2021 YEAR IN REVIEW
O UR MI S S ION
The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, in service to the region and the nation, welcomes everyone to explore, experience and engage with the visual arts.
JCSM.AUBURN.EDU
O U R VALU ES
The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, a cultural heart of an Alabama public research institution, is guided by a set of core values that serve its communities.
EQUITY + INCLUSION COLLABORATIONS + PARTNERSHIPS STEWARDSHIP + GROWTH ENGAGEMENT + LEARNING INQUIRY + EXPERIMENTATION
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LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR CINDI MALINICK
Dear Friends, In 2021, our museum met both opportunities and challenges with innovation and resiliency, finding resolve with an inspired charge to “welcome everyone to explore, experience and engage with the visual arts.” The accomplishments detailed in the pages that follow are only the beginning; and leaning into the new year with vigor, we are fueled by your time and generosity. Aspiring to maximize both impact and reach in the years to come, all our work ties to three key strategies: Programmatic Relevance, Financial Sustainability and Growth and Operational Excellence. In this Year in Review, you will find these tenets touch all that we did in service to the university and region. To quote the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Lonnie G. Bunch III, “One can tell a great deal about a country by what it remembers. By what graces the wall[s] of its museums.” In 2021, the works of John James Audubon, Nick Cave, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Roberto Lugo, Delita Martin, George Nakashima, Faith Ringgold, Deborah Roberts, Henri de la ToulouseLautrec and so many more artists revealed what we remember and value. As always, I am extraordinarily grateful to the museum staff as well as to university administrators, faculty and students who support us. We can hardly wait to engage with you all through art in 2022 in the galleries and on the grounds at The Jule, in our Museum in Motion, virtually, and maybe even in an unexpected place or two. Sincerely,
Cindi Malinick Director and Chief Curator
JCSM.AUBURN.EDU
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December 8, 2020 – May 30, 2021
Lila Quintero Weaver: Darkroom Drawings
P R O G R A M M AT I C R E L E VA N C E
Chi Omega-Hargis Gallery
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Graphic memoirist, illustrator and children’s author Lila Quintero Weaver gave a virtual reading from her memoir Darkroom: A Memoir in Black & White.
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Museum staff adapted the annual Auburn Studio Project. Seventh-grade students from East Samford School participated in a virtual tour and created mini-comics.
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Spanish Instructor Carmen Rossell in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures translated exhibition materials into Spanish. This collaboration resulted in The Jule’s first-ever presentation of an entire exhibition in dual languages.
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With more than 350 responses in multiple languages, visitors responded to exhibition prompts: How much has changed? What must be overcome? What do you envision for the future?
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February 9 – May 30, 2021
Bernini and the Roman Baroque: Masterpieces from the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia
P R O G R A M M AT I C R E L E VA N C E
Bill L. Harbert Gallery, Gallery C and the Noel and Kathryn Dickinson Wadsworth Gallery
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Students in Professor Rose McLarney’s Poetry II class engaged in slow-looking exercises to hone their observation skills for ekphrasis poetry.
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3D Urban Artist Tracy Lee Strum reproduced a work during the exhibit's closing party, “Bernini Blowout.” Everyone received materials to create their own street art.
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A series of unique live streams included conversations with Dr. Francesco Petrucci, Director of Palazzo Chigi in Arricia, and contemporary artist Christy Lee Rogers, whose underwater photography evokes Baroque-era comparisons.
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Students from Professor Corky Nell’s Foundations of Drawing class gained firsthand knowledge of Baroque-era painting techniques.
Bernini and the Roman Baroque: Masterpieces from Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia is organized by Glocal Project Consulting and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.
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February 9, 2021 – January 2, 2022
Outside In
P R O G R A M M AT I C R E L E VA N C E
Louise Hass and David Brent Miller Audubon Galleries
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The Jule and Auburn’s Museum of Natural History (AUMNH) collaborated on a series of three exhibitions, which paired Audubon etchings with specimens from AUMNH’s botany and entomology collections: “Fruits and Nuts,” “Flora and Fauna” and “Insects.”
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Museum staff produced an Audubon-inspired, multidisciplinary, virtual teacher workshop for the Alabama Arts Alliance SAIL Conference.
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Inspired by insects on view, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. honored veterans with fly-tying demonstrations at The Jule.
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Community birders learned about the annual Audubon Bird Count, a volunteer-driven count of birds across the Americas, from Dr. Geoffrey Hill in the Department of Biological Sciences. Researchers use bird population data collected in our area.
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July 9 – September 12, 2021
Crafting America Organized by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
P R O G R A M M AT I C R E L E VA N C E
Bill L. Harbert Gallery, Gallery C, Noel and Kathryn Dickinson Wadsworth Gallery and Chi Omega – Hargis Gallery
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The Jule welcomed sculptor, performance artist and School of the Art Institute of Chicago professor Nick Cave. Cave met with Auburn High seniors before an engaging conversation with live and virtual audiences. His acclaimed Soundsuits series, highlighted in Crafting America, earns him the “rock star of the art world” distinction among critics and press for his enigmatic blend of sculpture, installation, fashion, design, video, sound and performance
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College students and families explored the science behind traditional crafts in a series partnership with Dr. Christine Schnittka in the College of Education.
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Creative Cubs PreK program returned in Fall 2021. In the first session, children explored Fruit Bowl by Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick before sculpting fruity still lifes.
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Glass artist Kelly Robertson demonstrated hand-blown glassmaking techniques for visitors, providing new perspectives on the glassworks featured.
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October 8, 2021 - January 2, 2022
Anila Quayyum Agha: The Weight of Black
P R O G R A M M AT I C R E L E VA N C E
Bill L. Harbert Gallery and Gallery C
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Anila Quayyum Agha talked about her sculpture and practice with assistant professor Kristen Tordella-Williams before a live and virtual audience.
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Students experienced Agha and her works on site and in classrooms.
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Donors attended the Second Annual Director’s Dinner with Agha in attendance as a special guest. The artist provided a personal tour of the exhibition.
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October 8, 2021 - January 2, 2022
The Joy Fields
P R O G R A M M AT I C R E L E VA N C E
Noel and Kathryn Dickinson Wadsworth and Chi Omega – Hargis Galleries
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Whitney Wood Bailey '05 returned to campus for a special homecoming, celebrating the opening reception with students, faculty, fellow alumni and the community.
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Students received a guided tour of The Joy Fields, including a prerecorded message from the artist herself.
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PreK Creative Cubs dabbled in watercolor inspired by the Auburn alumna's work.
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Painting I students examined Bailey's non-representational paintings to prepare for their self-directed final project.
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Janet L. Nolan Director Of Curatorial Affairs
F I N A N C I A L S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y A N D G R O W T H
AA RO N LEVI GARVEY The museum established its first endowed position: the Janet L. Nolan Director of Curatorial Affairs. A '68 graduate with a Bachelor’s in Visual Arts, Nolan lived and worked in Manhattan, becoming a nationally recognized artist. Her work is in the collections of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York, New York and the Asheville Art Museum in Asheville, North Carolina. She served many years on the museum advisory board and gifted objects to the collection. Following a nationwide search, the hiring committee selected Aaron Levi Garvey, who brings a wealth of national and international experience to the position. Betty Coston Lassen '54 Endowment for Excellence in Education The Lassen Family, inspired by their late mother’s creativity and passion for fine art, endowed a programming fellowship for an artist to create art engagements across the state of Alabama as part of the new initiative, Museum in Motion (MIM). With funds raised to date and an in-kind contribution by First Transit, The Jule has acquired two 35-foot retired transit vehicles to retrofit with exhibition systems. Dr. Charles M. Hendrix and Dr. Rebecca Compton Hendrix Endowed Fund for Excellence in Inclusion and Equity in Acquisition Inspired by a lifelong belief in the important role of arts education, and an interest in Tuskegee Institute pottery, the Hendrix family supports the acquisition of Southern art, especially to broaden the collection’s representation by African American artists from Alabama. Albert Smith Jr. Endowed Fund for Excellence Fellowship in Arts Business Administration In May 2020, Albert Smith joined his beloved Jule in eternal rest. With support from the Smith Family and substantial gifts in his memory, a graduate fellowship is established to offer an annual opportunity to work on business affairs through the lens of cultural entrepreneurship. RIGHT: From Please Play Again, Nolan's retrospective exhibit at the museum, 2019.
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2021 S EA S O N PA R T N E RS
$1,000,000 and above
F I N A N C I A L S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y A N D G R O W T H
Estate of Ms. Janet L. Nolan
$100,000 and above
Ms. Sharon Lemoine Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Scott Mr. Albert James Smith III Mr. and Mrs. William C. Smith Ms. Nancy Virginia Tillman
Dr. Lynn Barstis Williams Katz Mr. Harald F. Lassen
$1,072 and above
Julia and Albert Smith Family Foundation
TenSeventyTwo – A Campaign for Collecting and Conserving Art
$50,000 and above
Dr. Joseph A. Aistrup and Dr. Shelley Ann Aistrup
City of Auburn
Mrs. Rosemary Anders
Dr. Charles M. Hendrix and Dr. Rebecca C. Hendrix
Mr. and Mrs. Dalton Ard Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Lebron Brantley
$20,000 and above
Mrs. Janet Zickfield Burns
Mr. Robert Ashlin Mann and Mrs. Aldona Jane Petrenas-Mann Dr. David L. Martin and Dr. Catherine R. Perricone Dr. and Mrs. David Russell McKenzie Dr. Wayne L. McLaughlin Dr. and Mrs. David B. Paradice Mr. Tim Parker and Mr. Guin Robinson Mr. and Mrs. Bruce A. Pearl Ms. Joan Penrod Dr. and Mrs. Matthew Scott Phillips Dr. Stuart B. Price Jr. Ms. Teresa E. Rodriguez Mr. Conrad Harold Ross
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Chase
Dr. Stephen P. Schmidt and Dr. Margaret C. Craig-Schmidt
Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Foy Cook Jr.
Dr. Peter Schwartz
Mrs. Frances Pick Dillard
Dr. Edward Sikora and Mrs. Annie Dee
Mr. and Mrs. James Disque
Mr. Stanley Joe Sistrunk
Ms. Mary C. Dixon
Ms. Bonnie Lavonia Smith
Mr. Martin Moss Freeman
Dr. Samia I. Spencer
Mr. and Mrs. James Gates
Dr. and Mrs. Stephen M. Swartz
Dr. Gerald S. Leischuck
Mrs. Margaret A. Gluhman
Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Swift III
Mr. and Mrs. Brian Lewis
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Gosch
Dr. Peggy Smith Todd and Mr. Ernest V. Todd
Kohnken Family Foundation
Mrs. Janet Murphree Hill
Mr. and Mrs. Austin Wade
LAMAR Advertising
Dr. and Mrs. Richard Jaeger
Mrs. Myrna McGuire Walker
Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Rawson
Dr. and Mrs. James Jenkins Jr.
Ms. Jane Luster Williams
Dr. Lynn Barstis Williams Katz
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mitch Wood III
Mrs. Ann Cousins and Mr. Thomas Cousins Mr. and Mrs. James Disque Mr. and Mrs. James Walker Hodo Opelika-Auburn News Corporation
$10,000 and above
$5,000 and above
Dr. Edward E. Kern III
Alpha Beta Chi Omega House Corporation
Mrs. Tee C. Kern
Auburn Network, Inc.
Mrs. Erwin D. Key
Auburn-Opelika Tourism Bureau
Dr. Barbara Pitts Larkin and Mr. Tom Larkin
East Alabama Living Magazine
Mrs. Charlotte L. LaRoux 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW
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O P E R AT I O N A L E XC E L L E N C E
L E V E RAG ING THE COLLECTION
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The Southern Humanities Review reproduced for the cover of its fall, sold-out issue the museum’s multi-media work, “The Absence of...” by Lavett Ballard. This first-time collaboration came out of our annual Auburn Witness Poetry Prize engagement with the Department of English.
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The New York Times included Emma Amos: Color Odyssey in its 2021 top exhibits to see, which included “Dream Girl with Woven Camisole,” the artist’s 1978 work acquired by The Jule in 2020. The retrospective covered the career trajectory of the celebrated southern-born Amos, ending at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in January 2022.
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Ralston Crawford’s “Plane Production” from our Advancing American Art collection traveled with the Vilcek Foundation’s exhibition Ralston Crawford: Air & Space & War to the Dayton Art Institute and the Brandywine River Museum of Art. The show and the accompanying illustrated explored the artistic dramatic evolution of Crawford in the 1940s.
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University classes worked with collection objects in the newly activated seminar room, The Louise Hauss and David Brent Miller Works on Paper Study Room. The museum installed racks, updated lighting and other systems for temporary viewing.
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The Georgia Museum of Art featured two works from Dr. Lynn Barstis Williams Katz in Rediscovering the Art of Victoria Hutson Huntley; the 1948 lithograph (right), “In the Everglades,” is part of the Imprinting the South Collection.
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Gift of Dr. Lynn Barstis Williams Katz BELOW: Radcliffe Bailey (American, b. 1968), Until I Die/In Dat Returnal Day, 1997, color aquatint with xerography and chine colle, 22 ¾ x 16 inches; Gift of Dr. Lynn Barstis Williams Katz to the Imprinting the South Collection
O P E R AT I O N A L E XC E L L E N C E
Gift of James and Patty Disque RIGHT: Paul Jenkins (American, b. 1923–2012), Phenomena Harmony Hill, acrylic on paper, 43 x 31 inches
Gift of Corinne Betts Jarrell '55 Frederick Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935), Woman with Parasol, 1882/6,watercolor, 19 x 15 inches (framed) BELOW RIGHT:
Museum Purchases through TenSeventyTwo – A Campaign for Collecting and Conserving Art Emma Amos (American, 1937–2020), Dream Girl with Woven Camisole, 1978, Edition of 7, silkscreen, 19⅞ x 28 inches Emma Amos (American, 1937–2020), My Mothers, My Sisters, 1992, lithograph and collage with chine colle and African fabric borders, 44⅜ x 30³⁄16, edition 9 of 3 Lavett Ballard (American, b. 1970), The Absence of, 2018, mixed media collage on reclaimed wood, 72 x 36 inches Delita Martin (American, b. 1972), When it Falls Behind Pick it Up, 2020, (from the series I See God in Us), acrylic, charcoal, fabric, decorative papers, and hand stitching on paper, 72 x 51½ inches Faith Ringgold (American, b. 1930), Mahalia: We Love You, 2012, AP 2/3, silkscreen, 30 x 22 inches Deborah Roberts (American, b. 1962), I got your back, n.d., mixed media collage on paper, 53 x 38 inches Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953), Mayflowers, Long Forgotten, 2008, AP of 3, inkjet print, 20 x 24 inches Mary Frances Whitfield (American, b. 1947), Endus' Babies, 2011–2021, watercolor and gouache on Arches paper, 10 x 9 inches; museum purchase with funds provided in part by Dr. Michael B. Williams and Dr. Patricia Wade Williams
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O P E R AT I O N A L E XC E L L E N C E
President Jay Gogue appoints the Advisory Board, who voluntarily serve the museum as advocates, advisors and fundraisers.
LEFT TO RIGHT:
joyce gillie gossom (chair) Guin Robinson (co-chair) '86 Melanie Duffey '07, '09 Martin Freeman '77 Judy M. King Bo Lauder '84 Tenley Lewis Katherine Smith '17 Bill Smith Dixie Torbert Ann Tucker Lisa Van Der Reijden Stuart Price
The museum installed a sail shade to cover its Mondrian-inspired climbing gym, Composition.
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O P E R AT I O N A L E XC E L L E N C E
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Motorized shades installed over the floor-to-ceiling western glass walls to limit UV exposure, returned the Grand Gallery to its originally intended purpose as an exhibition space, expanding its program opportunities
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WSFA NEWS 12’s Sally Pitts interviews Director and Chief Curator Cindi Malinick for the opening of Crafting America.
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Media partner LAMAR Advertising ran an outdoor campaign in Alabama markets to drive visitation.
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Auburn students kicked off with the first inperson convocation since 2019. All academic years gathered in Jordan Hare Stadium, expanding beyond the freshman class. The program featured an action-packed hype reel produced by the museum, highlighting new exhibitions, proclaiming “everyone is welcome at The Jule.”
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The Alabama Art Education Association named Christy Barlow, School & Community Programs Senior Manager, as Museum Art Educator of the Year for 2021.
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Auburn is one of 38 institutions nationwide — and the only institution from the SEC — selected for the Institute of Museum and Library Service's Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) Study. Researchers will use the data gathered from all the museums to refine a critical evaluation tool for the museum field.
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Alabama Magazine readers named The Jule the top art museum for 2021 in the annual “Best of Bama Awards.” The online competition recognizes the statewide standard-bearers in arts and entertainment, restaurants, people and places.
Auburn University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Educational Institution.
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EXPLORE. EXPERIENCE. ENGAGE.
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