Museum of Art

Jeehee Hong, Associate Professor of East Asian Art History at McGill University and current Fellow at the Clark Art Institute, examines representations of grief in Chinese middle-period (9th-14th centuries) funerary contexts. Hong shows that fictional or localized mourners were “inserted” into monuments to transmit corporeal and raw emotions. Sponsored by the Department of History, Department of History of Art and Architecture, Middlebury College Museum of Art, and the Program in East Asian Studies.  Free

Daniel Hackbarth, visiting assistant professor of art and art history at Colgate University, gives an illustrated lecture on the woodblock prints of the German Expressionist artist group Die Brücke (1905–1913), focusing on the direct encounter between metal tools, viscous ink, and fibrous wood these images recorded, and highlighting an ongoing construction of the self through an intentionally laborious artistic process. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Museum of Art. Free

Till-Holger Borchert, director of the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, Belgium, examines the veneration of images imported from Byzantium into the Low Countries, tracing the Byzantine roots of popular images in Early Netherlandish painting and manuscript illumination, and the adaptation of Eastern icons by Northern Renaissance painters such as Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden. Enjoy further conversation over a light lunch in the lobby. Presented as part of the series Off the Wall: Informal Discussions About Art.

Come enjoy Middlebury’s beautiful campus and its incredible collection of public art. On this walking tour, Museum interns Claire Borre ’18 and Matt Gillis ’18 introduce highlights from the College’s large and distinguished collection of outdoor sculpture. Rain or shine. Free.

This popular program reprises the tour offered by the MuseumWorks interns this summer. All are invited. Comfortable shoes recommended. Sponsored by the Museum of Art.

In this illustrated lecture via Skype, cartoonist Gene Luen Yang describes how he created his critically-acclaimed graphic novel American Born Chinese, shares the book’s connections to both modern American pop culture and the Ming dynasty novel Journey to the West, and discusses the comics medium’s place in Asian American culture. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Museum of Art, the Chinese Department, the Program in East Asian Studies, the Department of History of Art and Architecture, and the Christian A. Johnson Enrichment Fund. Free

This large-scale, site-specific installation celebrates the passage of knowledge, experience, and hope from one generation to another. By slowly crisscrossing colorful, oversized ribbons within an expansive environment, the performers alter the color, density, and time signature of space, creating a world in which each movement and architectural detail is illuminated. Developed by Tzveta Kassabova with the Dance Company of Middlebury and guest performers. Location: Outside Mead Memorial Chapel on Oct. 8th. Rain date is Oct.

Middlebury College students give a brief introduction to the exhibition American Faces: A Cultural History of Portraiture and Identity in conjunction with Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait. The museum is open for pre-concert visitors from 6:00–8:00 PM, with the gallery talk at 7:00 PM. Free

Following a brief gallery talk about how Keith Haring launched his artistic career making chalk drawings on expired advertisements in the New York City subway system, try your hand at making your own “subway drawing.” Materials provided, all ages welcome (children must be supervised). Post Pop: Prints of Keith Haring is on view through December 11 only! Part of the Fridays at the Museum series. Free

In conjunction with the Museum’s portraits of Henry Bliss Northup (Middlebury Class of 1829) and his wife Electa, Professors of History Bill Hart and Amy Morsman will discuss their respective research projects on the Northup family and their dramatic place in the story of race, slavery, and freedom in antebellum America. They will be joined by Melissa Surrette ‘16 and Elizabeth Sawyer ‘19, students who assisted them in their projects.

Professor Sarah Laursen examines the production of gold objects during the Han dynasty, when China increased its contact with other states and became integrated into trade networks like the Silk Road. This lecture will explore the foreign styles, techniques, and forms that first appear the Han dynasty, as well as gold’s functions as a marker of elite status and official rank, a tool for diplomacy, and an international currency and commodity. Free