Visions Vol. XIV, Fall 2014
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Visions Vol. XIV, Fall 2014 News from the Friends of Art Sweet Briar College THE FRIENDS OF ART BOARD President President’s Letter Molly Sutherland Gwinn ’65 Contents The hot topic among college educators for has been underwritten by the Friends of Treasurer the last few years has been the viability Art in celebration of our 75 years as an Barbara Hastings Carne ’69 Vol. XIV, Fall 2014 Secretary of online learning as a tool for making organization and in honor of the newly Melissa McGee Keshishian ’71 The President’s Letter ........................................................................1 higher education accessible and affordable renovated Cochran Library. Members to more young people. The popularity of For us, MOOCs are no substitute for a May Carter Barger ’81 On Site with Catherine Peek......................................................... 2–5 Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, Elinor Plowden Boyd ’74 Sweet Briar education as we know it, but is due in large part to their digital format, Margaret Hayes Brunstad ’72 Sweet Briar Alumnae in the Visual Arts ....................................... 6–9 the online classroom may prove effective readily available to anyone with an internet Sigrid Zirkle Carroll ’93 in extending the reach of programs, not connection, and by extension, their Susan Stephens Geyer ’74 Students Explore Museum Internships ..................................... 10–11 just in the arts, but across the curriculum, Kathy Jackson Howe ’78 disruption of the old knowledge delivery to underserved groups, for example, Reyhan Tansal Larimer ’62 The “Big Night” in Guion Pond ...................................................... 12 system, which required lecture halls, to students who cannot afford the cost Linda Lipscomb ’73 seminars and laboratories, and instructors of a four-year program; to members of Nancy Dabbs Loftin ’81 Art History Professor Maps the Middle Ages ................................. 13 in place. Students registered for MOOCs in Elizabeth Wray Longino ’78 other institutions such as community or overwhelming numbers, but it remains to Chasity Clarke Miller ’04 The Studio Art Prize ........................................................................ 14 neighboring colleges, who must fulfill a Barbara Behrens Peck ’78 be seen how many will complete Deborah Schmidt Robinson ’89 The Writing Prize ............................................................................. 15 the courses required for a degree Frances Anne Root ’80 and upon graduation, find a job in Graham Maxwell Russell ’79 News of the Collection .............................................................. 16–17 their field. While MOOCs satisfy Mary Page Stewart ‘78 our modern taste for innovation, Jane Hemenway Sullivan ’78 Friends of Art Members 2013-2014 ................................................. 18 our need for the next big thing in Elizabeth Wilkins Talley ’88 education, how can they replace Membership News ........................................................................... 19 Visions co-editors the traditional model of face-to-face May Carter Barger ’81 The Acquisition Plan ....................................................................... 20 learning and research on campus? Margaret Hayes Brunstad ’72 Melissa McGee Keshishian ’71 The process of education at Sweet Calendar of Exhibitions and Programs ........................................... 21 Briar, through real-time interactions Molly Gwinn at the Visions designer and conversations between students Museum of Modern Art, Nancy Blackwell Marion ’74 On the Cover: José Guerrero (1914-1991), Untitled, 1959, watercolor and gouache on paper, 18 3/8 x 24 ¼ inches. and faculty members or hands-on summer 2014 Designed and produced by The Bequest of Arthur M. Bullowa, 1993; Collection of the Sweet Briar College Art Collection and Galleries. research projects, has always been Design Group, Lynchburg, Virginia. © José Guerrero. For more about this artwork, see page 16. the focus of Friends of Art support. From course requirement; to life-long learners, the beginning, we believed in the value of for whom continuing education adds Please note that alumnae news from those active in the visual arts—for example making works of art from the Sweet Briar richness and the challenge of new ideas. your accomplishments in art history, art appreciation, studio art, design, collection available to students as they In short, the virtual classroom can open architecture, arts management, museum administration and the like—is always mastered the histories and processes of art. the door to the physical campus. And the welcome for inclusion in issues of this newsletter. Please contact Karol Lawson at This publication is printed on Each spring students are invited to submit eventual role of MOOCs may be as higher recycled paper. Please recycle. (434) 381-6248 or [email protected]. writing projects or studio works inspired by education’s most powerful marketing tool. objects in the collection and the winners The possibilities for combined learning are recognized with cash awards, as well experiences are endless. as publication in Visions. In addition, our FRIENDS OF ART VISION STATEMENT Over the years many Friends of Art have support of experiential learning in the The Friends of Art of Sweet Briar College actively supports the acquisition, preservation and presentation given generously of money and energy arts now includes a stipend for a summer of the visual arts in service to education at the College and in the broader community. The Friends of Art to build the collection and to establish recognizes both the benefits and joys that knowledge of the arts can bring to one’s life. It advocates study internship at a museum, which this year programs in support of the arts. Our thanks of the arts to develop understanding of the present and historical world and to foster a disposition to think was awarded to Alexandra Raifsnider ’15 for to all of you. We hope that you will renew critically and creatively. her work at the Pearl Buck historic house your membership and join us for the new ART COLLECTION AND GALLERIES VISION STATEMENT outside Philadelphia. Most recently students The regular study of original works of visual art is an invaluable component of a liberal arts education. The ventures that lie ahead, as the nature of a have had the experience of working with Sweet Briar College Art Collection and Galleries enrich the curriculum by providing an on-going opportunity college education becomes more diverse in architect, sculptor, and alumna, Catherine for students and professors to examine and research significant paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, a technologically driven world. sculptures, and other works of fine art. Peek ’01, as she developed the concept of her environmental sculpture Uplift, now taking shape behind the library. The project Molly Sutherland Gwinn ’65 Visions Fall 2014 Visions Fall 2014 1 On Site with Catherine Peek Elevation sketch for the final design of Uplift. Courtesy of Catherine Peek. committee last fall, she was certain about of the campus. From the first her proposal a very few features: the title, location, and incorporated functionality: the gentle waves its form as a series of small rolling hills of the sculpture would create a quiet spot Catherine Peek and dells that mimicked the topography for reading or conversation or an outdoor Molly Sutherland Gwinn ’65 of the campus. She called her piece Uplift, classroom easily accessible from the Library. in reference to an early 20th-century Since then, many details about Uplift have African-American women’s movement that evolved as Peek has adjusted her vision in ast summer the Friends of Art board of reviewing proposals and inviting a short promoted the advancement of families response to suggestions from students and announced an exciting new endeavor— list of candidates to campus—a process led through faith, education, community, and faculty members, who explored placement the commission of a site specific by art gallery staff and professors from the hard work. She also intended the title Uplift, of the sculpture so students would actually sculpture to celebrate the renovation art history and studio art departments—the to refer to the rise and fall of the Blue use it, and from campus engineers and Land enlargement of Cochran Library and to project was offered to architect and designer Ridge surrounding campus. She foresaw the groundskeepers, who helped guide decisions mark the 75th anniversary of the founding Catherine Peek ’01 in the winter of 2014. sculpture on the incline behind the Library about infrastructure and materials. of the Friends of Art (Sweet Briar’s oldest When Peek first introduced her concept where undulating forms would attract the such organization devoted to the enrichment The process of collaboration, which was for an environmental sculpture to a faculty attention of drivers approaching the heart of the student experience). After months initiated when Peek visited Professor Tracy Hamilton’s Land as Art class this past spring, had been written into the project Catherine Peek has been awarded a She foresaw the sculpture from the beginning. Candidates were asked Harry D. Forsyth Fellowship residency at on the incline behind the in the original request for proposal for a the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts commitment to a “process of discovery” wherein the artist would work closely with for several weeks in October 2014. This Library where undulating students