‘Room With A View’ offers new perspectives on professors
Written by Lilli Donohue, Photographs courtesy of SCAD professors and Allison Gamble
Maddy Bryant and Danielle Oke, second-year art history graduate students, have a captivating exhibition in the works. “Room With A View” will show a collection of works from the private collections of SCAD faculty.
The pair traveled around the United States, exploring different museums and historic houses to gather information on American History. After visiting the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, they had a lot of ideas.
The Gibbes’ collection is mostly made up of work from one donor who gave over 200 works of art, which is often the case for smaller museums. They get started with a few key donors. In turn, issues arise when actively collecting objects versus getting donations. Oke said that it is often difficult for museums to do both, but it is very important.
One of their many ideas was further sparked over COVID-19. As Bryant and Oke navigated Zoom classes, they noticed something special in their professors’ backgrounds — art! From there, the initiative spun itself into a wonderful gallery show to be displayed at the Cedar House Gallery.
“Room With A View” will feature over 15 professors’ private collections of art. It started as a fun way to get to know a different side of the department. “We originally wanted it to be really high-brow but it became much more personal and intimate.” Oke said. Students often only see what professors teach or specialize in when in reality they are interested in a much bigger variety of artists.
“It became sentimental and moved past the artist,” said Bryant. Professors and faculty have personal connections to these works. For instance, a portrait of a dog has so much more meaning than a Degas or a de Kooning when it’s someone’s own sweet pet. Art history professor Dr. Lindsay Alberts contributed a portrait of her own furry friend, which quickly became a favorite of both Bryant and Oke. “We had no idea what we were going to get,” said Oke. “As curators, we were in the passenger seat.”
In a serendipitous way, the exhibition is very meaningful and heartfelt which differs slightly from the original plan. “We wanted to just throw art up on the walls,” said Bryant, “but it quickly became a much bigger adventure than that.”
“It would be nice to see curation on the docket for future students,” said Oke. After working with the Art History Society and the art history department, it was easy to see how much of a learning experience it was.
Together Bryant and Oke are learning by doing with help from the department and former gallerist Dr. Lisica, a new art history professor. They hope more curatorial opportunities can stem from this exhibition after graduation as well.
See “Room With A View” May 7-9th and get updates on Instagram.
