March 28, 2024

UMW Galleries Presents Two New Exhibits, Opening Tonight

Please join us on Thursday, September 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. at both duPont and Ridderhof Martin Galleries for conversation, community, refreshments and of course, some excellent art.

  • duPont Gallery features the UMW Studio Art Faculty Exhibition, with work by 10 current studio art faculty members, on view through Dec. 4. An artists’ lecture will take place on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.
  • Ridderhof Martin Gallery features Steve Griffin: Recent Paintings 2020-2022, with exciting works by a former studio art faculty member and celebrated artist, on view through Oct. 16. Griffin will also give a lecture on his work in the gallery on September 15 at 5 p.m.

*Please note: UMW Galleries has new hours and is now open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Visit www.umwgalleries.org for more information.

 

UMW Dedicates Mural Honoring First African-American Alumna

Dr. Venus Romance Jones. It’s no wonder University of Mary Washington senior Timbila Kabre said she had “fallen in love” while researching the late physician bearing that name, who in 1968, became the first African-American woman to graduate from Mary Washington. “Dr. Jones’ hard work, passion and love for others … is absolutely inspiring,” she […]

High-Profile Show Brings African-American Art to UMW

Sophomore Lauryn Taylor sees a bit of herself in a new exhibit at the University of Mary Washington Galleries. “I haven’t seen many works of art featuring someone who looks like me,” Taylor said of a piece featuring a full-figured Black woman in Healing Through the Preservation of Our Histories and Our Selves, on view […]

Och Pens Editorial on Vincent van Gogh for Great Lives Lecture on Jan. 27

Professor of Art History Marjorie Och

Professor of Art History Marjorie Och

Professor of Art History Marjorie Och penned an editorial on Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh in advance of her Great Lives lecture, which will be held over Vimeo on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

Vincent van Gogh lived only 37 years (March 30, 1853 – July 29, 1890), yet his work has had an indisputable influence on artists in the 20th and 21st centuries, perhaps to a greater extent than any previous painter in the West. And his life, while not the origin of the “suffering artist living in a garret” story, codified that fiction into a powerful narrative that haunts any parent whose child says: “I want to go to art school.” Read more.

McMillan Interviewed in Free Lance-Star About Finnegan Retrospective

Department of Art and Art History Professor and Chair Jon McMillan

Department of Art and Art History Professor and Chair Jon McMillan

Department of Art and Art History Chair Jon McMillan was interviewed by The Free Lance-Star’s Weekender about UMW Galleries’ current retrospective of potter Dan Finnegan’s work. McMillan is the show’s curator. Read more.

UMW Presents a Palette of Pandemic-Era Arts

Soon after the University of Mary Washington Chamber Choir performed live in the James Farmer Hall atrium last March, UMW went totally online, and singing was deemed a “super-spreader” activity.

Last fall, UMW Choirs sang together again – virtually – performing In Te Domine Speravi. The new piece by composer Sarah McDonald focuses on isolation, sickness and loneliness, forming an acrostic spelling the word “quarantine.”

“Our students said it was a very real expression of how they were feeling,” said Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities Christopher Ryder.

With the arts a more critical part of our lives now than ever, the Mary Washington departments of theatre, art and music have spent the last year discovering fresh ways to create, collaborate and learn while socially distanced. New technologies and classes, private lessons and virtual visits by professional artists take center stage as UMW moves forward with early-stage plans for a state-of-the-art theatre complex and an update to Pollard, Melchers and duPont halls. Read more. 

 

UMW Presents a Palette of Pandemic-Era Arts

Soon after the University of Mary Washington Chamber Choir performed live in the James Farmer Hall atrium last March, UMW went totally online, and singing was deemed a “super-spreader” activity. Last fall, UMW Choirs sang together again – virtually – performing In Te Domine Speravi. The new piece by composer Sarah McDonald focuses on isolation, […]

Och Pens Editorial on Artemisia Gentileschi for ‘Great Lives’ Lecture

Professor of Art History Marjorie Och

Professor of Art History Marjorie Och

Professor of Art History Marjorie Och penned an editorial on painter Artemisia Gentileschi in The Free Lance-Star in advance of her “Great Lives” lecture on March 16. The lecture can be viewed at umw.edu/greatlives.

 

“You will find the spirit of Caesar in the soul of a woman.”

—Artemisia Gentileschi, 1649

IN Fredericksburg today, one can find many women artists who work in every media: painting, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics, but also paper and book arts, mosaic, jewelry, weaving and textiles, photography, neon, video, and calligraphy, as well as architecture, interior design, and urban planning.

But women’s presence in these fields is recent in the history of Western art.

The life of acclaimed painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1654) allows us to consider how artists were trained in early modern Europe and why a woman might enter the profession in the 17th century, a time when such accomplishments by a woman were rare indeed. Read more.

Kim Pens Editorial on Architect I.M. Pei for ‘Great Lives’ Lecture

I.M. Pei

I.M. Pei

Assistant Professor of Art History Suzie Kim wrote an editorial on iconic architect I.M. Pei in advance of her lecture this evening, at 7:30 p.m. All Great Lives lectures can be accessed via Zoom at umw.edu/greatlives/.

CHINESE-born American architect I.M. Pei (leoh Ming Pei, 1917–2019) was one of the most acclaimed architects of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Two years ago, on May 16, 2019, Pei passed away at the age of 102. In its obituary, the New York Times named him as the “Master Architect Whose Buildings Dazzled the World.”

Pei understood how to convey the relationship between human and nature, modern and postmodern, and the old and new in his modern designs. Read more.

Kim Featured in Korea Daily Article about Book on Artist Park Dae-sung

Assistant Professor of Art History Suzie Kim

Assistant Professor of Art History Suzie Kim

Assistant Professor of Art History Suzie Kim was featured in an article in Korea Daily about her participation in a book with five other authors about the work of artist Park Dae-sung.

Professor Kim Soo-ji, who is conducting interviews and data collection for the recent visit to Korea for writing, said, “There has been an introduction to Korean painting exhibitions and Korean art, but it was produced mainly in catalogs.” She expressed his expectation that it will have the meaning of providing data necessary for research on Korean painting abroad.”

Kim also appeared in an article in Yonhap News, “Book on Korean art master of traditional painting to be released in the U.S. this year.”