Curation

Read this post to learn more about Bria Miller's experience as the Andrew W. Mellon curatorial intern for the Summer of 2023!

NEH fellow in paintings conservation, Katie Rovito, and Andrew W. Mellon curatorial fellow, Tashae Smith, sat down to discuss the Modern Nigerian artist, Afi Ekong and the conservation of her painting Grief.

We are in year two of this Mellon grant funded project! Here is an update on the work that has been done so far and what is to come.

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. 

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!

For Part 2 of Christianity, Art, and the Harmon Foundation, we will be examining artworks from Brother Francis Musangogwantamu and Elimo Njau, to see how they were interpreting their Christian faith through art. 

In celebration of completing our survey, we are sharing some interesting statistics about the collection. In sharing these statistics, we hope to spread more awareness about the composition of this awe-inspiring collection of art. 

Christianity, art, and the Harmon Foundation. How are these all connected? For Part I of Christianity, Art, and the Harmon Foundation, we will be learning about the Harmon Foundation’s involvement in creating and producing Christian missionary films.

In July, we had the opportunity to participate in Hampton University Museum’s Tree House Summer Camp, which this year was a virtual program for children ages 5-12. We described the basics of what a curator and a conservator do, and conducted several activities to help them practice each role.

For my first post of the Artist Talk series, I will be sharing information on the prolific artist Chief Lady Constance Afiong Ekong, also known as Afi Ekong. Ekong was a present and influential figure in the Nigerian art scene until her death in 2009. Although we can not talk with Ekong, we can still have a conversation with her paintings.

One of the goals of this grant project is to present outreach programs to the public, both virtually and in-person. So far, we have had the opportunity to participate in two such programs, partnering with The Links, Incorporated and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. In this post, we will be sharing the details of these programs, including feedback we received and our key takeaways.

For this post we will be taking a closer look at Jimo Bola Akolo’s The Garden of Eden and Peter Paul Rubens’ and Jan Brugehel the Elder’s The Garden and Eden with the Fall of Man to see how the same idea or story can be depicted differently by artists.

We will start this series,“ What’s in a Name”, with Emmanuel Owusu Dartey’s, A Market Day to present how the title in conjunction with the subject of the piece, as well as our own personal experience can be used to draw conclusions about an art piece.