UVa Art Museum - Education Programs - Lectures & Events

Lectures and events, Fall 2011

Special Lectures | Weedon Lectures | Lunchtime Talks | Saturday Special Tours | Symposium


		Special Lectures

			Thursday, September 15 The Fourteenth Street School: Art, Vision, and the Urban Scene by Carmenita Higginbotham Assistant Professor of Art and American Studies, University of Virginia 5:30 pm Campbell 153 Aptly titled the 14th Street School, this 1930s group of artists that lived near Union Square in NYC envisioned a fresh perspective of urbanism. Led by Kenneth Hayes Miller, the painters Isabel Bishop, Raphael Soyer, and others redefined the transitional space of the interwar city. This lecture will center on the Depression-era images by this eclectic group, and will situate their transformation of urban art against the backdrop of America's shifting social, economic, and artistic investments.

Ellen Bayard Weedon Lectures in the Arts of Asia
With the generous support of the Ellen Bayard Weedon Foundation, the Museum presents four lectures on South and East Asian art each year.

Please join us for this year's series, all of which are held at 5:30 pm in Campbell 153.

Thursday, October 6
Kadõ: Japan's Way with Flowers
by Robert Mintz
Associate Curator of Asian Art, Walters Art Museum

Flowers play a key role in Japanese culture and society. The earliest Japanese references to flowers and to their arrangement as a cultural practice date back to the 7th century. Originally compiled for presentation on Buddhist altars, flowers and the symbolic potential of their arrangement grew over many centuries to become one of Japan's most recognizable cultural practices. Emerging from the practice of offering flowers in the context of religious ritual, paintings and literature for secular audiences transformed flowers into potent, culturally symbolic forms. These cultural symbols live on today in the diverse practices of ikebana studied and taught throughout Japan and across the globe. This talk will examine Japanese traditions of flower symbolism and flower arrangement by sketching out a developmental historical framework to support the rich tapestry of Japanese flower imagery we encounter today.

Thursday, November 17
Mysterious Creatures, Towering Trees and Lofty Figures in Sacrifice:
The Lost Civilization at Sanxingdui, China
by Jay Xu
Director, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

In the mid-1980s a Bronze Age civilization lost for more than three thousand years was found in China's southwestern Sichuan province. Remains of a large-scale walled settlement were discovered at the village of Sanxingdui which included two underground pits filled with a staggering abundance of objects. This lecture will discuss the material culture of the mysterious Sanxingdui civilization, introduce the finds from the two pits and their significance, re-construct possible original appearance of the bronze sculptures, and their use in the elite sacrifice.


		Lunchtime Talks Join us for these informal presentations on aspects of the Museum's collections and special exhibitions. Lunchtime Talks are usually held on Tuesdays, unless noted otherwise, at 12 pm, in the Museum.

			September 13 The Dancer and the Dance by Stephen Margulies Guest Curator October 4 Ancient Mediterranean Art from the Collection by Tyler Jo Smith Associate Professor of Art History, University of Virginia November 15 African Art by Ben Ray December 6 Variety, Archeology, and Ornament by Cammy Brothers Associate Professor of Architectural History, University of Virginia


		Saturday Special Tours These informal presentations on aspects of the Museum's collections and special exhibitions are usually held on the last Saturday of each month from 2-3 pm in the Museum.

			August 27 Variety, Archeology, and Ornament by Michael Waters Guest Curator and PhD Candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University September 24 Figure Study: The Fourteenth Street School and the Woman in Public by Melissa Ragain Guest Curator and PhD Candidate, McIntire Department of Art, University of Virginia October 22 Variety, Archeology, and Ornament by Bruce Boucher Director, University of Virginia Art Museum November 26 The Dancer and the Dance by Stephen Margulies Guest Curator


		Symposium

			Friday, September 30 - Saturday, October 1 Ornament and Variety: Renaissance Prints Reconsidered Held in conjunction with the special exhibition: Variety, Archeology, and Ornament: Renaissance Architectural Prints from Column to Cornice Details >