UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 8, Page 5
October 24, 1991
'Brandywine' show involves students behind the scenes

     One of the important aspects of the "Brandywine Valley to the
Bay" exhibition now at the University Gallery has been student
involvement, according to Belena Chapp, gallery director."
     An exhibition of this range and quality has given art history
students an opportunity for hands-on experience in organizing the
exhibition and in carrying out relevant and important research on
the artists, whose works are on display."The University Gallery is
more than an exhibition area; it is an ongoing teaching and
research program, and mounting this exhibition has been an
invaluable learning experience for students," she said.
     Two art history graduate students, Penny Dwyer and Lisa
Schoenster, who have been working closely with Chapp on the
exhibition, concurred. During the spring semester, they had to
balance their coursework and studies with working on the exhibit,
although during the summer, they had more free time.
     The two, who have been involved in the project since its
inception, soon learned that mounting an exhibition involves a
combination of scholarly and scut work.
     "First, we had to make an inventory, then dismantle and pack
up objects from the previous exhibition. Then we put on goggles,
old clothes, tore down walls and moldings and painted partitions
and walls in preparation for the exhibition," Schoenster said.
     The art history students also visited the homes of the
collectors to assist with photographing the artworks. They also
went to see the art firsthand and to make measurements. The
collectors were cooperative as furniture was moved and pictures and
pieces were positioned for the photographs.
     Back at the gallery, the students made cardboard mock-ups of
the artworks to determine how to place them for the exhibition.
     The next step was researching and writing articles about the
individual artists for the catalog, being assembled and edited by
guest curator William I. Homer, who is H. Rodney Sharp Professor
and chairperson of the Department of Art History. The research was
carried out in the library and from other research sources, and
again the collectors were very helpful in making available
information they had about the artists and their works.
     Dwyer, a graduate of the University of Vermont who formerly
worked as assistant to the curator of the National Portrait Gallery
of the Smithsonian Institute, is interested in American art. She
wrote about such turn-of-the-century artists as William Merritt
Chase and Edmund Tarbell, among others.
     Before enrolling in the University's art history program,
Schoenster, a graduate of Mary Washington College, worked for the
U.S. Department of Education as a financial management specialist
and for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a computer
specialist. In her spare time, she was a volunteer at the National
Gallery in Washington. A grand tour of European art that friends at
the gallery helped her plan decided her on a new career in art
history. She said she hopes to work in museum education and has
served an apprenticeship in the Winterthur Museum school program.
     Primarily interested in medieval art, Schoenster chose to
write about the medieval sculpture in the exhibition.
     Dwyer said that writing articles and being published in a
catalog for an exhibition of this kind are wonderful opportunities
that do not often occur for beginners in the art history field.
"The experience was excellent and useful," she said.
     Art history students were involved in publicizing the
exhibition as well. "We have helped to write press releases,
blitzed the local media and have sent information and photographs
to schools," Schoenster said.
     As the artworks started to arrive at the University Gallery in
Old College, the students were on hand to assist with the
installation.
     When all was in readiness, they still were actively involved
with the exhibition, acting as guides to groups visiting the "From
the Brandywine Valley to the Bay" exhibition.
                                        - Sue Swyers Moncure