What’s in a Name?: Gerard Sekoto’s The Two Women

Article by Tashae Smith

For part two of this series, we will analyze Gerard Sekoto’s The Two Women, to present how the title of an artwork, its subject and the artist’s own experience can be used to draw conclusions about an art piece. 

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The Mystery of the Tasty Canvases

Article by Elizabeth Robson

Pests, insects, bugs, creepy-crawlies…whatever you call them, they are not good for art collections! These tiny agents of deterioration can cause lots of damage quite quickly, and they may go unnoticed at first. Learn more about how conservators deal with these vicious vermin here.

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Our Adventures in Music City

Article by Elizabeth Robson and Tashae Smith

With the research and professional development funds provided by the Mellon Grant, we were recently able to view an exhibition of artwork closely related to our own, which opened at Fisk University Galleries at the beginning of October. We also visited Frist Art Museum and other sites around Nashville, connected with colleagues, and explored the fabulous Music City!

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A Conference in Detroit: MRCG Symposium 2022

Article by Elizabeth Robson

At the end of September, I was able to attend the Annual Symposium of the Midwest Regional Conservation Guild (MRCG) in Detroit, Michigan. It was a great opportunity to give a presentation about the Mellon project to a group of friendly and insightful conservators. After lots of networking and nerdy conservation discussions, I made it back home, despite the best efforts of Hurricane Ian! Read more about the trip here.

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About the Fellowship

A partnership between the Chrysler Museum or Art and the Hampton University Museum

In 2021, The Chrysler Museum of Art, in partnership with the Hampton University Museum was awarded a $500,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The highly competitive grant aims to diversify the field of Curation and Conservation by conducting a three-year pilot fellowship program for two aspiring museum professionals who have completed master’s degrees. The curatorial fellow, Tashae Smith, and the conservation fellow, Elizabeth Robson, will examine the Chrysler Museum’s traditional African collection and Hampton University Museum’s Harmon Foundation Collection of Modern African Art. Their work will demonstrate the ongoing importance of collecting, preserving and studying non-Western art.

About the fellowship

Thank you to our partners

For making this fellowship possible

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