JULE, a magazine for Auburn University's Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art by The Jule Museum

SPRING 2017 | VOL IV, ISSUE II

JULE

A magazine for AUBURN UNIVERSITYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JULE COLLINS SMITH MUSEUM OF FINE ART

PERSPECTIVE JCSM.AUBURN.EDU

ART OF THE FUTURE... Two visitors experience Jay Bolotinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Jackleg Testament, Part One, Jack and Eve: A Woodcut Motion Picture during the successful run of Camera Lucida, supported by Alabama State Council on the Arts. With the support of the Alabama Humanities Foundation, JCSM brought three of the eight artists to campus to meet with students, faculty and the community.

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| Camera Lucida, JCSMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first exhibition dedicated to video art, showcases eight new media artists from around the world.

JCSM is a charitable non-profit organization committed to lifelong learning and community enrichment.

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William Dunlop, co-chair Mark Jones, co-chair David Braly Donna C. Burchfield Helen Carlisle Thomas M. Chase Dorothy Davidson Patricia Disque Ralph B. Draughon Jr. Melanie Duffey Robert B. Ekelund Jr. Diana G. Hagler Nancy Hartsfield Edward Hayes Jenny Jenkins David E. Johnson Lynn Barstis Williams Katz Roger D. Lethander Sheila McCartney Janet Nolan

Stuart Price Jr. Carolyn B. Reed William Collins Smith Mark W. Spencer Eugene Edward Stanaland Jeane B. Stone EMERITUS Fran Dillard Batey M. Gresham Jr. Taylor D. Littleton William V. Neville Jr. Albert J. Smith Jr. Gene H. Torbert C. Noel Wadsworth EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Allyson Comstock Lady Cox

ADVISORY BOARD

THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS

THE CONVERSATION WITH MARILYN LAUFER,

DIRECTOR

One year ago, I wrote to let you know that museum staff, volunteers, advisory board members and other important stakeholders—working with a consultant—had developed a comprehensive, multi-phased strategic building plan to address our most pressing needs for improved educational spaces, collections storage and public areas that would allow us to better serve our campus and community as a museum for the 21st century. We will begin construction on phase one this summer, which will allow us to upgrade collections storage as well as augment lighting and acoustical systems in the Grand Gallery, rotunda, Dwight and Helen Carlisle Lobby and Museum Café. As a result of this construction, JCSM will close to the public in May. Our plan is to re-open in early fall with fabulous new exhibitions and exceptional programming, including the third iteration of Out of the Box, our juried outdoor sculpture program. Through social media, our website and other activities, we will keep you connected to JCSM while we work diligently behind the scenes to get these improvements completed. We also anticipate that we will soon be able to share our concepts for phase two of this building plan. These planning concepts will help us envision what the future might hold for JCSM and assist us with the real challenge before all of us. Transformational gifts are critical to support phase two, which will afford us those important educational spaces, including seminar and classrooms, as well as additional gallery and staff areas. These essential enhancements will better connect Auburn students, faculty and the community to the tremendous resource that is our museum collections. As you see, we are on the brink of some very exciting times. These changes are essential if we are to meet the challenges of the 21st century as a viable, innovative educational resource for both our university and the regional community we serve. We hope you will join our efforts and support the creation of what will be an even more dynamic university art museum for the future.

CONNECT WITH US @JCSMauburn

I would be remiss if I did not offer one last thought in closing. After nine years of serving JCSM as our K-12 curator of education, Dr. John Andrew Henley is now on the staff at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. All of us at JCSM wish him the very best in this next step in what we know will be a most illustrious career. Rebecca Bresler will act as interim K-12 curator of education as we begin our search. Go forth, Andrew, and do good things.

The Conversation | SPRING 2017

16 WHAT’S INSIDE 01 PERSPECTIVE 03 THE CONVERSATION 06 EXTRA EXTRA 12 EXHIBITIONS 21 COLLECTIONS 26 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS 36 OUTCOMES 38 GALLERY 41 ART CHANGES LIVES

FEATUR 16 MOON 22 FOCUS JIHA

The creative day of Jiha Moon begins and ends with inspiration.

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PHOTOGR APHY Thanks to generous donors, the depth of the collection is developed.

30 AUBURN’S CLASSROOM

Faculty members and students share how they utilize this important campus resource.

JULE VOLUME IV, ISSUE II

ADMINISTRATION Marilyn Laufer, director Andy Tennant, assistant director MANAGING EDITOR Charlotte R. Hendrix DESIGN Janet Guynn Amber Epting CONTRIBUTORS Rebecca Bresler Scott Bishop Auburn Cottle Danielle Funderburk Dennis Harper Jessica Hughes Lauren Horton Renée Maurer MEMBERSHIP & DEVELOPMENT Cindy Cox Noemí Oeding

PHOTOGRAPHY Mike Cortez Janet Guynn

ES ON THE COVER

Jiha Moon, Most Everyone’s Mad Here, 2015, ink and acrylic on Hanji mounted on canvas, 28 x 44 inches. Rick Rhodes Photography & Imaging, LLC

Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University (JCSM) is an academic unit reporting to the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. JULE is published biannually by JCSM and is distributed to museum members and others in the arts communities. Unless otherwise noted, all works of art illustrated are in the collection of Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University. MISSION STATEMENT Art changes lives. Our mandate within the larger mission of Auburn University is to preserve, enhance, research and interpret the collections entrusted to us. Through the presentation of compelling exhibitions and programs to our diverse audiences, we foster the transformative power of art. JULE is printed on New Leaf Paper, Reincarnation.

PROCESSED

What's Inside | SPRING 2017

EXTRA EXTRA RENOVATIONS FOR A 21ST-CENTURY MUSEUM JCSM is working with the Office of the University Architect to plan phase one of a remodel for the museum renovation. This project will necessitate the museum being closed to the public for the summer of 2017.

to the ceiling and recessed ceiling of the Museum Café. The application of this sound absorbing system will greatly improve the acoustics in these three spaces while maintaining the aesthetics of the venue.

Project manager Joe Ruscin described the plan, noting the largest undertaking in this project will be to improve the acoustics in the Grand Gallery, the Dwight and Helen Carlisle Lobby and the Museum Café, something that has been under discussion since the museum opened to the public in 2003. This will consist of the application of a sound control product called BASWAphon, which is a seamless sound absorbing plaster system. It will be applied to the suspended curved ceiling surfaces in both the Carlisle Lobby and the Grand Gallery, as well as the upper north and south walls in the Grand Gallery. This same system will be applied in a little different manner

In addition to acoustics, the remodel will consider how best to resolve the problem of the glare and heat gain along the west expanse of glass in the grand gallery. Consideration is being given to a number of possibilities that include, but are not limited to, new developments in film products that are applied to the glass. We will continue to research to find the best way to cut down on the heat gain through the glass and offer a shading coefficient to reduce the effects of the glare from the western sunlight at certain times of year.

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The third component of the renovation will be to rework the existing collection storage areas. This would include

upgrading the existing storage vaults into one larger area. It would also implement a more efficient storage system that would allow for maximum accommodation of artwork while giving maximum access to these pieces when needed. With these proposed improvements, it is estimated that the capability for storage of collections will increase by 75 percent within the same basic footprint currently being utilized. Staff at JCSM will still have access to the museum’s collections and will take this opportunity to focus on collections assessment and maintenance, as well as planning for the events that will celebrate our reopening in the fall of 2017 with the third iteration of Out of the Box—JCSM’s juried outdoor sculpture exhibition and other exciting projects.

THIRD THURSDAY POETRY BROADSIDES WIN GOLD FOR 2015–2016 SERIES According to their website, the University and College Designers Association (UCDA) Design Competition recognizes the best of exceptional design work done to promote educational institutions in North America—from secondary, vocational to higher education—and supports the exchange of ideas and information relating to the unique role of these designers. The UCDA Design Competition recognized the 2015–2016 Broadsides Series with a Gold award. Robert Finkel, assistant professor of graphic design at Auburn, said UCDA peer jurors reviewed 1,100 entries and only six projects received Gold awards. Now in its third year, Finkel and other faculty and alumni designers will collaborate again with JCSM and the organizers of the Third Thursday Poetry Series to present a limited run of Poetry Broadsides for the 2016–2017 program series. The prints will be sold individually and as a portfolio set in the Museum Shop and online. The Broadsides are on view in the Corridor Gallery.

ON SALE IN THE MUSEUM SHOP Tammy Reese and Kevin Landry met while attending the University of South Alabama and each received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in glassblowing. Reese and Landry work on pieces jointly, as well as creating individual pieces. Reese has recently worked as an assistant teacher at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. She uses a relatively new technique of powder printing in glass. This process uses a silkscreen to push finely crushed glass powder through it to create a 3D design, which is placed in a kiln and tack fused; the tiny particles of glass bind together and become stable enough to be moved. The 3D design is heated again at 1,150 degrees and rolled onto a bubble of glass, which is then shaped and blown into its final form. This process requires one day per color to “print” the design and another day to blow out the form—plus 14 hours of annealing, which leaves the tactile nature of the pattern intact. T & K Glass vases, bowls, paperweights and pendants are available in the Museum Shop. Members receive a discount on all regularly priced merchandise.

T & K GLASS

EXTRA EXTRA | SPRING 2017

EXTRA EXTRA

Left: Invitation to John Himmelfarb: Trucks opening reception January 2015. Below: 1072 Society Brochure 2015.

COMMUNICATIONS RECOGNIZED BY NATIONAL AND REGIONAL MUSEUM ASSOCIATIONS

The American Alliance of Museums awarded Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University in two categories for 2015â&#x20AC;&#x201C;16 design projects. The opening reception invitation for John Himmelfarb: Trucks received first prize in the invitations category, and the 1072 Society 2015 brochure received an honorable mention in the fundraising material category. The digital marketing campaign for Out of the Box: A Juried Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition received a bronze award in the Southeastern Museum Conference Technology Award and received silver for JULE.

Out of the Box: A Juried Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition digital exhibition and interactive exhibition signage.

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Winners from the 2015–2016 student writing competition (L to R): Jennifer (Bailey) Griffin, Kate McCollum, Amanda Powell and Emma Hyche.

CALL FOR STUDENT SUBMISSIONS JCSM is holding a student writing competition for graduate and undergraduate students. Based on exhibitions featured during the 2016–17 academic year, submissions may be writing of any length from single poems or personal essays to short stories or seminar papers in response to the art on view. Submissions are due March 20. Prizes totaling $2000 will be awarded to up to three academic essays and three creative submissions. Judging will be completed April 9, winners will present at the museum on April 13, and have their work published on the museum’s website. For submission guidelines and additional information, contact Scott Bishop, university liaison and curator of education (bishogs@auburn.edu). Pictured (L to R): Renée Maurer and Noemí Oeding.

IT’S OUR PLEASURE

TO INTRODUCE…NEW JCSM STAFF! Renée Maurer is the Museum Shop manager at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. She grew up in Wisconsin and graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in secondary education. Maurer learned how to run a small business when she managed a successful, independently owned kitchenware store in Brooklyn Heights. She moved from New York five years ago with her husband, David, who is a physics professor at Auburn. Maurer has worked in five museums in three states in varying capacities: museum shop, education, exhibits shop, library and crewed one trip on the historic sailing ship, Letty G. Howard, as part of Elderhostel (aka Road Scholars) at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City. Noemí Oeding is the development coordinator. In this role, she wears many hats related to fundraising. In addition to planning and executing events, she helps with donor stewardship, grant writing and gift processing. Prior to joining JCSM, Oeding was the Executive Director of the Montgomery Music Project—a program offering affordable string music instruction to children throughout Montgomery. Oeding is also a classically trained soprano and has performed a few recitals here at JCSM as part of our “Little Lunch Music” series. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and a Master’s degree in arts administration. A fun fact about Oeding is that she is an identical twin. Her sister, Naomi, lives in Washington, D.C. Extra Extra | SPRING 2017

EXTRA EXTRA

Introducing Even before there was a museum building, numerous people gave their time, expertise and means to make JCSM the successful institution that it is today. Meeting three times a year, the current members of JCSM’s Advisory Board continue that practice. While JCSM is administered by Auburn University and its Board of Trustees, our advisory board members provide valued counsel to the museum director, who reports to university administration. Advisory board members are among our biggest advocates and come from diverse backgrounds—possessing a wide array of special talents and experiences. We are pleased to introduce four new advisory board members and share why they serve and support the museum.

DONNA C.

Burchfield “I love Auburn and support the mission of this fine museum as a part of this great institution. My devotion to the museum and other arts causes has strengthened my vision that all people can live together in a common place— with peace, enrichment and dignity—through the arts. What JCSM brings to Auburn University and all who visit and experience its treasure is something singular, something which darkness can never take away from us.” Donna C. Burchfield is an active community volunteer with several Atlanta, Georgia arts and community organizations, including the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta Community Food Bank, Atlanta Women’s Foundation, Habitat for Humanity and Project Open Hand. She serves on the boards of the Alliance Theater, Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus and Arts ATL. She is an Auburn alumna, receiving her Bachelor of Science in political history and Master of Education in guidance and counseling. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of South Carolina, graduating cum laude and with many other honors. She practiced at Atlanta area firms for nearly 20 years. Ms. Burchfield is married to Eugene Pendleton (Penn) Nicholson III, who recently retired after practicing law for more than 40 years.

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DOROTHY S.

Davidson

“Creating such opportunities for an appreciation and understanding of fine art is a resource not available at most universities in the state. I am passionate about supporting the museum at Auburn because I believe higher education is essential to equip all students and friends of the museum with better capabilities for our nation’s future.” Dorothy S. Davidson’s stellar career includes serving as a research mathematician with the U.S. Air Force Air Staff at the Pentagon as well as systems engineer for several different companies in both the U.S. and Germany that frequently interfaced with NATO. Currently, she serves as the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Davidson Technologies, Inc., a company founded by her late husband, Dr. Julian Davidson ’50 in 1996. She has also devoted her business acumen to serving on numerous boards and committees and has been honored by many philanthropic organizations for her work and support. The Davidsons have been longtime supporters of various programs at Auburn University, including JCSM.

NEW MEMBERS OF

JCSM’s Advisory Board

MELANIE

Duffey

“I believe that art sparks innovation that can be carried out in a variety of ways within a community—art can lead to higher civic engagement, provoke idea germination, serve as bridges between cultures, and bring us together regardless of ethnicity, religion or age. Ultimately, art contributes to a higher quality of life for our community and the greater world.” Melanie Duffey, PhD, is an assistant professor of interior design in the College of Human Sciences at Auburn. Her career consists of both professional practice in architecture and academic instruction with an emphasis in interdisciplinary design education. Duffy holds a doctorate in planning, design, and the built environment from Clemson University. Her research and creative efforts span the disciplines of interior design, architecture, urban design, communication studies and environmental psychology. She also serves as the chair of the Grisham Trentham Lecture Series, which brings world class designers, artists and business leaders to Auburn from across the country to share their global perspective with students, faculty and the community. In her spare time, she and her husband, Parker, seek out new experiences and often look for inspiration in their work-life through travel.

SHEILA

McCartney

“JCSM has a special interest in the type of art that I collected and provided a perfect permanent residence for my own collection of antique prints. The museum is a beautiful setting for appreciating art and—with its exhibitions, education programs and community outreach— makes a substantial contribution to the culture of our city and state.” Sheila McCartney is an attorney, retired from the IBM Corporation Office of the General Counsel, Armonk, New York. Having received her Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Rice University, McCartney also holds law degrees from Fordham University (JD), Columbia University (LLM), University of Alabama (LLM) and is a member of the Alabama State Bar. A recent transplant to Auburn, where her father graduated from the university in 1942, McCartney has donated her collection of antique natural history and Japanese prints to JCSM.

EXTRA EXTRA | SPRING 2017

EXHIBITIONS Jiha Moon, Most Everyone’s Mad Here, 2015, ink and acrylic on Hanji mounted on canvas, 28 x 44 inches. Rick Rhodes Photography & Imaging, LLC

JIHA MOON:

DOUBLE WELCOME, MOST EVERYONE’S MAD HERE Bill L. Harbert Gallery and Gallery C

JAN. 21—APRIL 30, 2017

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Jiha Moon (Korean, born 1973) harvests cultural elements native to Korea, Japan and China and then unites them with Western elements to investigate the multi-faceted nature of our current global identity as influenced by popular culture, technology, racial perceptions and folklore. Featuring over 50 works in the exhibition, Moon blurs the lines between Western and Eastern identified iconography, such as the characters from the online game Angry Birds© and smart phone emojis which float alongside Asian tigers and Indian gods, in compositions that appear both familiar and foreign simultaneously. Moon’s witty and ironic work explores how Westerners perceive other cultures and how perceived foreigners see the West. Korean born, now living in the United States, Moon asks the pertinent question, “Why do people love foreign stuff so much? When we travel to other countries, explore different cultures and meet with new people, we tend to fall in love with things that are not our own. People have a soft spot for foreign things. The world is so interconnected nowadays, how can you even tell where someone or something ‘comes from’ anymore?” In her work, Moon acts in the role of a traveler and explores the notion that identity is not beholden to geographic location.

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Honoring traditional Asian arts through her use of Hanji paper, Korean silk and calligraphic brushstrokes, throughout the exhibition she plays with iconography and symbols that have been classified as “foreign,” such as blue willow China patterns, fortune cookies (which originated in California but are identified as Chinese), Korean fans and floating dragons and intermingles them with references to Pop and southern folk art. Her use of the peach identified in Chinese mythology as a symbol of immortality is also a nod to her home state of Georgia’s state fruit, the Georgia Peach. Moon transforms a traditional Korean fashion accessory called Norigae into endearing, quirky manifestations of various personalities, with such names as Gloria and Rachel whose hair is interwoven with eclectic items such as children’s plastic barrettes or Native American beaded dolls. Her misshapen and whimsical ceramics reference southern folk art face jugs yet are painted in traditional Asian ceramic glazes and motifs. At the heart of the exhibition, Moon presents an installation featuring perceived kitschy elements of Asian home décor: low wooden tables and silk embroidered pillows placed on Japanese tatami mats. Displayed on the various surfaces are her unconventional ceramic

works reflecting her interest in the “beautiful awkward” in which she makes reference to a tourist’s desire to collect foreign and exotic elements to beautify their houses back home. At first glance, Moon’s work appears as a mash up of high- and low-brow cultural references. Upon further inspection, slyly ironic and humorous references emerge that are satirically filtered by the artist, who reminds us that our preconceived notion of “others” is not a true manifestation of actual identity.

Jiha Moon: Double Welcome, Most Everyone’s Mad Here is organized by the Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, Virginia, in collaboration with the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston School of the Arts in Charleston, South Carolina. The exhibition is curated by Amy G. Moorefield, deputy director of exhibitions and collections at the Taubman Museum of Art and Mark Sloan, director and chief curator of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. This exhibition has been made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING SAVE THE DATE: JAN. 27, 2017 OPENING RECEPTION Jiha Moon: Double Welcome, Most Everyone’s Mad Here Installation shot from the exhibition at the Halsey Institute in 2013. Rick Rhodes Photography & Imaging, LLC.

FILM@JCSM

SELECT THURSDAYS, 5 P.M.

FILM@JCSM stands for “Fostering Interdisciplinary Learning through Movies.” The spring semester films are programmed in conjunction with Jiha Moon: Double Welcome, Most Everyone’s Mad Here. This project is co-sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Foundation, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Invitation to follow. Cash payment method encouraged for bar service. Business casual attire. The favor of a reply is appreciated by Jan. 20. RSVP online at jcsm.auburn.edu or call 334-844-1675. Moon’s lecture is co-sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Foundation, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

FEB. 9: CLOUD ATLAS (2012) R | 2h 52min | Drama, Adventure

Artist Jiha Moon will introduce the film and provide context. Please visit our website for film details or call 334-844-1484.

FEB. 23: Lost Horizon (1937)

Unrated | 1h 37min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy Lost Horizon is a drama-fantasy film directed by Frank Capra. A British diplomat and other passengers on a plane crash and land in a mysterious Shangri-La. The film will be introduced by Karen Kuo, associate professor at Arizona State University. She is the author of the book East Is West and West Is East. Gender, Culture, and Interwar Encounters between Asia and America (Temple University Press, 2012).

MARCH 30: The World (2004) 2h 23min | Drama

The World is a Chinese film centered around a theme park in Beijing. This film is about Tao, who is a performer, and Taisheng, who is a body guard, as well the relationships and events they become entangled in. The film will be introduced by Arianne Gaetano, associate professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Auburn. She is the author of Out to Work: Migration, Gender, and the Changing Lives of Rural Women in Contemporary China (University of Hawaii Press, 2015).

TOP: Film still from Lost Horizon. BOTTOM: Film still from The World.

Exhibitions | SPRING 2017

EXHIBITIONS

Alex Podesta, Self-Portrait as Bunnies (The Bathers) 2014 on extended view at JCSM.

COMING THIS FALL Now in its third cycle, Out of the Box: A Juried Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition is set to open Friday, Oct. 5, 2017, with a grand opening celebration for the community. From a sumo wrestler decked out in camo to bunnies in the lake, each exhibition brings contemporary, exciting works that truly become the talk of the town! Since the outdoor sculpture program began in 2013, more than 200 artists from around the country have entered the biennial competition. Artist submission details are available at jcsm.auburn.edu/outofthebox2017 This program is made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Jack Dowdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Camo Sumo, 2003, on view at JCSM in 2013.

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LEFT: Jean Shin, Celadon Landscape (2015), ceramic shards, mortar and ESP Foam. Installation at Crow Collection, Dallas RIGHT: Out of the Box juror Jean Shin

Out of the Box juror Jean Shin

ABOUT THE OUT OF THE BOX JUROR… JCSM is pleased to announce Jean Shin as the 2017 juror. She will exhibit her work inside the museum this fall. Shin is an internationally recognized artist who works with objects to transform the everyday into decadent interpretations of identity and community. She uses materials that range from prescription pill bottles to sweaters and often obtains them as second-hand objects from people in participating communities. These objects transform into her media and become complex, conceptual and beautifully intricate works of sculpture. Her work is distinguished by her labor-intensive process and these breathtaking installations seem to capture the essence of communal and societal issues that everyone faces in their day-to-day life. Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in the United States, Shin attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1999 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Science from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has been widely exhibited in over 150 major national and international museums, including in solo exhibitions at The Crow Collection in Dallas, Texas, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona, Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Shin has received numerous awards and has been featured in a multitude of publications. In 2016, Shin completed a major commission for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York at the 63rd Street Station on the new Second Avenue Subway line, as well as a public art commission for the City of Seattle, Washington. She lives and works in New York.

1072 SOCIETY EXHIBITION Louise Hauss and David Brent Miller Audubon Galleries

On view through Jan. 29, 2017 Before this exhibition closes, be sure to see the wide array of pieces that could be added to the museum’s permanent collection—through donor generosity. The exhibition features historic, traditional and innovative examples that augment in meaningful ways our expanding ceramics collections. Donations accepted through Jan. 31, 2017.

Exhibitions | SPRING 2017

a conversation with

JIHA MOON By Charlotte R. Hendrix

Jiha Moon’s creative day begins with an artist’s observation of our world from the time she wakes until the time she sleeps—with roles as instructor, wife and mother providing inspiration in the spaces between. “I am constantly juggling,” Moon said. “I split time between my painting and ceramic work. As I have to go to a community ceramic studio, I spend a lot of time driving back and forth, but I try to work at night after my family goes to bed and weekends when I have some time alone in my studio.”

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Double Welcome, Most Everyone’s Mad Here installation at the Halsey Institute in 2013. Rick Rhodes Photography & Imaging, LLC.

Double Welcome, Most Everyone’s Mad Here is the result of this fine balance, with over 50 works in what Moon described as the biggest exhibition of her life. “It is my mini-retrospective as entering mid-career as an artist,” Moon said. “The title is inspired by Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland quote from Cheshire Cat. I feel that it captures the metaphor well to represent our current world—or perhaps the way I see the world that we live in.” That world for Moon is one that is guided by what she called the bigger force. “For some people, it is religion; some people it is nature—anything that they believe is beyond their control.” Moon said she often questions what that guidance could be. “For me, the Cheshire Cat represents that. It doesn’t give me the total answers on how to live our life.” While Moon described herself as first a painter, she said she adopted other elements in her work, sometimes using traditional materials and those some people may not have viewed as high art.

“For some people, it is RELIGION; some people it is NATURE—anything that they believe is beyond their control. For me, the CHESHIRE CAT represents that. It doesn’ t give me the total answers on how to live our life.”

“In my work, I have lots of embroidery patches or quilt elements that are historically categorized as minority work or women’s work,” Moon said. “I grew up in Korea watching my grandma making things all the time—for house goods and decoration around the house, so I feel like those things, like, influence more than traditional material or just as important as traditional material.”

A Conversation with Jiha Moon

| SPRING 2017

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Double Welcome, 2014, ink and acrylic on Hanji mounted on canvas OPPOSITE PAGE: DETAIL, Forever Couplehood, 2014, ink and acrylic, screen printed on Hanji Rick Rhodes Photography & Imaging, LLC

“My work is a lot about misunderstanding and representing different things in a very camouflaged way. Things that you recognize are not necessarily what you thought.”

Her family’s influence extends into her adult life. “Some of the things I look at are Twitter logo and Angry Birds—things I find from my son’s video games or on TV or Internet. Then I try to combine and change and twist it; so, my work is a lot about misunderstanding and representing different things in a very camouflaged way. Things that you recognize are not necessarily what you thought.” Moon said her ceramic works dated back more than five years and that compared to her painting, she felt she was still learning, finding fascination in the work of others. “For me, painting is really traditional material and things that have more historical power. So in the museum, you look at the painting, it’s on the

wall—it is the most classical way to appreciate the art form.” With ceramics, she said she is drawn to the object. “People use them in the kitchen and in the living room, and they are deeply engaged with everyday life. I am interested in the conversations that go back and forth between these two [mediums]—very different things but at the same time, I think they are related, too. My approach to my ceramics work is from a painter’s perspective. I’m interested in making forms as drawings and painting on the surface and how that is related to the object’s world.” Moon said that the exhibition has had a tremendous response from diverse audiences explaining that different generations will respond to the work because of their background and the

A Conversation with Jiha Moon

| SPRING 2017

history of their lives. Her hope is that visitors will spend time with her work and come back several times since some of the cultural references may be missed at first glance. “The first time, you don’t get to see what’s going on or you get overwhelmed or you didn’t get it,” she said. “Every time you go see, you sort of have a different experience.” The experience of touring her work is one that Moon describes as amazing, citing the chance to travel to new places in the United States and interact with all kinds of people and see the work in different environments.

Youandi 3 (Blond), 2015, porcelain. Rick Rhodes Photography & Imaging, LLC

“It gives me tremendous opportunity to communicate with people through gallery and artist talks,” she said. “I often forget about viewers in my studio, but as an artist it is necessary to do that sometimes. However, I realize again how important the artwork is to be translated and discussed among people when it reflects our world around us. Of course, that is my main interest.”

ABOUT JIHA MOON Born and raised in Daegu, Korea, Jiha Moon lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Korea University in Seoul, Korea. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Asia Society, New York, New York; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia; and the Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at notable museums nationwide, including the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville, Tennessee; and the Weatherspoon Museum of Art, Greensboro, North Carolina. She has been the recipient of several residencies including Omni International Arts Center, Ghent, New York; the Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, California; the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire. In 2011, Moon was the recipient of a prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation Painter and Sculpture Grant. Photo of Jiha Moon working. © Peter Ellzey

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COLLECTIONS SANDY SKOGLUND By Dennis Harper

Sandy Skoglund (American, b. 1946) Gathering Paradise, 1991 Cibachrome color photograph Ca. 47 ¼ x 61 inches (image) Artificial trees and bushes, artificial patio floor, lawn furniture, sculpted epoxy resin squirrels, and live models Gift of the parents of Carr Kortan McCuiston ’85.

Skoglund’s roughly four-by-five-foot image is the result of a carefully constructed environment of natural and artificial elements, pulled into a cohesive ensemble though its eerie tri-chromatic paint treatment. Skoglund stages the scene as meticulously as a film director might in

order to achieve this one, perfect shot. Set against a putrescent pink background, a hue that in another context might be described as “cheery,” we find a hoard of deep toned indigo squirrels that have overtaken a suburban home’s outdoor refuge. The rodents and a few ravens, each an obviously sculpted mimesis, have set upon every conceivable surface, including the patio table, at which a human inhabitant sits and vacantly looks away. The residence interior is shaded a lighter cobalt blue, where, too, the squirrels’ pink relations have begun to run amuck. The humans and animals sharing this Paradise coexist in an uncomfortable détente. Each is an intruder into the other species’ realm. Skoglund discusses her use of animals as central characters in a conversation with Demetrio Paparoni: “Since we, as humans, consider ourselves the primary form of consciousness existing in nature, I decided to populate my images with animals in order to introduce [an] alternate awareness into our experience…The progressive cultural

evolution of humanity will lead us to understand that we are animals among other animals.” Yet, Skoglund’s squirrels overturn the proverbial applecart. Far from being cuddly cohabitants, their aggressive poses suggest that we are the creatures out of place. Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Skoglund earned a Bachelor’s Degree in art and art history at Smith College in 1968, followed by Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees at the University of Iowa, where she pursued filmmaking, printmaking, multimedia and painting. She has exhibited extensively since the 1970s in venues across the Unites States, Europe and Asia. Her representation in public collections is equally broad, including among numerous museums the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Centre Georges Pompidou, Art Institute of Chicago, J. Paul Getty Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and Yale University Art Gallery.

COLLECTIONS | SPRING 2017

SPOTLIGHT

JCSM recently acquired a large color photograph by Sandy Skoglund, a generous gift of Sylvia and Jim Kortan. Skoglund is foremost among a group of artists who began to explore, in the later decades of the 20th century, the power of photography to question or redefine reality. As demonstrated in this 1991 image, Gathering Paradise, Skoglund appropriates the camera’s presumed adherence to factual representation—its reputation as a recorder of truth—to instead present compelling fabrications and illusions. Hyperrealism and absurd fantasy dovetail in her work. Taken together they lead to the recognition that all art, including photography, is more a product of invention than reflection.

A F O CU S O N

Photography By Dennis Harper

Photographs

arrest the quickly fleeing passage of the

present into the past. time travelers.

They

the same means, they function as

reach into the past to retrieve vanished

moments for present experience and future ones.

They

represent history but at the same time shape our definition of it.

Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer and promoter of modern art, proclaimed, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Photography

early is a

reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.â&#x20AC;?

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Photographs instill a notion of truth, even in this current era of easy digital manipulation.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Mark Steinmetz (American, b. 1961), Carey, Farmington, Georgia, 1996; Guillermo Zamora Serrano, Portrait of Diego Rivera, ca. 1942

hotographs tell stories;

they communicate points of view; they inspire, delight, disgust and sometimes move us to tears. Photographs instill a notion of truth, even in this current era of easy digital manipulation. “Not everyone trusts paintings,” remarked Ansel Adams, the renowned landscape photographer, “but people believe photographs.” And, as documentary photographer Dorothea Lange noted, photography enhances one’s perception of the world, by means of an instrument, the camera, “that teaches people how to see without a camera.” Photography is rightly regarded as one of the most important of artists’ media in the 20th century. Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, like many other institutions, has made it a point to collect prime examples of this expressive art form. Since the museum’s earliest years in forming a collection,

JCSM benefited from collectors such as Bill Dunlop, who continues to donate photographs by widely acclaimed artists like Diane Arbus, Julie Blackmon and Lisette Model, together with works by emerging photographers such as Chad States and Tristan Zamula. Bob Ekelund, another longtime supporter of JCSM, has gifted vintage photos of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo by Guillermo Zamora to augment the Robert B. Ekelund Jr. and Mark Thornton Collection of modern Mexican art. Also among the growing body of photographs at the museum are the more than 150 Polaroids and black-and-white prints by Andy Warhol, including a candid image of rock musician John Oates, purchased at auction with “crowdsourced” contributions led by L. Nick Davis and Bill Dunlop. It is of particular appeal to the Auburn community as Oates is sporting a “War Damn Eagle” T-shirt that he picked up after a performance here back in the day.

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During the past year alone, the museum added nearly 60 photographs to the permanent collection. Some of those acquisitions, like Linda Connor’s Library of Prayer Books, Ladakh, India, were museum purchases. Others arrived as gifts. Notable in that category are 35 prints made possible by The Museum Project (Anderson, Sheep and Standing Stone, Avebury), William Castellana’s donation of photographs of street life in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, Frank Hunter’s dramatic, large-format images

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of cloud forms over the Durham Bulls ballpark and Donald Norris’s series directed to vernacular architecture across the South. Further, one need only look to last year’s purchases made possible by the 1072 Society, which included prints by Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Christenberry, “Doc” Edgerton, Walker Evans, Lewis Hines, André Kertesz, Charles Nègre, Gordon Parks, Sebastião Salgado, Edward Steichen and others, to confirm that photography is a significant “focus” at JCSM.

“Not everyone trusts paintings, but people believe photographs.” —Ansel Adams

The list of artists is much too long to provide a complete inventory on these pages, as is the roster of supporters who made such acquisitions possible. Suffice it to say that JCSM is fortunate to find itself now with an impressive survey of photographic art, from the earliest examples to contemporary usage, and it continues to increase in strength with each passing year.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Linda Connor, Library of Prayer Books, Ladakh, India, 2007; Barry Anderson, Sheep and Standing Stone, Avebury, 1995; Lewis Wickes Hines (American, 1874–1940), Opelika, Alabama, October 1914

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PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS Museum After Hours

Spanish Language Film Series

THURSDAYS, 5 P.M. On Thursday nights from 5 to 8 p.m., the rotunda and café (and when the weather’s nice, the terrace) become Museum After Hours. It’s the perfect place for relaxing, watching the sunset and listening to music. Hear original songs, jazz, classical, cultural and sometimes adventurous music. The house band is Cullars Improvisational Rotation. Made up of Dan Mackowski (guitars), Patrick McCurry (woodwinds), Jason DeBlanc (basses) and guests, Cullars is a jazz trio with a southern sensibility.

SELECT SUNDAYS, 2 P.M.

A Little Art Talk

JAN. 29: IXCANUL

SELECT THURSDAYS, 5 P.M. Starting on the third Thursday of each month, join us for a focused look at a single work of art. A Little Art Talk lasts around an hour, leaving ample time to drop by the café for live music and poetry. Presenters may include Auburn University students and faculty, docents, visiting artists and museum staff. JAN. 19: Dr. Kathryn Floyd FEB. 16, MARCH 2 & 23, APRIL 20: Talks will be given by students from Dr. Kathryn Floyd’s 20th-century Art from 1945 to Present class.

A Little Lunch Music THURSDAYS, NOON Beginning Jan. 12 and each Thursday of the spring semester at noon, make a lunch date with our region’s finest musicians. A Little Lunch Music is an informal, come-and-go performance presented by JCSM and coordinated by musician Patrick McCurry. You can sit in and listen to the entire performance, dine in the Museum Café from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., browse the Museum Shop or explore the galleries.

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JCSM is a co-sponsor with the Department of Foreign Languages and the Office of International ProgramsAuburn Abroad for these screenings. These films are all available with English subtitles. The Spanish Language Film Series was made possible with the support of Pragda, the Secretary of State for Culture of Spain and its Program for Cultural Cooperation with United States’ Universities. 1h 33min | Drama | 2015 (Guatemala)

Third Thursday Poetry Series SELECT THURSDAYS, 6:30 P.M. A new lineup of visiting poets to our area is slated for the 2017 spring installment of the Third Thursday Poetry Series. This program has been made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Broadside prints of featured poets are available in the Museum Shop.

FEB. 5: PEQUEÑAS MENTIRAS

1h 28min | Documentary, Drama | 2015 (Spain)

FEB. 12: LOS BAÑISTAS

1h 23min | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 2016 (Mexico)

FEB. 19: EL CLUB 1h 38min | Drama | 2015 (Chile)

FEB. 26: EL PATRÓN 1h 30min | Crime, Drama | 2014 (Argentina)

JAN. 19: James Davies May FEB. 16: Phillip B. Williams MARCH 16: Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello APRIL 20: Sandra Beasley

www.

Visit JCSM.AUBURN.EDU for complete program listings. Our E-MUSE is the best way to stay current with JCSM programs and events. Sign up today at jcsm.auburn.edu.

Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers JCSM brings in contemporary filmmakers to meet with students and museum participants for a special screening of their film. The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is a program of South Arts, in Atlanta. Southern Circuit screenings are funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Film still from Mango Dreams.

FEB. 2, 5 P.M. MANGO DREAMS with filmmaker John Upchurch

MARCH 9, 5 P.M. I COME FROM with filmmaker Robby Henson

APRIL 6, 5 P.M. SPEED SISTERS with filmmaker Amber Fares

Synopsis: A Hindu doctor with

Synopsis: America is the world’s largest

Synopsis: The Speed Sisters are the

dementia and a Muslim auto rickshaw driver form an unlikely friendship as they journey a thousand miles across India in a rickshaw.

jailer and our over-burdened corrections system treats individuals as numbers. I Come From focuses on incarcerated poets and playwrights who use the power of creativity to change the direction of their lives. Their poems and plays reflect hard lives lived, tough environments negotiated and past mistakes made. This film focuses on six incarcerated artists whose work declares a wish, a will to survive, to grow as human beings and embrace an architecture of change.

first all-woman race car driving team in the Middle East. Grabbing headlines and turning heads at improvised tracks across the West Bank, these five women have sped their way into the heart of the gritty, male-dominated Palestinian street car-racing scene. Weaving together their lives on and off the track, Speed Sisters takes you on a surprising journey into the drive to go further and faster than anyone thought you could.

About the filmmaker:

Amber Fares is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and photographer. Her feature length directorial debut, Speed Sisters, premiered at Hot Docs in 2015, where it was one of the top 20 Audience Choice Awards and won the Audience Award at the Irish Film Institute Festival. Speed Sisters is currently playing in film festivals around the world. Fares’ continually expanding storytelling approach is driven by the belief that personal stories can best help connect audiences to important topics and issues and has worked with organizations like UNRWA, Defense for Children International and Amnesty International. Fares co-founded SocDoc Studios to produce story-driven films that explore social issues. Fares is Canadian and is based in New York, New York.

1 hour 33 minutes Adventure, Drama, History

About the filmmaker: Although Mango Dreams is John Upchurch‘s first feature film, he has been working on being a storyteller most of his life. Upchurch was born and raised in small-town America, a rural community in North Carolina. Growing up, the best entertainment around was at the feet of local storytellers— his grandparents, the farmers at the hardware store, his barber, etc. He was surrounded by great storytellers. Their stories were entertaining, witty and often educational. He looked up to those great storytellers and loved how they sparked his imagination, opened his mind to new ideas and encouraged within him a greater depth of feeling. Upchurch grew up trying to make others feel the same way the storytellers of his childhood made him feel. He started out by retelling their stories to others. Then, he began to create new stories. He learned early that a good story does more than entertain. A good story provokes thought between laughter, promotes healing between tears and projects a message of hope. A good story enlightens the mind and lifts the spirit as it entertains. The greatest thing he can ever hope to do in life is tell a good story.

1hour 5 minutes Documentary

Robby Henson received his Master of Fine Arts from New York University’s graduate film school. His films have been seen on PBS, the BBC, at Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, France and at film festivals in Canada, Ireland, France, Yugoslavia, Australia and Poland. He has directed over 30 theater productions and has made five award-winning documentaries shown on PBS including Spalding Gray: A Life in Progress and Troubled Behind, a film about a Southern race riot that was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. Henson’s dramatic first feature Pharaoh’s Army with Academy Award winner Chris Cooper, Academy Nominee Patricia Clarkson and music legend Kris Kristofferson was released theatrically by Lions Gate Films and was shown on PBS.

1 hour 18 minutes Documentary, Adventure, Drama

About the filmmaker:

John Upchurch, Robby Henson, Amber Fares

Program Highlights | SPRING 2017

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS K-12 Art Clubs SELECT SUNDAYS, 1:30 TO 3 P.M. Topics may change slightly, so visit the online calendar for the latest. Grown-ups are asked to join the fun and remain with their party for the project. K-12 Art Clubs are funded by a City of Auburn K-12 Arts Education Outreach Grant. JAN. 22 We’ll be making some cool sculptures based on Jiha Moon: Double Welcome, Most Everyone’s Mad Here. Materials include air-dry clay, popsicle sticks, wire and textiles. FEB. 26 Continuing to relate to the work of Jiha Moon, we’ll be working on pop culture collages working in mixed-media (paper, pens, pencils and markers, magazine images, stamps, woodblocks, etc.). MARCH 26 We’ll be painting today! Focusing on the work in the permanent collection, we’ll be responding to works on view. APRIL 23 Using an animal theme and the works in the Louise Hauss and David Brent Miller Audubon Galleries, we’ll be doing some printmaking and finishing off our works with watercolor paints. Questions? Contact the education department at 334-844-3486.

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Teen Takeover In 2017, teens take on the task of responding to selected works in the JCSM collection in a project that will include both curated and created objects all built around a theme of animals and human interaction. Students will spend Spring Break in workshops creating works of art, framing and matting works, writing didactic materials and installing objects. The exhibition of the works from the JCSM collection will open to the public in Feb. 2017, close for a week of reinstallation and reopen with participant-created works on March 27. The exhibition, with the addition of the works created in the Teen Takeover program, will be open to the public March 27 through April 30. Applications to participate in Teen Takeover will be accepted through Jan. 27. For more information, go to jcsm.auburn.edu/takeover3.

“A TIGER OF A BOOKSTORE” SUPPORTS K-12 PROGRAMMING The second annual Teen Takeover program and exhibition was again supported in part by a charitable gift from J&M Bookstore, Inc. Young artists completed a 12-hour art-making marathon on May 23, 2016. Education curators provided the students with myriad materials donated by J&M, ranging from simple pencils and paper to plaster and wire. The rest of the exhibition was up to the students. The teens worked extremely hard to produce the artwork, curate their show and install the works of art with staff help. JCSM is so grateful for J&M Bookstore’s continued support of K-12 programming and for supporting the third Teen Takeover.

Q & A WITH TREY JOHNSTON OF J&M BOOKSTORE, INC. 1. What services does J&M Bookstore offer to the community? As an integral part of the downtown Auburn experience, giving back to the community is one of J&M’s top priorities. We have three main departments: Auburn souvenirs, art and architecture and books. J&M aims to partner with community organizations related to these three departments to foster relationships with and promote education for students of any age.

2. What types of art experiences do you typically enjoy at the museum or elsewhere in our area? I enjoy those experiences that involve family and create community. Whether it be in the museum or theater, or with an artful eye or listening ear, I have always enjoyed and valued the arts in our community.

3. How do you use an appreciation for the arts in your daily business life? You have to have an artful eye when merchandising. The placement of different colored and textured products within the store is very important to the way customers view them.

4. Why do you think that it’s important for the community to support the museum? Education is an integral part of this community—being largely centered around Auburn University. Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art is an asset to our community that creates a unique opportunity for kids and adults to explore or further their education in and appreciation for the arts. J&M is proud to partner with the museum’s art education programs!

5. Why do you support the Teen Takeover program? It’s good for Auburn. It promotes education in the younger generation and helps kids find their artistic eye.

J&M Bookstore’s downtown location is 115 South College Street. You can also visit them at their University Village location, 1100 South College Street. Find them online at www.jmbooks.com or Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram!

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS | SPRING 2017

AUBURNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LARGEST CLASSROOM By Scott Bishop

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“The experience allows students to take ownership over their project by picking an object, independently developing research and developing a presentation that combines visual analysis and research findings.” —Emily Burns

wo of the many ongoing programs at JCSM that give Auburn University students and faculty opportunities to engage with art in meaningful ways are Little Art Talks, which happen on the third Thursday of the month during the academic year, and FILM@JCSM, a series of six films shown over the two academic semesters to contextualize, enhance and interpret major exhibitions. In this article, we hear from two professors and two students about their experiences using JCSM’s collections, exhibitions and programs to foster the transformative power of art. Often, Little Art Talks are staffed by students in Assistant Professor Emily Burns’ upper level art history classes. Enrolled in classes as myriad as 19th-century art, American Art, Constructing Race in Visual Culture or the Arts of Asia, Burns’ students have found an array of objects to analyze in the collections. At the beginning of the semester, the students have a class meeting to visit the museum to view objects relevant to the class; each student picks a piece to research, and to present as an art talk to museum patrons.

“Working on Little Art Talk presentations gives students the essential experience of scholarly art history research by allowing them to work directly with works of art,” Burns said. “They can consider aesthetics questions of style, materiality and scale that are difficult to convey from slides in the classroom.” Furthermore, Burns encourages students to note questions of condition and connoisseurship. “The experience allows students to take ownership over their project by picking an object, independently developing research and developing a presentation that combines visual analysis and research findings,” Burns said. By sharing their research project in an oral presentation not only with other students, but also with the community, Burns’ students are able to participate in JCSM’s mission of researching and interpreting our collections.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Emily Burns; Burns addresses students and community visitors before a Little Art Talk.

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“Little Art Talks strengthened my CV and came up in both my professional and academic interviews.” —Madeline Burkhardt

Madeline Burkhardt (Left), pictured with colleagues from the Rosa Parks Museum, Donna Beisel and D. Keith Worthington. Photo by TROY Photo/Kevin Glackmeyer RIGHT PAGE (L to R): Dr. Sunny Stalter-Pace; JCSM’s 2015 presentation of Along the Eastern Road: Hiroshige’s Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido in the Bill L. Harbert Gallery.

It is hard to express how invaluable the experience is for undergraduates to work directly with works of art. Madeline Burkhardt, a recent graduate from the Department of Art and Art History at Auburn University, is now adult education coordinator at the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University Montgomery while pursuing a Master’s in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University. Burkhardt delivered three Little Art Talks during her time at Auburn and said she was grateful she had the opportunity. “The talks helped me prepare for my future career in museums. Because of this opportunity, I had the chance to better explore JCSM’s collection, get ‘up close and personal’ with my selected objects and make an impact in the community,” Burkhardt said. “The public presentations gave me the confidence to present my research papers at Auburn’s This is Research symposium and in front of 40 docents at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. Also, Little Art Talks strengthened my CV and came up in both my professional and academic interviews.”

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It isn’t just art and art history students and faculty who benefit from JCSM’s collections and exhibitions. Sunny StalterPace calls JCSM an incredible resource for her teaching and scholarship. Her undergraduate students have attended exhibitions and written about the art in relation to readings in her class. Her graduate students have presented Little Art Talks. Subway Exit, the O. Louis Guglielmi painting in the Advancing American Art collection, provided the cover art for her first book. But the collaboration Stalter-Pace has been most instrumental in is the film series called FILM@JCSM, where FILM stands for Fostering Interdisciplinary Learning through Movies. “The series began as a modest bit of outreach,” StalterPace said. “I worked with other faculty members to find three films from 1968, along with three speakers who could reflect on their meaning 40 years later.” The concept was interesting, so in the following academic year JCSM asked her to find films from the year of the upcoming exhibit, Elvis at 21. That gave FILM@ JCSM its purpose, finding films that reflected on aspects of the museum’s concurrent exhibitions.

“When asked to comment on the same kind of object, faculty from music, literature and art departments ask different questions and tell different kinds of stories. This, in turn, helps people in the audience to break out of their ingrained viewing habits and see films—and art—in a new way.” —Sunny Stalter-Pace

FILM@JCSM brings the art of our exhibitions into dialogue with film and many other subjects as well. A scholar introduces each film, providing context for the audience and discussing it in relation to his or her own work. The spring 2016 series, Portraits of the Artists, presented in conjunction with the exhibition, Face to Face: Artists’ Self-portraits from the Collection of Jackye and Curtis Finch, Jr., featured three biographical films. They were introduced respectively by an art historian, a scholar of women’s literature and an ethnomusicologist. All three of these speakers were invited from other institutions, and while they were here visited Auburn University classes as well. The visiting scholars bring unique perspectives on the films, providing the interdisciplinary focus that makes the series especially relevant to JCSM’s broad university and community audiences. “When asked to comment on the same kind of object, faculty from music, literature and art departments ask different questions and tell different kinds of stories,” Stalter-Pace said.

“This, in turn, helps people in the audience to break out of their ingrained viewing habits and see films—and art—in a new way.” Since each scholar visits Auburn University classes while on campus, students are a central part of the audience for this series. The museum’s programs can have an impact on Auburn students as well, like Wallis Stanfield. During the fall of 2015, JCSM presented Along the Eastern Road: Hiroshige’s Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido, a collection of ukiyo-e prints by the 19th-century Japanese artist, Hiroshige. Stanfield had just begun taking a Japanese language class and several professors encouraged her to see the exhibition and attend the FILM@JCSM series related to it. Stanfield attended a gallery talk by Andy Kozlowski, a printmaker from the Department of Art and Art History, where she learned about the historically and culturallysignificant ukiyo-e prints, and about the TōkaidōōRoad, which

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during the Edo period connected modern-day Tokyo to Kyoto. “After that, I set out to learn more through personal research, promising myself to make the time necessary between my classes and extracurricular activities to attend more JCSM events,” Stanfield said, particularly noting FILM@JCSM’s series that semester “Found in Translation.” Stanfield attended two of the three films in that series. Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims, a tale of two gay lovers and their travels along the Tōkaidō Road, based on two traditional Japanese characters associated with Edo period narratives, was perhaps a bit edgy for some audience members, but not for Stanfield. “The placement of psychedelic American culture within the historical context of traditional Japan made for an enlightening and entertaining experience, one I truly believe I would not have ever had otherwise without JCSM’s dedication to diversity, both in its collections and the events it hosts,” she said. The second film she attended was the 1957 Throne of Blood directed by Akira Kurosawa, a feudal Japanese retelling of Macbeth, which coincided with a Shakespeare class Stanfield was enrolled in at the time. “The film definitely influenced my academic perspective on the placement of established literary themes in new contexts, ones I would not have dared to see on my own,” she said. According to Stanfield, the Japanese-themed film series and the print exhibition made quite an impression on her as a student. “Oftentimes, students can get so absorbed in their own, small, American-collegiate spheres that they forget about the world of global opportunities and interests that stretch beyond the doorsteps of their campuses, she said. “I think it’s vital that those students should try to explore new interests in territories unfamiliar to them in order to learn more about themselves as members of a globalized society.”

TOP TO BOTTOM: DETAIL: Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858), 26th Station: Kawegawa, ca. 1833–34 from Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road, woodblock print, courtesy of Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania; After seeing landscapes in the galleries, Stanfield saw similar views on her journey, such as the Nijubashi Bridge,that connects to the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan.

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In June 2016, Stanfield traveled to Japan and was able to make cultural connections with her experiences from Auburn. In August, she attended the prestigious academic 68th Japan-American Student Conference, joining 36 American university student delegates and 36 Japanese university student delegates for a month. “I’m so thankful to Auburn University and JCSM for such a wonderful and eye-opening opportunity to see the Auburn community and myself within the trans-Pacific exchange and for the appreciation of Japanese culture and history,” she said.

“Oftentimes, students can get so absorbed in their own, small, American-collegiate spheres that they forget about the world of global opportunities and interests that stretch beyond the doorsteps of their campuses.” —Wallace Stanfield We like to think of the museum as one of the largest classrooms on campus, and we are eager to assist faculty members and area teachers in discovering the many ways that you might use JCSM’s programs, exhibitions and collections as part of your curriculum. Your interactions with JCSM can take many forms including class tours, assignment collaboration and direct engagement with art objects. Another way to get involved is through membership. For more information, visit our collaborations page: http://jcsm.auburn.edu/.collaborations/.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Photo of people walking through the red tori gates at Fushimi Inari-taisha (Fushimi Inari Shrine) in Kyoto, Japan; Wallace Stanfield.

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OUTCOMES

Travel Diary: The 1072 Society heads down the Atlanta Highway to

Chihuly in the Garden Although I’m not a graduate of Auburn University, we have three generations of Auburn alumni in our family, and my sister, Nancy Tillman ‘81, has invited me to 1072 Society events since she became a donor in 2015. With the 1072 Society, I know I’m going to experience thoughtprovoking art, lively conversation and good food, and the May 17 excursion to the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Chihuly in the Garden exhibit was no exception. This is the second time that Seattle-based artist Dale Chihuly has exhibited his blown glass installations at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Since the first exhibit

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in 2004, the garden has doubled in size from 15 to 30 acres, providing more opportunities for Chihuly to create 19 large glass vignettes throughout the garden. This Chihuly exhibit involved multiple site visits, consultations with the horticulture team choose or confirm plant color schemes and a team from Chihuly Studio working for two weeks to install thousands of pieces of glass. The result is pure magic. On a rainy May morning, the colorful sculptures glowed against the gray skies. We began the morning wandering on our own, then retired to Mershon Hall for a delicious lunch. Afterwards, we were guided through the garden by a docent.

By Leigh Partington, PhD, guest contributor

Each individual glass piece is called a “brushstroke” and each sculpture’s “brushstrokes” are assembled onsite by Chihuly’s team. The Atlanta Botanical Garden has two Chihuly works from the 2004 exhibition permanently on display: Blue and White in the Levy Parterre and Nepenthes Chandelier in the Hardin Visitor Center. If a “brushstroke” breaks or needs to be cleaned, a team from Chihuly Studio takes care of it. Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art has its own Chihuly, Amber Luster Chandelier (2003), a gift of the John F. Hughes family, and the same rules apply to that magnificent piece.

LEFT: Blue and White in the Levy Parterre. RIGHT: Fiori Boat and Niijima Floats, sited in the pool at the base of Earth Goddess, a large topiary in the Cascade Garden. BOTTOM: White Belugas

DALE CHIHULY has been working with glass since his undergraduate days at the University of Washington in the early 1960s. He enrolled in the glass program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1965, then studied at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and, as a Fulbright fellow, at the Venini glass factory in Venice, where he learned a team-based technique of blowing glass that transformed his work. He created the glass program at RISD and taught there before returning to Washington State to co-found the Pilchuck

I love the playful spirit of Chihuly’s work. As we entered the Storza Woods from the Kendeda Canopy Walk, we could see Neodymium Reeds (2014) scattered throughout the shade garden below. Chihuly’s genius in his placement is that each installation looks simultaneously harmonious and otherworldly. Sometimes they startle and enchant with their strange familiarity, like White Belugas (2014), which resemble some exotic form of Hostas, and Indigo Blue Icicle Tower (2015), perhaps inspired by Southern garden staple the red hot poker plant, rendered in the vivid blues of an iceberg. There is a dynamism to Chihuly’s work as well, seen in Carmel

and Red Fiori (2015), which undulate in the perennial beds surrounding the Great Lawn, Sol del Citrón (2014), writhing like Medusa’s hair on a small overlook and Turquoise Marlins and Floats (2015), bubbling gracefully in the Japanese garden. My favorite was Fiori Boat and Niijima Floats (2016), sited in the pool at the base of Earth Goddess, a large topiary in the Cascade Garden. Our Chihuly day was lovely and some of us vowed to return to see the exhibit at night. Meanwhile, we look forward to our next 1072 art adventure!

Glass School and continue his explorations of the artistic possibilities of glass. His work is included in more than 200 museums worldwide and he’s best known in the United States for his outdoor installations.

Outcomes | SPRING 2017

| Andrew Henley pictured with director Marilyn Laufer and JCSM docents at the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accreditation announcement

GOOD LUCK, DR. HENLEY Thank you for nine years of changing lives through the transformative power of art as our K-12 education curator. We wish you the best of luck as the curator of education and community engagement at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. War Eagle and Art Changes Livesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;always! | Andrew Henley discusses works from the Louise Hauss and David Brent Miller Audubon Collection with students from Dean Road Elementary School

| Henley poses with Aubie as portrait models during the birthday party celebration of Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough and the Golden Age of Painting in Europe.

| Henley demonstrates pewter casting during a summer art club JCSM.AUBURN.EDU

GALLERY

| Visitors enjoy JCSM’s Membership Night

| Nate Coker of Bobby Rocknrolls jams at the Terrace at JCSM’s Membership Night

| Students kick off their semester at JCSM’s Membership Night.

| Henley demonstrates painting with a local Boy Scouts troop. Gallery | SPRING 2017

SAVE BUNNIES GIVING DAY FEB. 21, 2017

24 HOURS. 20+ PROJECTS. ONE BIG FAMILY.

JCSM needs your help to give a permanent home to Self-Portrait as Bunnies (The Bathers) during the university’s 24-hour online giving campaign, Tiger Giving Day, on Feb. 21, 2017. This sculpture is part of a series, in which Alex Podesta of New Orleans, Louisiana, draws parallels between imagination’s role as children and later as adults. The bunnies, as they are affectionately now known, tell a unique story—whether you are five or 65. But they are on temporary loan and scheduled to leave. Your gift on Feb. 21 for Tiger Giving Day can save the bunnies! The artist paid his likenesses a visit for conservation and treatment of the piece—or in lay terms, to give the bunnies a bath! Following the yearlong presentation of Out of the Box: A Juried Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, their once white suits had turned greenish-brown. Podesta said the suits are acrylic fur, similar to the material that trims coat collars and cuffs. With elbow grease, Palmolive and Oxyclean, the suits are bright again in time for you to donate at tigergiving.org. If you would like to jumpstart the drive before Tiger Giving Day, call 334-844-1675 to make your early gift.

GIVE AT TIGERGIVING.ORG JCSM.AUBURN.EDU

SOMEBUNNY GOT A BATH

ART CHANGES LIVES

Greenish-brown fur transforms to get that new bunny smell.

Gallery | SPRING 2017

901 S. COLLEGE ST. | AUBURN, AL 36849 JCSM.AUBURN.EDU | 334-844-1484

ADMISSION Admission is free. A $5 donation is greatly appreciated. MUSEUM HOURS Monday: Closed, tours by appointment only. Tuesday–Saturday: 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Extended Hours: Thursday until 8 p.m. & Sunday 1–4 p.m. For café hours and menu, visit our website.

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MEMBERS

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PUBLIC SALE MAY 2â&#x20AC;&#x201C;7, 2017

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Dear Auburn University Faculty, Again this semester, we are delighted to share with you this complimentary copy of the JULE, your university art museum members’ magazine. In this issue, you’ll find important information about the museum’s plans to renovate storage and public spaces beginning May 2017. Regular operations will resume fall 2017. We’ve also shared stories from your colleagues and students about how they use the museum as a resource. We warmly invite you to do the same in the FY17–18 academic year and beyond. This magazine distribution strategy and the new look with expanded content is new for us, so we hope you would consider helping us evaluate our efforts. We will be sending out a short survey via email. We hope you will give us feedback, and enter for a chance to win a museum gift.

Sincerely,

M A R I LY N L A U F E R , P h D, D I R E C T O R

F O R FA C U LT Y R E S O U R C E S , G O T O J C S M . A U B U R N . E D U / C O L L A B O R AT I O N S . T O P L A N Y O U R V I S I T, G O T O J C S M . A U B U R N . E D U / P L A N - A - V I S I T.