The Gallery Internship
One of the most exciting developments at the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery was the inception in the fall of 2011 of the Gallery internship, a high impact learning experience that provides practical and professional work skills, gives students the opportunity to participate in the day-to-day operations of the Gallery, and incorporates their classroom learning with on-the-job experiences. Originally, the internship was structured to provide an upper-level art history major with the opportunity to assist with exhibition installation, write didactic wall labels, archive the collection, develop marketing ideas to promote the Gallery, and curate exhibitions.
Today, the Gallery collaborates with a wide range of academic departments. Currently, the Gallery has five interns working this semester on separate projects, applicable to their major and career goals. Interns also present tours to classes, alumni, and outside groups. By adding the Gallery experience to their portfolio, students can build a strong resume showcasing their skills.
Pasantías de la galería
Uno de los desarrollos más emocionantes de la galería de arte Suzanne H. Arnold fue el inicio de la pasantía de la galería en el otoño del 2011, una experiencia educativa de alto impacto que provee prácticas de trabajo práctico y profesional, brinda a los estudiantes la oportunidad de trabajar en las operaciones diarias de la galería e incorpora el aprendizaje en el aula con las experiencias de trabajo. Originalmente, la pasantía fue estructurada para brindarles, a los estudiantes de la historia del arte de los niveles avanzados, la oportunidad de asistir con la instalación de la exhibición, escribir etiquetas didácticas para la pared, archivar la colección, desarrollar ideas de mercadotecnia para promocionar a la galería y conservar las exhibiciones.
Hoy, la galería colabora con una amplia gama de departamentos académicos. Actualmente, la galería tiene cinco pasantes trabajando este semestre en proyectos separados, aplicables a sus especialidades y metas profesionales. Los pasantes también presentan tours a clases, exalumnos y grupos fuera de la universidad. El agregar la experiencia de la galería en sus portafolios, los estudiantes pueden construir un currículum más sólido que muestra sus aptitudes. –Madonna Borde '21, Especialidades: Español e inglés
Lebanon Valley College Fine Arts Collection
The Lebanon Valley College Fine Arts Collection (LVCFAC) is an umbrella term that covers, first, those works of art that form the basis of the college’s teaching collection, which is managed by the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, and, second, those works of art acquired or designated for public spaces.
The mission of the Lebanon Valley College Fine Arts Collection is to collect, research, preserve, and exhibit a broad range of historical and contemporary art that serves the pedagogical goals of the college. The holdings of the LVCFAC are defined as a part of the intellectual property of the college as a whole, not only allowing students and faculty in all departments the extraordinary benefit of direct access to original works of art, but also uniting the college with its regional community and the worldwide network of visual culture scholars.
The Gallery is a space where students from all disciplines are encouraged to discover, through the close study of actual objects, the cultural importance of art and art practice. Individual objects from the LVCFAC are available for teaching purposes by faculty in all departments. Though modest in scale, the collection, the Gallery, and the Gallery’s storage facilities constitute a complete model of an art museum, and thus serve as a laboratory in which students can learn core lessons in professional museum practice. This intensive student involvement in the life of the collection opens a wide vista of vocational possibilities for LVC graduates and provides them with invaluable experience as they begin their careers within the visual arts and museum fields.
La colección de las bellas artes de Lebanon Valley College
La colección de las bellas artes de Lebanon Valley College (LVCFAC en inglés) es un término general que cubre, primeramente, esas obras de arte que forman el base de la colección enseñanza de la universidad, la que está dirigida por la Suzanne H. Arnold galería de arte, y segundo, esas obras de arte adquirido o designado para los espacios públicos.
La misión de la colección de las bellas artes de Lebanon Valley College es para colectar, investigar, preservar, y exhibir una amplia gama de arte histórica y contemporánea que sirve las metas pedagógicas de la universidad. Los contenidos de la LVCFAC son definidos como parte de la propiedad intelectual de la universidad como una totalidad, no solamente permitiendo los estudiantes y la facultad en todos departamentos el beneficio extraordinario de acceso directo a obras de arte originales, pero también unido la universidad con su comunidad regional y la red mundial de eruditos de la cultura visual.
La galería es un espacio donde estudiantes de todas disciplinas están motivados para descubrir, a través del estudio directo de objectos reales, la importancia cultural de arte y la práctica de arte. Los objectos individuos de la LVCFAC son disponibles para los propósitos enseñanza por la facultad en todos departamentos. Aunque modesta en escala, la colección, la galería, y las instalaciones de la galería para el almacenamiento constituyen un modelo completo de un museo de arte, y así sirven como un laboratorio en que los estudiantes pueden aprender lecciones centrales en la práctica de museos profesional. Esta extensiva participación de estudiantes en la vida de la colección abre una amplia vista de posibilidades vocacional para los graduados de LVC y provéeles con experiencia inestimable mientras empiezan sus careras entre los campos de las artes visuales y los museos. –Madonna Borde '21, Especialidades: Español e inglés
Gallery Interns and the Collection
From 2012 to 2016, spring Gallery interns each curated a summer exhibition culled from the permanent collection. An immersive experience, interns learned the process of curating a show, including familiarity with the college collection, organization of the layout, professional installation techniques, and the professional research and writing skills necessary to create wall labels. This section, showcasing a variety of exhibition themes chosen by students, features a few selections of LVCFAC artwork from each exhibition installed.
Del 2012 al 2016, los pasantes de la galería durante la primavera han conservado una exhibición del verano recopilados de la colección permanente. Como experiencia inmersiva, los pasantes aprenden el proceso de conservación de una exhibición, incluyendo el familiarizarse con la colección de la universidad, la organización de la disposición, las técnicas profesionales de la instalación y las destrezas necesarias de investigación profesional y de escritura para crear etiquetas para la pared. Esta sección de la exhibición muestra una variedad de exhibiciones temáticas escogidas por los estudiantes utilizando algunas selecciones de la selección de obras de arte de la LVCFAC de cada exhibición instalada. –Madonna Borde '21, Especialidades: Español e inglés
Selections from the Permanent Collection (Summer 2012)
Curated by Jessica Hinkley ’12, Majors: English and Art & Art History
This exhibition examined abstraction in prints, paintings and drawings from the late nineteenth century to the present. The word ‘abstract’ has a variety of implications. To various degrees, abstract works reference objects in the physical world through stylistic and symbolic means. Viewers saw in this exhibition how modern and contemporary artists, both regionally and internationally known, treat a variety of subjects, including the figure and landscape, with an emphasis on the purely formal elements of painting.
The earliest work in the exhibition arose from the Barbizon movement. From the 1830s to the 1870s–the period preceding Impressionism–artists of the Barbizon school often painted humble landscape and peasant genre scenes and depictions of the forests near Fontainebleau, France. Barbizon artists such as Louis Aimé Japy (Swiss, 1840–1916) explored the application of paint in their naturalistic landscapes. Japy’s technique is characterized by broad, painterly brushstrokes and rough textural surfaces. Like the Barbizon painters, Impressionist artists painted landscapes and bourgeois activities as their subjects. Their paintings demonstrate their concern for the momentary effects of light and movement with the use of soft, loose brushstrokes and intense colors. From Post-Impressionism to the 1970s, artists experimented even more dramatically with the formal qualities of painting such as color, line, texture and design. Many of these artists explored pure abstraction, but regardless of each work’s place on the continuum from non-objective to representational, the works in this exhibition enabled us to see abstract principles from a fresh perspective.
Colonization & the Collection: Selections from the Permanent Collection (Summer 2014)
Curated by Lindsay McMasters ’14, Major: Art & Art History
During the nineteenth century there was increased European interest in exotic cultures, such as Asian, African and South Pacific cultures, and the rise of the middle class due to the Industrial Revolution spurred foreign travel. Financial stability allowed the European upper-class to travel to colonized countries, and a vigorous market for tourist trade objects was created. Colonization & the Collection: Selections from the Permanent Collection served as an informative survey of the various tourist trade objects within the permanent collection of the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery at Lebanon Valley College. The exhibition featured Inuit, African, Asian, and European art.
In African culture, wooden masks generally depicted humans or hybridized mythical creatures and were found most prevalently in Western Africa. The spirits of these creatures are believed to inhabit the wooden effigy, allowing the wearer to communicate with his or her ancestors, deities, or other mythological figures. In terms of function, these pieces were largely ceremonial and were used in tribal celebrations, war preparation, initiation rites, or prayers for a bountiful harvest. Masks would be worn by a chosen or initiated tribesman during a predetermined ritual.
During the nineteenth century in Europe, European imperialism and colonization of far-away countries caused increased interest in exotic cultures. Upper-class Europeans could more easily travel to colonized countries and their fascination with the exotic generated new travel industry. These masks are symbols of the commercialization of this type of ritual that began in the nineteenth century. –David Yasenchak ’13, Major: Studio Art & Art History
Makonde carvings originated in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique by the Makonde tribe, and are known as being one of the most important forms of art in African culture today. The Makonde people settled in Africa around 1700, which is when their carvings originated. Carvings consist primarily of figures, but also include animals, masks, and abstractions. The most recognizable forms of Makonde carvings are “Tree of Life” or ujamaa sculptures. Traditionally, Makonde carvings are made from a single piece of ebony and show support between generations by depicting figures climbing on one another. –Marlena Yespy ’16, Museum Studies ART 340, Major: Business Administration, Accounting
The donor told us that the work “demonstrates a commonly held wisdom that no one succeeds on their own but on the shoulders of others who have been before them.”
Inuit Collection: Lebanon Valley College Fine Arts Collection, Gift of Kathryn Bork, LVC class of ’29
Inuit soap stone carving began in the 1950s at the time of the fur trade collapse. The Canadian Government created an economic program for Inuit who lost money during this time, allowing the sculptures to be sold and money to become accessible to the Inuit people. This government program was the start of a long-standing Inuit tradition and one that requires large amount of skill and artistic talent. Jim Houston, the northern affairs administrator for Cape Dorset, created an art co-operative that allowed artists to produce and market their artwork together in a community. A few Inuit works in the gallery’s collection are a result of the art co-operative.
One of the major Inuit artists of this movement, Pitseolak, once said: “I draw the things I have never seen, the monsters and spirits, and I draw the old days, the things we did long before there were many white men.” The collection bequeathed to the college represents second half of this statement; what Pitseolak refers to as the old ways. We see many representations of traditional Inuit life and their respect for nature. –John Heenan ’12, Major: Art & Art History
Colección Inuit, Lebanon Valley College Fine Arts Collection, Regalo de Kathryn Bork, clase 29’ LVC
La colección Inuit de la galería está compuesta por aproximadamente 30 esculturas contemporáneas de esteatita y 9 impresiones (litografías y serigrafías). La totalidad de la colección Inuit fue designada en el testamento de la señora Kathryn Bork (Clase 29’ de LVC) a Lebanon Valley College. La galería recibió el generoso donativo de estas maravillosas obras de arte en 1977 por la señora Bork. La historia de la colección de la señora Bork se inicia tras el regreso de su viaje al Gaspe National Park en Canadá, donde ella vio la talla del “Hombre Arrodillado” (#1) y lo tuvo que comprar. En sus notas, la señora Bork mencionó literalmente que se le hacía agua la boca pensando en viajar más y coleccionar esculturas Inuit de esteatita.
El tallado de la esteatita por los Inuit se inició alrededor de 1950 durante el periodo del colapso del comercio de las pieles. El gobierno canadiense creó un programa económico para los Inuit quienes perdieron dinero en este periodo, permitiendo que las esculturas se vendieran y que el dinero estuviera disponible para los Inuit. Este programa gubernamental fue el principio de la tradición Inuit, la cual requiere una gran cantidad de habilidad artística y talento. Jim Houston, el administrador de los asuntos del norte para Cape Dorset, creó una cooperativa artística que le permitió a los artistas que produjeran y comercializaran su arte juntos en la comunidad. Algunos de las obras que se exhiben en la colección de la galería son el resultado de esta cooperativa artística.
Uno de los principales artistas Inuit de este movimiento, Pitseolak, una vez dijo: “Dibujo las cosas que nunca he visto, los monstruos y espíritus, y dibujo los viejos tiempos, las cosas que hicimos antes que hubiera muchos hombres blancos.” La colección heredada por la universidad representa la segunda parte de esta afirmación; lo que Pitseolak se refiere como los viejos tiempos. Vemos muchas representaciones de la vida tradicional Inuit y su respecto por la Naturaleza. –Madonna Borde '21, Especialidades: Español e inglés
Inuit printmaker and sculptor Joe Talirunili was born in Quebec and was brought up in the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit, often hunting and fishing with family members. His works tell stories from his Inuit traditions and focus on camp life, hunting scenes and his family and friends’ lives.
In Back from the Hunt, two hunters stand, proudly displaying their quarries while surrounded by some of the animals they hunt, including birds and a seal. The hunters are shown with some of the objects of their daily life, such as a sled and the typical warm clothing worn in the cold climate. The print is characterized by the simple shapes and an almost abstract appearance. –David Yasenchak ’13, Major: Studio Art & Art History
Figure and Function: Selections from the Permanent Collection (Summer 2013)
Curated by David Yasenchak ’13, Major: Studio Art and Art History
The human figure has endured as one of the most predominant themes in the history of artistic creation. Figure and Function: Selections from the Permanent Collection served as an instructive, fragmentary survey of the various depictions of the human figure housed within the permanent collection of the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery at Lebanon Valley College. The works in this eclectic exhibition were not selected according to a specific genre or medium, but were selected to investigate their function within the cultures that created the figurative works.
With an array of works ranging from meticulous, realistic renderings to loose, gestural abstractions, this assortment covered a wide range of media, aesthetic movements, and cultural developments. Created for commemorative, historical, illustrative, academic, economic, or ritualistic purposes, each of these works provided a captivating glimpse at a variety of cultures, with a distinct focus on the people and the creations that have shaped history’s understanding of these cultures.
Born in Crawfordsville, Indiana in 1880, figure painter Frederick William Wright produced a number of academic, representational paintings throughout his lifetime. Wright, a member of the Art Students League and a student at both Cooper Union Art School and John Herron Art Institute, created much of his figurative work by studying models in New York City. This particular work is a confident and realistic study of proportions and value relationships. With his pencil, Wright assertively sculpts his model, with special attention paid to capturing the subtleties of the man’s musculature, as he stands static in a classical pose. This type of rendering is part of a tradition of studying live models that spans from antiquity to modern day. –David Yasenchak ’13, Major: Studio Art and Art History
Pablo Picasso, the enigmatic and internationally renowned Spanish painter, has made innumerable contributions to the history of art. Through his constant reinvention of style and ruthlessly audacious experimentation, Picasso forever altered the public perception of the limits of visual representation. In 1963, Picasso created Untitled (Mother and Child), a lithograph printed by the renowned Parisian printer Fernand Mourlot (French, 1895–1988). This soft, loosely gestural composition depicts an intimate scene in which a mother serenely embraces her child. Picasso’s lines are soft yet confident and his warm coloration and chaotic scribbling serve to energize the background of his otherwise static composition. Picasso was uninterested in realistic representation; rather, he has reduced the figure to a construction of line and spare color to mirror the delicacy of the maternal moment. –David Yasenchak ’13, Major: Studio Art and Art History
Intersection of Art and the Printed Word: Selections from the Permanent Collection (Summer 2015)
Curated by Catherine Tershak ’16, Major: Art & Art History
The improvement of publishing technologies in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as well as the rise of the middle class, created new opportunities for authors and illustrators. As the general public became more educated, there was a larger audience for newspapers, magazines, and novels. Books with illustrations were published as both bound novels and in serial format. Magazines and newspapers provided publicity opportunities for artists who wanted to get their work before a wide audience. Illustrated publications served as a pedagogical tool for illiterate audiences. The press was used by both the government and its dissenters as a tool for propaganda. The collaboration between illustrators and writers also helped to foster the growth of a national identity for all three of the countries covered in this exhibit (England, the United States, and France). The purpose of this exhibition was to discuss the relationship between art, the printed word, and culture during the rise of print publication in the late eighteenth through nineteenth centuries. The American section also examined the enduring impact of this phenomenon as it extended to book illustration in the twentieth century.
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish, 1850−1894), tells a tale of buried gold and buccaneers, and is notable for its rich atmosphere, characters and action. The book had an enormous influence on the popular depictions of pirates, including elements such as treasure maps marked with an “X”, tropical islands, and one-legged sailors with parrots perched on their shoulders.
Frank Godwin was an illustrator for both magazines and children’s books. Best known for his comic strips “Connie” and “Rusty Riley,” he employed the same sophistication of technique when making comics that he used in his book illustration. He also illustrated fiction for magazines such as Collier’s, Liberty, and Cosmopolitan. –Catherine Tershak ’16, Major: Art & Art History
Con Spirito: Emotion in the Printed Image (Summer 2016)
Curated by Diana Hoffman ’17, Major: Art & Art History
Con Spirito: Emotion in the Printed Image examined prints in the Lebanon Valley College Fine Arts Collection that excite our emotions, our passion and our spirit. Irving Amen’s (American, 1918–2011) work Con Spirito, a recent donation to the collection, was the exhibit’s catalyst. Con Spirito (With Spirit) is divided into four separate etchings that combine and flow into each other, which together create one work of art. The work can be read in any direction to form separate stories that also relate to one another.
The subject matter of the exhibit’s works touched the inner psyche of thoughts and feelings and were expressed in a variety of styles.–Diana Hoffman ’17, Major: Art & Art History
Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings (Spring 2016)
Across his 50-year journey as an illustrator, Jerry Pinkney (American, b. 1939) has cast a warm, curious eye on our world to create images that reflect his passion for life, love of family and community, and deep and abiding engagement with the rich complexities of history. Initially created for the covers and pages of periodicals, postage stamps, greeting cards, product advertisements, and well-traveled historic sites, Pinkney’s artworks have also appeared in more than 100 books, garnering well-deserved acclaim. Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings explored this gifted creator’s legacy through powerful images that reveal larger cultural truths about where we have been, who we are, and who we might become. This exhibition was on loan from The Norman Rockwell Museum.
A recipient of the prestigious Caldecott Award and the PA Governor’s Awards for the Arts in 2013, Pinkney was very interested in providing an in-person educational experience for young people during this exhibition. He graciously agreed to come on campus for several days to visit with LVC students and children from local school districts. In addition to children’s books, he also illustrated the 1991 edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. A book club discussion was held for students and the LVC community led by Dr. Cathy Romagnolo, LVC professor of English, with Pinkney in attendance. Hurston’s book is noted as a seminal work in African-American literature and women’s literature.
Jerry, accompanied by his wife, Gloria, provided a touchingly memorable experience and generously donated the two pastels he created during his group demonstrations to the Lebanon Valley College Fine Arts Collection.
Jerry Pinkney: Imaginings (primavera 2016)
A través de sus cincuenta años de recorrido como ilustrador, Jerry Pinkey (norteamericano, b. 1939) ha buscado encontrar un ojo cálido y curioso en nuestro mundo para crear imágenes que reflejen su pasión por la vida, el amor a la familia y la comunidad y el profundo y duradero compromiso con las ricas complejidades de la historia. Inicialmente, se crearon para las cubiertas y páginas de periódicos, estampillas, tarjetas de saludos, anuncios publicitarios y para lugares históricos turísticos. El arte de Pinkney ha aparecido también en más de 100 libros, consiguiendo uno merecido reconocimiento.
Como ganador del prestigioso premio Caldecott y del Governor’s Awards for the arts en el 2013, Pinkey estaba muy interesado en proporcionar una experiencia educativa presencial para los jóvenes durante esta exhibición. Él amablemente aceptó venir a la universidad por varios días y visitar tanto a los estudiantes de LVC como a niños y niñas de las escuelas de los distritos escolares locales. Además de los libros infantiles, él también ha ilustrado la edición de 1991, Their Eyes Were Watching God de Zora Neale Hurston. Se llevó a cabo una conversación del club del libro, dirigida por la Dra. Cathy Romagnolo, profesora de inglés de LVC, con la asistencia de Pinkney. El libro de Pinkney es conocido como un influyente trabajo en la literatura afro-americana y en la literatura de mujeres.
Jerry, acompañado por su esposa, Gloria, ha proporcionado una conmovedora experiencia memorable y generosamente ha donado dos pasteles que el creó durante una demostración grupal para la colección de bellas artes de Lebanon Valley College. –Madonna Borde '21, Especialidades: Español e inglés