By Isabella Farias ‘18
Published February 2015
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| Thea Ezinga ‘15 (right) and Lindsay Brents ‘16 (left) discussed Burning Off, a 20th-century watercolor painting by Andrew Newell Wyeth, on the opening day of the exhibition. Photo courtesy of Phuong Tran ‘15 |
“Crowdsourced from the Permanent Collection: Randolph Curates” is the name of the new exhibition at the Maier Museum of Art, which premiered on Jan. 22 and scheduled to be on display up until April 22. The title is a good description of how the exhibit came together.
Crowdsourcing is the open call to a diverse group to apply their individual experiences, knowledge and preferences to the process of choosing which pieces will be put on display. Earlier last semester, an email was sent to the whole Randolph community, including faculty, students, and alumni that maintained their randolphcollege.edu email, to survey past and present community members’ preferences within the collection. Using an online catalog, about twenty people responded with their favorites and contributed to the College’s first crowdsourced exhibit.
Martha Johnson, director of the Maier Museum, holds dear to her the opportunity to have the community be involved. “I intentionally plan exhibits and programs that connect with the curriculum at Randolph College. I know people in the local community that have strong feelings for pieces in the collection,” she said.
The community within the Red Brick Wall is thrilled by the exhibit and by the pieces on display. “I think it’s a fantastic idea. I love that the exhibit seems so varied, yet it all comes together seamlessly—just like a personal box of treasures,” said Callan Frye ’17, a Studio Art and Biology double major who has attended every exhibition at the Maier Museum since he started at Randolph College.
Dr. Mara Amster, Department Chair and Associate Professor of English, chose Red Umbrella (1972) by Colleen Browning (1929-2003). “I love it for the bright red, for mystery in her eyes, for the evocative mood. I love it because it makes me want to write the story of the woman, the day, the umbrella,” she shared.
Johnson also contributed to the exhibit and chose Pulse (1972) by Robert Remsen Vickrey. This is a piece of the artist’s son, who discovered his pulse for the first time; and Johnson chose it because of her “preference for figurative work.”
Johnson is proud of the museum and every collection that she has curated. “[The Maier] is an incredibly unique resource, especially for a school this size, and more students should take advantage of such an opportunity. We have [nearly] the whole history of American art,” said Johnson. Megan Einhorn ’15 would agree with Johnson. “We have more art than most people think, and it’s fun to dig through and expose yourself to the art that is close at hand,” she said.
Pleased with the response that the exhibit has gotten, Johnson plans to do another crowdsourced exhibition in the future, possibly one exclusive for alumni. Johnson is very passionate about the exhibit, and she enjoys learning why people like the pieces that they do. “The Maier offers a comfortable environment where artistic development and conversation can blossom. And students more than enjoy our little, yet big, museum within the red brick walls,” said Johnson.
Such a statement rings true to Katy Boyer ’16. Everytime she goes to the Maier, she is awestruck by the pieces in the collection and even “went weak at the knees when [she] saw an Andrew Wyeth piece in the new exhibit.”
The next exhibits to be put on display will be the Senior Studio Art Majors’ Exhibition on April 28 and the 104th Annual Exhibit of Contemporary Art in the fall of 2015.
Crowdsourcing is the open call to a diverse group to apply their individual experiences, knowledge and preferences to the process of choosing which pieces will be put on display. Earlier last semester, an email was sent to the whole Randolph community, including faculty, students, and alumni that maintained their randolphcollege.edu email, to survey past and present community members’ preferences within the collection. Using an online catalog, about twenty people responded with their favorites and contributed to the College’s first crowdsourced exhibit.
Martha Johnson, director of the Maier Museum, holds dear to her the opportunity to have the community be involved. “I intentionally plan exhibits and programs that connect with the curriculum at Randolph College. I know people in the local community that have strong feelings for pieces in the collection,” she said.
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| Members from the community peruse the “Crowdsourced” Exhibition during its opening reception on Jan. 22, 2015. Photo courtesy of OCR |
The community within the Red Brick Wall is thrilled by the exhibit and by the pieces on display. “I think it’s a fantastic idea. I love that the exhibit seems so varied, yet it all comes together seamlessly—just like a personal box of treasures,” said Callan Frye ’17, a Studio Art and Biology double major who has attended every exhibition at the Maier Museum since he started at Randolph College.
Dr. Mara Amster, Department Chair and Associate Professor of English, chose Red Umbrella (1972) by Colleen Browning (1929-2003). “I love it for the bright red, for mystery in her eyes, for the evocative mood. I love it because it makes me want to write the story of the woman, the day, the umbrella,” she shared.
Johnson also contributed to the exhibit and chose Pulse (1972) by Robert Remsen Vickrey. This is a piece of the artist’s son, who discovered his pulse for the first time; and Johnson chose it because of her “preference for figurative work.”
Johnson is proud of the museum and every collection that she has curated. “[The Maier] is an incredibly unique resource, especially for a school this size, and more students should take advantage of such an opportunity. We have [nearly] the whole history of American art,” said Johnson. Megan Einhorn ’15 would agree with Johnson. “We have more art than most people think, and it’s fun to dig through and expose yourself to the art that is close at hand,” she said.
Pleased with the response that the exhibit has gotten, Johnson plans to do another crowdsourced exhibition in the future, possibly one exclusive for alumni. Johnson is very passionate about the exhibit, and she enjoys learning why people like the pieces that they do. “The Maier offers a comfortable environment where artistic development and conversation can blossom. And students more than enjoy our little, yet big, museum within the red brick walls,” said Johnson.
Such a statement rings true to Katy Boyer ’16. Everytime she goes to the Maier, she is awestruck by the pieces in the collection and even “went weak at the knees when [she] saw an Andrew Wyeth piece in the new exhibit.”
The next exhibits to be put on display will be the Senior Studio Art Majors’ Exhibition on April 28 and the 104th Annual Exhibit of Contemporary Art in the fall of 2015.
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