Events

We sponsor a handful of events each semester related to our collections and temporary exhibitions.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Rania Matar (Lebanese, born 1964), *Yara, Beirut, Lebanon [detail]*, 2018, photograph, 19 1/4 x 24 inches. © Rania Matar. Courtesy the artist.

Artist Talk / Q&A: Rania Matar

Thursday, April 17, 2025, 4:30 PM
Mahaney Arts Center, Room 125

Lebanese Palestinian American artist Rania Matar, whose photographs are currently on view in the museum, will discuss the images and origins of her series SHE.

Following her lecture, there will be light refreshments and a chance to mingle with the artist in the lower lobby of the Mahaney Arts Center.

Our Lady of Cocharcas, horizontal detail — Anonymous (Peruvian), *Our Lady of Cocharcas*, 18th century, Viceregal period, oil on canvas, 45 ¼ × 37 ¾ inches. Collection of Middlebury College Museum of Art, Vermont. Purchase with funds provided by the Middlebury Museum and Visual Arts Council Project Fund and the Christian A. Johnson Memorial Art Acquisition Fund, 2022.001.

Student Lecture—Christianity, the Spanish Empire, and Post-Colonial Theory in the Inca Territory, by Stephanie Quichimbo ’25, Robert F. Reiff Curatorial Intern

Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 4:30 PM
Mahaney Arts Center, Room 125

There is a clear distinction between pre-colonial and post-colonial South American art, particularly in terms of medium. The most obvious difference is the shift from stonework or textiles to paintings, but perhaps the most significant change lies in the subject matter and underlying ideology. Our Lady of Cocharcas, the museum’s recently acquired 18th century painting, serves as a prime example of how forced cultural hybridity influenced artistic production in colonial territories like Peru.

When this painting was created, independence was still over a century away, yet the indigenous population was far from passive, actively rebelling against Spanish rule. Art was a powerful tool of the Spanish Empire, used to foster national pride and maintain colonial control, as seen in the way the Virgin stands over both the people and the landscape. However, an alternate interpretation of the painting suggests that the local community adopted sacred European figures to feign subservience while subtly asserting their own identity.

a white-ground lekythos — Marathon Painter (Greek, active 490–470 BCE), *Black-Figure White-Ground Lekythos*, c. 490 BCE, terracotta, 9 × 3 1/2 inches. Collection of Middlebury College Museum of Art. Purchase with funds provided by the Friends of Art Acquisition Fund, 1969.019. (Photo: Tad Merrick)

Friends of the Art Museum Annual Dinner

Saturday, April 26, 2025 | 5:00 PM
Kirk Alumni Center

Join the Friends of the Art Museum for our Annual Dinner where we drink, dine, mingle, and enjoy a special presentation. This year, we’re celebrating the past, present, and future of the museum. Associate Curator of Ancient Art Pieter Broucke will detail recent research which resulted in the reattribution of a black-figure white-ground lekythos, the first object the Friends gifted to the museum in 1969 (get a sneak peak on our blog). We’ll also be graced with a student dance performance and welcome Katy Smith Abbott as the museum’s new interim director.

Hors d’oeuvres and drinks begin at 5pm (cash bar, one free drink per event ticket). A buffet-style dinner will be served at 5:30 followed by dessert and the evening’s program.

If you’re not currently a member of the Friends, be sure to activate or renew your membership to guarantee you’ll be able to attend.

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