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University Museums complement educational goals
- Leonardo da Vinci At the University of Delaware, the queen of sciences comes alive in its museums and art galleries. The collections are administered by University Museums, whose mission is to provide exhibitions and programs that complement the broader educational aims of the University and develop collections that offer students, faculty and staff challenging and rewarding research and education opportunities. University Museums oversees three major collections on the Newark campus--the Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art, the University Gallery and the Mineralogical Collection--and arranges for the display of art by students in the Department of Fine Arts and Visual Communications.
The collection--which just had an inaugural yearlong exhibition entitled “A Century of African American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection”--is among the oldest, largest and most comprehensive collections of works by 20th-Century African American artists in the world. With more than 1,500 pieces, the collection includes significant works by such noted artists as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Henry Ossawa Tanner, James Van Der Zee, Carrie Mae Weems and Hale Woodruff, as well as works of emerging artists such as Aimee Miller, Cedric Smith, D.H. Caranda-Martin and Michael Ellison. The collection was given to the University in 2001 by Jones, an Atlanta businessman. The inaugural exhibition is traveling to Spelman College in Atlanta, where it will go on display in September. An exhibit, “Abstract and All That: Selected Works from the Paul R. Jones Collection,” opened July 1 and will be on free public view through Dec. 9 in the Mechanical Hall Galleries. Twenty-seven artworks by 17 artists important to the abstract movement in America are included. Housed in Old College, the University Gallery was established in 1978 to promote excellence and understanding of the arts and humanities at the University. It is the primary exhibition hall for traveling and donated collections and faculty and student work. Its collection includes about 9,000 objects, with special strengths in pre-Columbian ceramics, the photographs of Gertrude Käsebier and 19th- and 20th-Century works on paper. Recent gifts to the collections include works by the abstract expressionist Dorothy Dehner, Grant Wood and a drawing by John Singer Sargent. The University Mineralogical Museum includes more than 5,000 specimens, 600 of which are on display in the Irénée du Pont Mineral Room in Penny Hall. The core of the collection is comprised of 200 specimens purchased by Irénée du Pont from Tiffany in 1919. Mr. du Pont continued to develop the collection until his death in 1963, and it continues to grow thanks to the generosity of donors.
“Since my arrival, we've been busy with opening the galleries in Tomlinson said one of her goals is to make UD’s museum collections more available to students, faculty and the general public. “We're working to increase accessibility to our collections through our web site at [www.museums.udel.edu] and eventually, to get the entire database of our holdings online.” When Paul R. Jones donated his collection of African American art to UD in 2001, Amalia Amaki joined the museums staff as curator. She also became a member of the faculty as assistant professor of art, art history and Black American Studies. Amaki holds a bachelor’s degree in photography from the University of New Mexico and master’s and doctoral degrees in modern European and American art and 20th-Century American art and culture, respectively, from Emory University in Atlanta. She formerly was assistant professor of art and art history at Spelman College in Atlanta. Amaki has been guest curator for the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Marietta-Cobb Museum of Art and the Southern Arts Federation in Atlanta. An accomplished artist, Amaki is featured in an exhibition this summer, entitled “Amalia Amaki: Boxes, Buttons and the Blues,” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Amaki said that having the Paul R. Jones Collection at UD has “brought a tremendous amount of positive attention to the University, particularly in terms of diversity. It has successfully brought diverse groups from the community and the campus together in very effective and progressive ways, socially and educationally.”
Broske, who earned a master’s degree in art history at UD, said, “The museum collections bring students’ coursework to life. Faculty often comment that their students get more excited about the course because object study bridges theory and reality.” Timothy Goecke, head exhibition designer, is the department’s web site wizard. He designed the site and its digital archive, and he is helping to make the museums exhibitions accessible to the public. For example, he said, “we are building the web site to become a major research tool for the study of African American art.” Goecke also is responsible for the design of museum exhibitions and promotional materials. Goecke, who received his master of fine arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts, has designed sets and lighting for film, theatre, television, music videos and tours. Brian Kamen, Kimberly Hanson and Aimee Miller are limited-term researchers. Hanson manages the mineralogical collection including outreach; Miller assists with the management of the Paul Jones Collection; and Kamen works with both collections and the University Gallery since his job is to prepare collections and student artworks for exhibition.
“I hope my work enables the artists to express their ideas and artwork as they intended,” Kamen said. Joan Faull and Jimmie Myers provide administrative support to the museums team.
Myers has worked for UD since 1978 and with University Museums for 10 years. In addition to supervising payroll and student employees, she “provides a connecting point for student employees and assists the staff in whatever way possible.” Article by Barbara Garrison To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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