Greetings Alumni,

I hope this message finds everyone staying warm during these recent waves of winter chill. I personally am looking forward to getting a little more snow—not so much that it is impossible to cross the street for the slush, but enough that I can enjoy the tranquility of snowy accumulation. During evenings when the snow plows purr through the streets, I am forcefully reminded of my Midwestern roots.

While we await another snowfall, please feel free to send me your news, either by email or through the online form. I love being able to include your updates, big or small.

Wishing you all a happy year of the tiger!

With Care,

Rachael Schwabe (MA ‘20)
alumni@bgc.bard.edu

Select Career Opportunities

Select Events at BGC

From Concrete to Filigree: Exploring Diasporic Identity Through Material Culture
Tuesday, January 25
12:15–1:15 pm
How is identity shaped by material culture, and vice versa? Through the media of concrete and filigree, Michelle Joan Wilkinson reveals two material legacies that inform her identity and approach to writing about diaspora. Her efforts to intervene in discussions of African diaspora design histories have privileged oral history, family archives, and other intimate forms of scholarly and curatorial research. As a result, Wilkinson contends, her work has become more attuned to questions of loss, inheritance, and preservation.

Materialities of Ancient American Books: Paper and Other Flayed Skins
Wednesday, January 26
12:15–1:15 pm
The book tradition of ancient America, specifically Mesoamerica, dates back over two thousand years. Catholic campaigns to extirpate idolatry in the sixteenth century have left few surviving examples from pre-1520, but more were created over the remainder of the century. These books conveyed meanings to their publics as much by their materials as they did by the writing on the surfaces of their pages. Barbara E. Mundy’s talk will center on the paper used for books and other manuscripts, which was conceptually and materially the flayed skin of the amatl tree. Her central question is the nature of the connection between the flayed skin as a surface for graphic inscription and as an agent for the material transformation of human beings into deity impersonators (teixiptla).

Esplendory Lucimiento: Mirrors and Triumphal Language in Eighteenth-Century Quito
Thursday, January 27
12:15–1:15 pm
Between September 21 and October 1 of 1789, the city of Quito celebrated the proclamation of King Carlos IV of Spain with parades, jousts, balls, masquerades, dances, and plays. Large quantities of brilliant, expensive objects, especially mirrors and silver plates, adorned triumphal arches and other ephemeral structures built along the city streets. At first glance, the event’s pomp and visual appeal showcased the power and majesty of the Spanish king and his dominion over the region. Isabel Oleas-Mogollón’s talk will provide a closer analysis of the political and social conditions of Quito in the second half of the eighteenth century, which suggests that the triumphal visual language, embodied in the shimmering and reflective ornamentation of the festivities, was directed at creating an illusion of stability and order.

Late Sixteenth- and Early Seventeenth-Century Books and Exile in the Sahara
Tuesday, February 1
6–7:30 pm 
Books have a longer history in West Africa and the Sahara than has been acknowledged until recently. A culture of writing and reading was firmly established in Timbuktu by the fifteenth century, and books were among the objects that moved with trading caravans across the Sahara. Against this background, Shamil Jeppie’s lecture will examine a case of reading and writing by an exile, the scholar Ahmad Bābā from Timbuktu, in Marrakesh in the 1590s. 

Select Virtual and In-Person Events Out in The World

Emerging Scholars Colloquium 2022
Monday, January 24
12 pm ET
The Decorative Arts Trust is pleased to offer their 6th Annual Colloquium for young scholars in the decorative arts field. The five presentations will be followed by a question and answer session led by Daniel Ackermann, the Chief Curator and Director of Collections, Research, and Archaeology for Old Salem Museums and Gardens.

AFAM Virtual Insights: Making MULTITUDES 
Tuesday, January 25
1–2:15 pm ET
From extraordinary early American portraits and dazzlingly complex quilts to playful whimsy bottles, delicately hand-tinted photographs, and fragments of rare twentieth-century art environments, MULTITUDES is an exhibition that celebrates six decades of collecting at the American Folk Art Museum across four centuries of folk and self-taught art. Join exhibition curators Valérie Rousseau and Emelie Gevalt for a conversation on collecting stories, stewardship, and curatorial practice. Highlighting artists’ diverse experiences, identities, and creative practices, this dialogue will unpack some of the ways in which this wide-ranging exhibition expands our understanding of the Museum’s unique holdings.

Curatorial Tour of the Push Pin Legacy
Wednesday, January 26
6 pm ET
This virtual tour of Poster House’s latest exhibition The Push Pin Legacy will explore the incredible impact Push Pin Studios had on the resurgence and evolution of American commercial illustration. Learn the origins of the iconic design studio and see many of the works that launched the careers of design legends such as Seymour Chwast, Edward Sorel, Paul Davis, and many more.

Socrates Sculpture Park x Noguchi Museum Lunar New Year Sculpture Workshop
Saturday, January 29
Various Times (In Person)
In collaboration with the Noguchi Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park is pleased to offer a family oriented celebration of Lunar New Year. Please join us for a light sculpture workshop led by Noguchi educator Harumi Ori, geared towards families with children 5-11 years old, and an accompanying self guided activity that invites audiences to explore Socrates Sculpture Park and the lunar cycle. Light refreshments will be offered and can be enjoyed by a communal fire. Pre-registration is required. All participants 5 and older must be able to provide proof of vaccination upon request. 

Lunar New Year’s Eve Reunion Dinner: Holiday-Inspired Cooking Demos
Monday, January 31
6 pm ET
Join the Freer and Sackler Galleries for a special food-filled celebration that pays homage to the traditional “reunion dinner,” a time for families to gather together on Lunar New Year’s Eve. In this special program hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, local Asian American chefs will reflect on family traditions and present a trio of dynamic virtual cooking demonstrations. In just one hour, learn to make three different dishes that represent the fondest collective memories of these award-winning DC-area culinary forces and tastemakers.

The Textile Museum Journal: The Quilts of Bisa Butler
Wednesday, February 2
12 pm ET
As a part of our online interview series forthe Textile Museum Journal, contributing scholar Nancy Demerdash discusses the photorealist quilting practice of contemporary African American artist Bisa Butler. Dr. Demerdash explores the implications of Butler’s quilted works for African diasporic connectivity and memory. Her research is in dialogue with artistic interlocutors who also grapple with questions of memory and marginalized histories. In this interview, she will examine how Butler spotlights previously unexplored, historical African American narratives, and how the very materiality of the quilted medium enlivens these narratives.

Queens Botanical Garden Lunar New Year Celebration
Saturday, February 5
12–3 pm ET (In Person)
Join the Queens Botanical Garden in celebrating the Year of the Tiger! Help bring good luck by cheering at the lion dance performances. Tag along for a compost tour and go on a winter scavenger hunt to explore the Garden’s colors and trees (and nab a goodie bag when you complete your hunt!). Read and listen to stories at the Zodiac Animal Library, participate in the community art project, pick up a take-home craft, and bring home a lucky plant–jade plants, peace lilies, and other auspicious beauties–from the Lucky Plant Sale in the QBG Store.

Shop the BGC Store!

Visit our online store at store.bgc.bard.edu for 40% off all items. Enter code ALUMNI at checkout to receive the discount.

Sign up for Gaggle!

Gaggle.mail is an opt-in list-serv that serves as a place to share job openings, conference attendance, published books/articles, and exhibition openings directly with fellow alums. It’s a communication forum for alumni, by alumni. To circulate your news in the Gaggle group, send an email to bgcalumni@gaggle.email.