June 2017. As we settle into summer life at KMA, the rhythms of campus orientations and the perks of a slower pace in Athens, take a look at some of the highlights from the past year.
Fall 2017
Tactic II provided a wealth of practice in “touching with our eyes” and Erica Spilger’s Honors Tutorial thesis exhibition engaged campus and community in the reconsideration of the Confederate flag, both on campus and in the Museum.
Left: Tactic II. Right: Artist John Sims supervises the installation of his work The Proper Way to Hang the Confederate Flag in the Museum after a public redress on campus.
The exhibition House Proud: Portraits of the American Home, curated by Sam Dodd, brought in both new and established audiences and hosted numerous museum experiences, ranging from gallery talks to our Sunday Art Encounters family open studio, to new University and high school class visits. New visits included a UC 1000 class taught by Bill Kimok, who says he is “hooked” from now on in bringing his students to KMA during their first semester on campus!
Left: Noon Talk with Sam Dodd. Middle: Opening Night Curator Walk & Talk with Sam Dodd. Right: Noon Talk with Cassidy Brauner.
Ayla and Hannah facilitate a museum experience for the students in EDEC 3801: Play and Creativity in Early Childhood Education.
Laura facilitates gallery discussions with students from Olney Friends School (Barnesville, OH) and an OU Spanish 2000 level extra credit tour.
We continue our partnership with Laurie Campitelli’s EDMC 3210: Children’s Literature for Middle Childhood course. Each Fall Semester we develop gallery and studio activities that support the syllabus. This semester focused on visual strategies for “reading” photographs.
In September 2017 we were pleased to be able to offer our student interns the unique experience of being involved on the front end of exhibition brainstorming as we hosted Navajo elder Sally Fowler and her son and daughter-in-law, Henry and Perphilia Fowler. We are excited about an upcoming curatorial project focusing on our Navajo weaving collection in partnership with the Fowlers and Bob Klein (currently interim dean of OU’s Eastern campus). Bob and Henry (faculty member at Diné College, Tsaile, AZ) have collaborated in Navajo Math Circles over a number of years on the Navajo reservation.
Left: Sally and Henry Fowler. Top Right: Examining weavings in the collections. Bottom Right: Perphilia, Sally and Henry Fowler in the exhibition Recountal.
In October we closed the exhibition Recountal, which celebrated our twentieth anniversary of being open to the public and revisited highlights from the Navajo weavings in the Southwest Native American Collection.
Hannah discusses the weavings in Recountal with students from Olney Friends School.
Spring 2018
Spring Semester opened with the outstanding experience of an exhibit reception and “Walk & Talk” being so well attended we could hardly squeeze everyone in as we walked through the galleries with artist Ron Kroutel. We realized (belatedly) the need for a microphone in such situations…. Curated by Rajko Grlic, the exhibition 50 Year Journey: Ron Kroutel Paintings brought in the community (both academic and local) in celebration of Ron’s work and career at Ohio University. This exhibition inspired museum experiences that ranged from open-ended narrative interpretations to Senior projects in Theater to practicing speaking skills in Spanish.
Opening Night
Katelyn and Hannah tour Athens Friends and Newcomers.
Senior BFA Acting students rehearse for their performance in the galleries “The Landscape of Us”
Spanish 3120 class engages in language activities inspired by Ron Kroutel’s work.
Lisa coordinated another wonderful Spring Semester Emerging Artists exhibition, this year in collaboration with Athens High School art teacher Ellen Gagliano.
“Envisioning” the Ballroom…
Over the course of Spring Semester over 600 participants, ranging in age from preschool to adults, helped us envision what a renovated ballroom space could look like in the future. This space was originally two stories high and was called the Amusement Hall. Take a look at some highlights of what we can do with a little imagination!
Old Amusement Hall
Family Art Encounters Open Studio
Left: Athens Head Start: Turtle Museum. Right: Light Show
Alexander Fourth Grade
KMA interns and volunteers
And, finally, if you haven’t noticed there is a new gallery on the second floor (perhaps because it is currently a blank canvas), stay tuned…. This space is the next step in cross-disciplinary collaborations at KMA and Museum Complex brainstorming!
KENNEDY MUSEUM OF ART at Ohio University 
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