Alumni Spotlight

Alexa Griffith-Winton (MA ‘03) spoke in The Thread of the Story: The Dorothy Liebes Papers, a curator talk hosted by the Cooper Hewitt. Learn more about the project here.

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Symposium—Majolica Mania: The French Connection
Friday, September 24
9:00 am–1:20 pm ET
This symposium, organized in conjunction with the opening of Majolica Mania: Transatlantic Pottery in England and the United States, 1850–1915, expands the geographic scope of the exhibition by exploring the cultural, aesthetic, and commercial implications of the interdependence between English majolica manufacturers and French artisans. Scholars will present papers that elucidate aspects of this Anglo-French alliance including an examination of the community of French artists that emerged in Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, the principal ceramic manufacturing center in Britain; the short-lived production of majolica at Sèvres; the Choisy-le-Roi manufactory’s Vase des Titans, a collaborative ceramic work of sculptors Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) and Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824–76) following the latter’s tenure at Minton; the majolica painted by the artist Émile-Aubert Lessore (1805–1876); as well as a scientific analysis of glaze colors employed in the Staffordshire potteries.

From Stone to Parian: The African American Sculptor Eugène Warburg in Europe, 1853-1859
Tuesday, September 28
12:15–1:15 pm ET
While the transatlantic career of the sculptor Edmonia Lewis is now relatively well known, that of her African American predecessor Eugène Warburg is far less familiar. Born into slavery in New Orleans in 1825–1826, Warburg was the son of a German Jewish immigrant and a mixed-race, enslaved mother. Manumitted as a child, Warburg trained as a sculptor in marble, had some success in his native city, and arrived in Europe in 1853. In Paris, London, and Rome, Warburg enjoyed the support and encouragement of both important pro-slavery American diplomats as well as famous American and English anti-slavery figures such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Duchess of Sutherland. Warburg’s most striking work is a small sculptural illustration of two of the characters in Stowe’s Dred (1856), a Black man and a white child. It was executed in the new medium of Parian, then being promoted by Stowe as ideal for middle class collectors. This remarkable work transforms our understanding of Warburg’s career and influence.

People Need Stuff, Right?
Wednesday, September 29
12:15–1:15 pm ET
In this presentation, Dr. Rachael Kiddey draws on recent contemporary archaeological fieldwork conducted in three European locations: Plymouth (UK), Athens (Greece), and Krokom (Sweden). 
Drawing on prefigurative anarchist practices and theory Dr. Kiddey argues that collaborative contemporary archaeological work can be a powerful form of social activism, for several reasons: i) in recording the actual (as opposed to planned) material conditions of forced displacement in Europe, Dr. Kiddey and her collaborators contribute vital new evidence of otherwise mostly dematerialized, economic narratives; ii) their work highlights the agency and competence of displaced people and shines a critical light on the humanitarian sector; iii) their work includes displaced people as equal partners in academic research, e.g. as photographers, translators, fixers, etc.; iv) their work challenges dominant anti-migration narratives by visualizing and materializing the range of complexities involved with forced displacement at a human level.

Making Majolica Mania
Thursday, September 30
12 pm ET
Explore how our Majolica Mania exhibition came together with the curatorial team. Our curators will reflect on the origin story of the exhibition, their research process, and the evolution of this unique project.

Professional Workshop on Seneca Village
October 2 
10 am–3 pm ET (Virtual and In Person)
We invite you to attend two professional development workshops, one virtual and one in-person, on Seneca Village, the predominantly African American community that the city displaced in 1857 during the construction of Central Park. Educators of all disciplines and grades are welcome! Explore how object and place-based learning can engage young people to see deeply, think critically, and build freely. These workshops are especially useful for educators teaching African American history, New York City history, sociology, biology, and archaeology.

Memorial Service for Heather Jane McCormick
Saturday, October 23
Time TBD
The Director’s Office, along with Heather Topick and Alexis Mucha, are working to plan a long delayed memorial for Heather Jane McCormick that will take place at BGC and be streamed on October 23. Susan Weber will give remarks and we are reaching out to her fellow students and friends who may want to say a few words, either in person or recorded, during the gathering. If you have a memory or anecdote about Heather Jane that you would like to share, please let Alexis know at alexis.mucha@bgc.bard.edu and she will be in touch to coordinate the logistics.

Select Virtual and In-Person Events Out in The World

Architecture and Design Learning on Both Sides of the Atlantic 
Friday, September 17
12 pm ET
How do you build a better world? How can your creativity improve your community? What does it take to bring bold ideas to life? These are just a few of the questions educators, parents, and students learn to solve in a creative and innovative way with methods adapted from the worlds of design and architecture. Through engaging design- and architecture-based lessons and activities, students learn critical thinking skills and nurture their creativity while gaining a richer understanding of their potential to shape the world around them. In this webinar, experts on both sides of the Atlantic (Helsinki and New York)–including Alexa Griffith-Winton (MA ’03)–will discuss pedagogical methods of architecture and design in formal education from preschool to secondary education (K12).

The San Francisco School of Needlework and Design Presents: For the Love of Silk with Liz Trenow
Saturday, September 18
1 pm ET
Liz Trenow’s family have been silk weavers for more than 300 years and are one of only two major companies continuing to weave today in the UK, supplying top end suppliers all over the world. They have woven royal silks for major occasions such as Queen Elizabeth’s coronation gown and wedding dresses for Princess Diana and Princess Anne.This remarkable history has inspired several of Liz’s best-selling novels, and her history of the family company has recently been published. This presentation will follow the family’s silk weaving fortunes from their origins as apprentice weavers in Spitalfields, London right up to the present day in a rural market town in Sudbury, Suffolk, as well as how this silk heritage has inspired her novels.

Designing for Your Future Self: Designing a World for Everyone
Tuesday, September 21
6:30 pm–8:30 pm BST (In Person)
The Design Age Institute at the RCA launches an exciting new talks series focusing on Designing for Your Future Self which invites audiences to explore the ideas, trends and passions that are shaping our future lives. Curated by the Design Age Institute, these thought-provoking sessions will explore the power of innovative design to help everyone age with agency and joy, through a combination of expert insights, panel debates and interactive discussions. For the first session, Designing a Word for Everyone, researchers, designers, innovators and policymakers from Design Age Institute, Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, This Age Thing, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design and more will explore the latest research and insights into opportunities for design to transform towns, cities and public spaces  to better enable thriving intergenerational communities, particularly in a post-Covid society.

Curator Conversations: “Out of Bounds: The Art of Croquet” with Jennifer-Navva Milliken
Tuesday, September 21
2 pm ET
Join the Wharton Esherick Museum for a conversation with Jennifer-Navva Milliken, Artistic Director at the Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia and the co-curator, along with artist Silas Kopf, of Out of Bounds: The Art of Croquet, now on view at the Center through October 24, 2021. We’ll spend time talking about this “striking” exhibition of artist-made mallets and balls and how it explores the game and its place in culture and society. We’ll also look at the Esherick print and block included in the exhibition alongside these contemporary works, and talk with Milliken about her curatorial career, especially her vision for how the Center approaches art in wood in the twenty-first century. 

The Art of Textiles: From Arts & Crafts to the New Creative Age
Friday, September 24
9 am–4 pm ET
The annual Talking Textiles Conference is an inspiring and educational 1-day webinar to talk about textiles for fashion and interiors – exploring the important trends, fabrics, yarns and techniques for the seasons to come. Hosted by Lidewij Edelkoort & Philip Fimmano in order to elevate textile education for both students and professionals alike, the event is offered free to students and faculty, while tickets are available for purchase for professionals and textiles enthusiasts, and include a complimentary copy of the latest issue of Talking Textiles magazine. 

Castle Hill Virtual Tour with Susan Hill Dolan
Thursday, September 30
1 pm ET
Susan Hill Dolan, Curator of Ipswich Properties for the Trustees of Reservations, will lead participants on a virtual tour of the breathtaking Castle Hill. This National Historic Landmark lies amidst 2,100 acres of shoreline and saltmarsh in Ipswich, MA. A Country Place Era estate, Castle Hill was once the summer home of plumbing magnate Richard Teller Crane, Jr., heir to Crane Co. of Chicago, and his family. The Cranes hired some of the most renowned architects, landscape architects, and artists of the era to design the house and grounds. Highlights include the Library, with Baroque overmantel carvings by Grinling Gibbons (1648‒1721), ornamental woodwork from a 1732 London townhouse, Chinese export wallpaper, an Italian-inspired ceiling mural, and state-of-the-art Crane bathrooms, all integrated with elegance, comfort, and taste.

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

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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.