Louise Mackie '61 to Receive This Year's Wca Award
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WellsNotes Spring 2021 Wells College Alumnae and Alumni Newsletter Wells College Association of Alumnae and Alumni LOUISE MACKIE ’61 TO RECEIVE THIS YEAR’S WCA AWARD The Wells College Association of Alumnae and Alumni will present the 2021 WCA Award to Louise W. Mackie ’61, for her exceptional contributions to the field of historic textiles from Islamic lands. Louise Mackie received her bachelor of arts in art history from Wells College and with Carol Gaines Ruckle ’61 after graduation enjoyed visiting her Wells professor, Hannelore Glasser, in Florence, Italy, during two enlightening years of traveling, studying and working in Europe and the Middle East. That led to secretarial work in the Islamic Art Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York which inspired studying Islamic art history with Professor Richard Ettinghausen for a master of arts at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, integrated with stimulating graduate studies at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. She recently retired as curator of textiles and Islamic art at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio. During her impressive curatorial career of 45 years, Mackie held positions at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., and taught at the University of Toronto. She was a founding director (in 1987) and past president of the Textile Society of America, which is thriving with over 800 WCA AWA R D members; sat on the Advisory Committee of The Textile Museum; and served on the Conseil de Direction of the Centre International d’Etude des Textiles Anciens (CIETA) CEREMONY INVITATION in Lyon, France. She was honored by the Textile Society of America as a fellow in 2017. The Wells College Association of Alumnae and Alumni People ask, “why textiles?” Mackie clearly enjoys talking about their significance and cordially invites you to attend the states that, historically, textiles drove economies and fueled prosperity, just as they do in 2020 and 2021 WCA award ceremony, recognizing the China today. Luxury textiles, which dominate in art museum collections, were symbols achievements of of power, wealth and status in the ancient Middle East, well before the advent of Islam Stephanie Batcheller ’79 in the seventh century. Gwen Wilkinson ’77 Louise Mackie ’61 Believing that the stars have been aligned with wonderful opportunities, Mackie feels blessed to be considered a “second Mom” by a loving family while also enjoying a FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 11:00 A.M. EDT stimulating career in the art museum world. As a young curator during the 1970s Registration required. at the internationally renowned Textile Museum, where she was trained in Islamic textiles and carpets by senior scholars, she enjoyed promoting the museum with frequent exhibitions, scholarly lectures, textiles conferences, annual rug conventions and publications. Many events, especially exhibitions, were co-sponsored by an embassy, including the Turkish, Iranian and Spanish embassies, a delightful Washington benefit. IN THIS ISSUE Typical of specialized museums, Mackie handled a rich variety of responsibilities that are PAGE 2 | WCA REUNION VP’S MESSAGE departmentalized in larger museums. PAGE 3 | WCA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Special invitations expanded Mackie’s horizons during the 1970s and 1980s. They included: consulting on an Iranian textile collection in Tehran, for the Special Bureau of Her Imperial PAGE 10-44 | CLASS NOTES Majesty, the Shahbanou of Iran; attending the grand opening of the new Carpet Museum in PAGE 49 | VIRTUAL REUNION SCHEDULE Tehran, by the Special Bureau of His Imperial Majesty, the Shah of Iran; studying museum textiles in India for three months by the Indo-U.S. Subcommission on Education and PAGES 50-51 | WCA BOARD CANDIDATE INFO & Culture, Museum Program; and medieval textiles excavated at Fustat (Old Cairo) by the BALLOT archaeologist, Professor George Scanlon. continued on page 45 Wells College Association Board REUNION 2021 President Amy Cerand McNaughton ’86 Hello, Wells Family! [email protected] So far, 2021 has yet to make amends for 2020. We waited as long as possible Nominating Vice President to make the call that this year’s Wells College Reunion will be a 100% virtual Sue Eskedahl ’79 experience. There will not be any events taking place in Aurora. Health and [email protected] safety must be paramount. Reunion Vice President Christin Schaaf ’99 We have some pretty fabulous classes celebrating some milestones this year—and [email protected] we have some celebrating to make up for from last year. I have my fingers and Fall Weekend Vice President toes crossed for serious shenanigans in Aurora for Reunion 2022. Kristine Selander Gordon ’80 [email protected] We are looking on the bright side of the situation in that a virtual program WCA Trustees allows for greater access to the event. I’ve received emails and texts from people Katie Fong ’06 that are excited about the possibilities this could create. [email protected] We are still planning the schedule of virtual events, but will be able to continue with many of the traditional Joanne Kelley ’83 Reunion events. Below are just a few of this year’s events (times, dates, and details to be announced). Certain items [email protected] will be pre-recorded, others will be live. Heather Kowalski ’90 [email protected] • WCA Award Ceremony. Louise Mackie ’61, 2021 WCA Recipient National Annual Giving Chair • Reunion Trivia Eliza Heppner ’06 • WCA Annual Meeting [email protected] • Reunion College: Preserving the Personal Connection as We Accelerate into Learning in New Ways Award Committee Chair • Coffee with President Gibralter and the Cabinet Megan Donovan ’88 [email protected] I’m glad that we will be able to have a form of Reunion this year—even if it isn’t what we were hoping for. Please Members-at-Large stay safe. Keep checking back on the WCA Facebook Page and on the website at alumni.wells.edu/reunion for Crary Reynolds Brooks ’87 more information. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] or call 315.364.3200. [email protected] Rachael Ristau ’15 [email protected] Christin (aka SCHAAF) ‘99 Member-at-Large—FARGO WCA Vice President for Reunion Brad Murray ’15 [email protected] Admissions Liaison Talyse Hampton ’09 [email protected] HELLO, WELLS FAMILY! Member-at-Large—Strategic Liaison Deb Callahan ’85 Happy Spring to you—I hope you’re having beautiful weather and things are [email protected] beginning to feel normal for you. I am looking forward to seeing you when Interim Alumnae and we can do so. This time of year always fills me with energy and hope, and I Alumni Engagement Director appreciate it especially this spring. Pamela J. Sheradin ’86 [email protected] As I write this, I’m busy planning final details for our Activism April Series— Alumnae and Alumni by the time you receive this issue of WellsNotes it will be wrapping up; but it Engagement Officer is going to be an awesome series of Wells alums and other speakers engaging Rachel Porter ’06 [email protected] with our students, faculty, staff, and alums about a variety of topics. I’ve enjoyed participating in class calls, crafting happy hours, and other virtual events with many of you this year. Seeing your faces, albeit on my tiny screen, has made my year feel more cheerful! Class of 2006, I’m disappointed that we aren’t celebrating our 15th Reunion together in person—we always WellsNotes April 2021, Volume XIX, Issue I have such amazing turnout and sure know how to party—let’s make 2022 wonderful and our 20th in 2026 WellsNotes is published by Wells College. REALLY special (maybe it’s time to rent another mechanical bull?). It is circulated free of charge to College alumnae and alumni. I’m looking forward to seeing more alums at our virtual events and can hardly wait until we are able to gather Editors in person again. I love to hear from you all, so please reach out through social media, phone, or email and let’s Kelly Brown catch up! Christopher Pollock Pamela J. Sheradin ’86 Best, Design Jacobs Press Class Notes Editor Kelly Brown Rachel Porter ’06 Contributors Alumnae and Alumni Engagement Officer Emily Van Nostrand Rachel Porter ’06 Sustainability Practices Kellie Stindle Wells remains committed to environmentally responsible practices. This piece is printed at Jacobs Press, an environmentally conscious facility run by Photography 100% wind power, with vegetable inks and on paper from tree farms with sustainable harvesting methods. They practice sustainable production Emily Van Nostrand methods in which nearly all waste paper, plastic, wood and metal is recycled. Michele Vollmer If addressee has moved, please contact the Alumnae and Alumni Engagement Office at [email protected], 315.364.3200, or via postal mail at Alumnae & Alumni Engagement Office, Wells College, 170 Main St., Aurora, NY 13026. 2 Spring 2020 Wells College Association of Alumnae and Alumni WCA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Many of you indicated an interest in volunteering for the Wells College Association of Alumnae and Alumni (WCA) last fall through either an online survey and/or one of the listening sessions we moderated. I am pleased to share that the WCA is working with College leadership to implement two key components of the strategic plan — both of which are focused on mentorship, experiential learning and career support — and we anticipate this will create numerous additional volunteer opportunities for alumnae and alumni of all ages. As you know, the ad hoc Strategic Planning Steering Committee worked last fall to guide a rapid strategic planning prioritization process, based on input from more than 90 members of the Wells College community. Last month, the Board of Trustees formally approved that plan, which you can read about in more detail at our website (wells.edu/ strategic-plan).