In conjunction with The French Horse from Géricault to Picasso, Ruth Bouldan, professor of painting and drawing at Virginia Commonwealth University, led a drawing workshop. Participants gathered on Westhampton Green on a clear April afternoon to draw Shakota Lena, a Bay Overo Paint horse — and caught more than a few stares. Tell Me a Story wasn’t the only innovative, student-curated exhibition on display this spring. The French Horse from Géricault to Picasso: Works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was the outcome of a team-taught course by Mitchell Merling, Paul Mellon Curator and head of the Department of European Art, VMFA; Jeffrey Allison, Paul Mellon Educator and manager of VMFA statewide programs and exhibitions; Kristie Couser, curatorial assistant for the Mellon Collection, VMFA; and Richard Waller, executive director of University Museums. Students came from Richmond and central Virginia, including Randolph-Macon College, the University of Mary Washington, the University of Richmond, the University of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University. “Working alongside students from other universities was interesting,” says CLAIRE MCDONALD, ’16. “It was great to have an opportunity to collaborate with even more students that share my passion for art history. We all had different art historical backgrounds and training, meaning we all brought something different to the table.”
Students in the Museum Studies class led events and activities that encouraged a variety of audiences to engage with art through inventive storytelling. In one session, undergraduate students taught a two-part class for students age 50 and up through the School of Professional and Continuing Studies’ Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
64
classes from all five University of Richmond schools, as well as other local colleges visited University Museums in 2015–16
2,407
people attended 38 museum exhibition programs
7,836 visits to University Museums
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