Hello Alumni,

I hope autumn has found you wherever you are! The crisp weather has also ushered in a wave of fresh films–chief among them (at least to me) has been Don’t Worry Darling. While I can’t give the movie an enthusiastic endorsement, I would suggest looking up the costumes and mid-century modern interiors for the utopian community at the center of the plot. The top tier craftsmanship is a feast for the eyes even in spite of the film’s insidious twist.    

As always, please feel free to share your news, either by email or through the online form. And if you feel so inclined, I’m also available to debrief Don’t Worry Darling. 🙂

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

Alumni Spotlight

Michelle Jackson-Beckett (PhD ‘22) will be speaking in the online seminar series “Folk” Cultures in Everyday Objects taking place in November and December. She will give her paper, “Simple Household Goods? The Commodification of Folk Idealism and Domestic Culture in Interwar Vienna” on December 2. Well done, Michelle! 

Casey Mathern (MA ‘13) curated the latest exhibition at the Paterson University Galleries–A Durable Thread: The Silk Road from China to America. The show reimagines the Silk Road by connecting China to the “Silk City” of Paterson, New Jersey and unites a world of silk objects from Asia, Europe, and North America from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The exhibition will be supported by a two-day international symposium “Across Time and Space: The Silk Road and the Silk City” at William Paterson University, October 26-27, 2022. Congratulations, Casey!

Select Career Opportunities

Select BGC Events

Resistance, Not Psychological Damage: Re-evaluating the Clark Doll Tests
October 12
6 pm
In the mid-twentieth century, psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark conducted their famous “doll test” in which they asked African American children whether they preferred Black or white dolls. Most children identified white dolls as “nice” and Black dolls as “bad”—proof, the Clarks argued, that segregation psychologically damaged Black children. These findings figured pivotally in Brown v. Board of Education. In this lecture, Robin Bernstein defamiliarizes the “doll test” by locating it not in the history of Civil Rights but instead in a history of representational play—violently racist practices of play that were, for a century, coordinated through Black dolls. 

Cotsen Textile Traces Global Roundtable 
October 12–13
10 am–12:30 pm
This online roundtable explores the rich traditions of lacemaking through examples from the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection. International scholars, artists and designers will present multiple dimensions of the global art, from its history and globalization to innovations, fashion and artistic creativity.

Select Virtual and In-Person Events in the World

A Conversation Between Comadres: Amalia Mesa-Bains, Ester Hernández, and Mildred Howard
Thursday, September 29
6 pm PT (In Person)
In this informal conversation on life, art, and community, artists and long-term friends Amalia Mesa-Bains, Ester Hernández, and Mildred Howard will talk about art making, social justice, and the challenges women of color face in the art world. Mesa-Bains’s autobiographical installation Venus Envy, Chapter I: The First Holy Communion Moments Before the End (1993/2022) is currently presented on Floor 2 alongside Madrinas y Hermanas (Godmothers and Sisters), a presentation of works from SFMOMA’s permanent collection that is curated by Mesa-Bains and includes pieces by Hernández and Howard.

Rips & Slices: Masked Vigilantes Artists’ Panel
Thursday, September 29
6:30 pm ET (In Person)
Masked Vigilantes in Silent Motorbikes highlights how posters have long been co-opted by artists to create compelling, vibrant new works of art. Poster House is thrilled to welcome featured artists Swoon, Galen Gibson-Cornell, and Nicholas Fraser to a panel discussion moderated by curator RJ Rushmore on the significance of posters in their practice. Discover how these artists are inspired by posters and how they utilize the formal and conceptual elements of ad campaigns to produce new bodies of work. Each artist’s approach to the medium is unique, making for a rich and vibrant conversation that will provide both newcomers and seasoned poster enthusiasts with a fresh perspective on the dynamism of posters. Questions strongly encouraged!

Architectural Tools and Technology for Tribal Communities
Tuesday, October 4
1 pm ET 
Join the first program in the In the Realm of Indigenous Architectures series, developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Society of Architecture, Planning and Design (ISAPD). In the Realm of Indigenous Architectures presents built projects, architectural tools, and historical policy illustrating the preservation of culture and transformation of Indigenous communities in the United States today. 

Beyond Representation: Ancient Indigenous Visual Culture
Friday, October 7–Saturday, October 8 
Various Times ET
This two-day symposium explores non-iconographic approaches to the study of images from the Ancient Americas. The goal of this symposium is to consider what might lie beyond iconological interpretations of things and images by exploring other ways such figures may have operated within pre-Columbian life-worlds, and different ways meaning may have been created and apprehended. In recent years, attention to indigenous ontologies has opened scholarship to non-imagistic aspects of signification and affect. 

Translocation of South Asian Art: Provenance and Documentation
Thursday October 6–Friday, October 7
Various Times ET
This webinar will primarily focus on documenting the provenance and circulation of South Asian art before 1970 as a way to better understand and reckon with the collections that exist today. Divided into two half-day sessions, this webinar will present scholarly talks and discussions that provide an overview of the field of South Asian provenance research and highlight important resources.

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