, and other newsworthy items having to do with art history, images, and emerging technology.