Museum of Art

Student “town hall” engagement session with the architects for the new Middlebury Museum

The photographs of Lebanese Palestinian American artist, based in Boston, Rania Matar tell the stories of young women through portraits taken throughout Lebanon, France, Egypt, and the United States. Photographed through car windows, in abandoned buildings, snow-strewn fields, or floating in the Mediterranean Sea, the women collaborate with Matar, sharing a sense of creative agency. These large-scale color photographs portray individuality intimately tied to the histories and connections of place.

Theresa Fairbanks Harris, Senior Conservator of Works on Paper at the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art, and Josephine Rodgers, Curator of Collections and Director of Engagement at the Middlebury College Art Museum, will lead a discussion on the conservation treatment and history of Edwin Austin Abbey’s (1852–1911) drawings at Yale University. The treatment was completed in preparation for the ‘The Dance of Life: Figure and Imagination in American Art, 1876–1917’ exhibition now on view at the Yale University Art Gallery.

In his prints, sculptures, and films, multi-disciplinary artist Dario Robleto incorporates a deep fascination with science, history, sound, medicine, and human empathy. His 2024 film, “Ancient Beacons Long for Notice,” is currently installed at the Middlebury College Museum of Art in the exhibit, “An Invitation to Awe.” He will join Guest Curator Katy Smith Abbott in conversation, as they explore Robleto’s conviction that “awe is a courtship with the unknown.”

Join the Friends of the Art Museum as we consider our next gift to the museum’s collection. Assistant Professor of Psychology Mike Dash will present three works of art for possible purchase, and the members of the Friends will vote to determine which work gets added to the collection. The evening will also feature a buffet dinner and cash bar.

Join us for a talk by Rose-Lynn Fisher, an artist featured in the exhibition, “An Invitation to Awe,” who uses microscope, camera, and mixed media to explore the realms within realms we inhabit, in work that evokes a continuum of interconnections and wonder. Afterward, stay for conversation over a light lunch in the MAC Lower Lobby. This event is free and open to all, but $5 donations are welcome.

Reinstalling the Detroit Institutes of Arts Great Collection of American Art

After several years in the works, the MCMA is excited to present “An Invitation to Awe,” curated by Professor of the History of Art and Architecture Katy Smith Abbott in collaboration with her students and colleagues. In this exhibition, older paintings and prints are displayed in conversation with contemporary objects, scientific equipment, and interactive work that compels the viewer to think of how awe is experienced through senses other than sight and to expand their own understanding of where awe lives now.

During this discussion (moderated by MCMA Director Richard Saunders), Garrett MacLean ‘99 and John Bell ‘73 will discuss the special exhibition, “Apocalypse Road Show: On Tour with Bread and Puppet Theater.” Garrett MacLean is a professional photographer who traveled with Bread and Puppet Theater for more than three months during the summer of 2022. John Bell is a puppeteer and former member of the company. After the talk, stay and mingle over light refreshments and complimentary wine.

Join us for a gallery talk by Hunter Barnes on the special exhibition, “A World Away” (on view at the Museum through August 11). This body of work—based on Barnes’ book of black and white photographs taken in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka among the Tamil people—offers a rare glimpse into a largely visually undocumented period in Sri Lankan history. Afterward, stay for hors d’oeuvres, drinks (cash bar) and conversation with your fellow art lovers. The talk begins at 5pm, followed by a reception at 5:30pm.