Love, Desire, and Sorrow
Artworks from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation
Love, Desire, and Sorrow
Artworks from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation
Impact Report Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, 2026
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On behalf of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, I want to acknowledge Jordan Schnitzer and The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation for their generous support of Love, Desire, and Sorrow: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. Featuring artworks by Alison Saar, Louise Bourgeois, Wangechi Mutu, and more, this exhibition foregrounded the notion of home, broadly defined, to ponder the economic, social, cultural, and political structures, policies, and events that shape our current existence. As an academic museum, we are grateful to have had this opportunity to bring these seminal works to Eugene and share them with our campus and community audiences. Our immense gratitude also goes to the Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities; the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department; and the Department of Art at the University of Oregon for their continued support and engagement with the museum. With gratitude, Olivia Miller, Executive Director
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Artist Talk: vanessa german & Private Tour with Jordan D. Schnitzer and Malia Jensen Nearly 300 guests attended various events hosting vanessa german, including the artist talk, a private tour with the artist and Jordan Schnitzer and UO’s School of Art and Design “Career Futures.” vanessa discussed her artistic background and the challenges faced by Black queer poor women artists in navigating the socio-political and artistic environments in the U.S. Given Oregon’s history of racism, and largely white population, it is not only relevant to introduce audiences to ongoing issues encountered by members of the community, but to support and center Black and brown voices and leadership to address past and present inequality. During her talk, vanessa provided guests an opportunity to connect with her one-on-one through song and spiritual chant to advocate for empathy amidst war and racial discrimination and support collective healing and hope. vanessa’s unorthodox approach to the traditional “artist talk” leaves a legacy within the UO and JSMA’s history. Her presentation is now accessible to a broader audience through video:
JSMA vanessa german artist talk https://bit.ly/4y1DlGP
Community Engagement & Patron Circle Reception vanessa met with more than 160 guests and patrons during the reception. vanessa also met with artists in the region to support the local art ecosystem. They included: • Tannaz Farsi • Zora J. Murff • Malia Jensen These interactions with the academic community and broader region support and strengthen the university’s mission and vision by ensuring access to ideas and the art world and creating programming that is rich in content and inspiring.
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Community Outreach, Research and Experiential Learning The exhibition welcomed more than 9300 guests from the region and almost 1800 university students from various academic disciplines and departments to discuss artworks and curatorial strategies. Students who visited the exhibition were enrolled in: • Feminist Theory • Philosophy of the Arts • Black Aesthetics • Museology • Contemporary Art • Social Prescribing • Expresiones Artisticas • Oral History, Ethnography, and Storytelling • Latin American Studies • Comparative Literature
Fostering Leadership in the Arts: MFA Studio Visits vanessa’s visit to campus included engaging with MFA graduate students to give them personalized feedback on their studio practice. vanessa met individually with: • Maryam Agha Seyedmohammad Keshmiri • Yalda Eskandari • Parisa Garazhian After their visits, one student reported, “What felt fundamentally different was the way she connected with me… very directly, genuinely, and outside of conventional frameworks. I believe we truly need these kinds of experiences to encounter different approaches and perspectives; this was deeply educational.” Another student stated, “it gave me the opportunity to connect with a highly professional artist whose work has been shown in major exhibitions and museums… As a multidisciplinary artist myself, witnessing her performances and hearing her speak about her working process encouraged me to trust my practice more and approach my work with greater confidence and openness.”
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Latinx Studies Night at the Museum The Latinx Studies Night at the Museum is a partnership between the museum and the Latinx community on campus at the UO. In collaboration with Latinx undergraduate student ambassadors and the director of the Latinx Studies minor, this annual program promotes art and culture and provides non-art majors with a platform to examine and discuss art. Faculty, staff, alumni, students, and community leaders including the Mexican Consul Carlos Quesnel Meléndez, the university’s provost Chris Long, and department chairs, attended to celebrate and support Latinx research and study artworks by Rufino Tamayo, Enrique Chagoya, Louise Bourgeois, and Silvia Levenson. During the event, contemporary local artist, and UO art faculty, Michael Reyes presented artworks to guests. His participation made art accessible to a broader audience and helped cross academic and disciplinary barriers as he engaged in conversation scholars from: • • • • •
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Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies The College of Education The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies Latinx Studies Romance Languages
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Art Heals
Art Heals program engaged 431 participants through a series of thoughtfully designed workshops that demonstrated the transformative role of art in fostering well-being, connection, and reflective practice. The program reached an exceptionally diverse audience, including medical students from: • Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) • Medical residents from New York University (NYU) • Healthcare researchers from OHSU and Kaiser Permanente Portland • Children with disabilities participating through the Kennedy Center’s VSA Arts Access Program • Older adults living with memory loss • Cancer patients and oncology providers through Samaritan Health Services’ Pastega Cancer Resource Center • Spanish-speaking families through the museum’s Madres Club program. By bringing together participants across generations, professions, languages, and lived experiences, Art Heals created inclusive spaces where works of art became catalysts for dialogue, empathy, creativity, and healing.
Professional Learning and Statewide Collaboration The exhibition served as a featured teaching resource during the Art Heals: Empowering Practitioners to Lead Symposium, which convened arts, healthcare, and museum professionals from across New Jersey. This program was presented in partnership with: • Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University • New Brunswick Performing Arts Center • New Jersey State Council on the Arts • Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) The conference highlighted the exhibition as a model for interdisciplinary practice and inspired participants to adapt arts-based well-being approaches within their own communities and institutions.
Visual Thinking Strategies and Narrative Medicine Throughout the exhibition, JSMA’s Art Heals team activated a diverse selection of artworks from the exhibition using Visual Thinking Strategies and Narrative Medicine practices to create meaningful, participant-centered experiences. Carefully scaffolded questions encouraged observation, dialogue, reminiscence, and personal storytelling, while poetry and reflective writing invited deeper emotional engagement with the works of art. Hands-on creative activities, included drawing, collage, embroidery, writing providing participants with opportunities to process experiences, express their perspectives, and connect with others. Together, these interdisciplinary approaches affirmed the museum as a welcoming space for reflection, creativity, and community care, demonstrating the powerful role museums can play in advancing health, well-being, and belonging.
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University of Oregon The only academic art museum in Oregon accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) features engaging exhibitions, significant collections of historic and contemporary art, and exciting educational programs that support the university’s academic mission and the diverse interests of its off-campus communities. The JSMA’s collections galleries present selections from its extensive holdings of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and American art. Special exhibitions galleries display works from the collection and on loan, representing many cultures of the world, past and present. The JSMA continues a long tradition of bridging international cultures and offers a welcoming destination for discovery and education centered on artistic expression that deepens the appreciation and understanding of the human condition.
El Museo de Arte Jordan Schnitzer (JSMA) de la Universidad de Oregón, único museo de arte académico de Oregón acreditado por la Alianza Estadounidense de Museos, presenta exhibiciones interesantes, colecciones significativas de arte histórico y contemporáneo y programas educativos que apoyan la misión académica de la universidad y los diversos intereses de sus comunidades fuera del campus. Las galerías de las colecciones del JSMA presentan selecciones de sus posesiones extensivas de arte chino, japonés, coreano y estadounidense. Las galerías de exhibiciones especiales muestran obras de la colección y en préstamo, que representan a muchas culturas del mundo pasadas y presentes. El JSMA continúa una larga tradición de vincular las culturas internacionales y ofrece un destino acogedor para el descubrimiento y la educación centrados en la expresión artística que profundiza la apreciación y el entendimiento de la condición humana.
Translation to Spanish by Irene Arce | Traducción al español por Irene Arce
1430 Johnson Lane, Eugene, OR 97403 | 541-346-3027 jsma.uoregon.edu