How Skidmore faculty use the Tang

In addition to using the Tang exhibitions as a resource for their teaching, faculty have also acted as co-curators and organizers of exhibitions, organized and appeared in performances at the museum, and participated in lectures and Dialogues.

In the Classroom

Faculty members from many different disciplines have used the Tang to stimulate exploration and discovery in a variety of ways in the classroom. These include visits to the exhibitions, research using objects from the collections, critiques and discussions with visiting artists from Tang exhibitions, and use of Tang catalogues as class texts. Class assignments involving the Tang have taken the form of analytic essays, research papers, oral and visual presentations, and even small exhibitions within the museum. When asked how students are engaged with course material when working with the Tang, faculty noted that students performed deeper analysis of material, questioned assumptions, took conceptual leaps, and demonstrated enthusiasm for the material.

Courses Inspired by the Tang

Inspired in part by Fred Wilson’s work as the Luce Visiting Fellow for Object, Exhibition, and Knowledge, faculty are developing courses around the Tang museum and its exhibitions:

Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
Summer, 2004
Sarah Goodwin, associate dean of the faculty and professor of English

The Tang exhibition, Opener 7: Julia Jacquette: I Dreamt, shaped Skidmore’s Master of Arts 2004 summer seminar taught by Sarah Goodwin, associate dean of the faculty and professor of English. The week-long seminar that brings together graduate students in individualized programs explores a given topic from many points of view and challenges students to think outside their normal disciplines. Goodwin says the Jacquette exhibition “embodied a nexus of ideas in an intensely compressed form. I just loved the thought of unpacking them bit by bit with a group of inquisitive minds, bringing to bear a wide range of disciplines in the process.”

Link: Skidmore Scope Winter 2005 Article on Opener 7: Julia Jacquette: I Dreamt

EN105 Writing in the Tang
Alison Barnes, Lecturer in English

The mission statement for The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery states that the purpose of the museum “is to foster interdisciplinary thinking and studying, to invite active and collaborative learning and to awaken the community to the richness and diversity of the human experience through the medium of art.” In this seminar, we will explore the various ways the Tang strives to fulfill this mission as we complete writing assignments that require careful investigation of the exhibitions on view at the museum. This course does not require any previous experience with art.

EN205D Writing for Museums
Alison Barnes, Lecturer in English

The word “museum” makes us think about objects, exhibitions, memorable architecture, or shared moments with our friends or family. It rarely makes us think about writing, even though writing is integral to the way museums shape meaning and experience. Exhibition wall texts, catalogue essays, viewer’s guides, and museum websites are examples of places where writing can have enormous power over museum viewers. To work effectively, this writing must speak to varied audiences, serve a museum’s mission, and build compelling connections with a museum’s objects and exhibitions.

In this course, we will practice writing for museums as we study different types of museums, the design of exhibitions, and the relationships between museums and viewers. Class discussions, writing workshops, and required substantive revisions will support the refinement of voice and style in our writing as we work to meet the challenges museum-based writing presents. The Tang Museum will serve as a central site for exploration, and museum events will be required.

Exhibition Collaboration

Members of the Skidmore faculty have been important collaborators on several Tang exhibitions, contributing countless hours of their time and their expertise.

Molecules That Matter
(Upcoming)

Co-curated by Raymond Giguere, professor of Chemistry and John Weber, Dayton Director of the Tang Museum.

A Very Liquid Heaven
October 23, 2004 – June 5, 2005
Co-curated by Mary Crone-Odekon, associate professor of Physics; Margo Mensing, associate professor of Art at Skidmore College; and Ian Berry, curator of the Tang Museum.

Paradise and Plumage: Chinese Connections in Tibetan
Arhat Painting
September 25, 2004 - January 2, 2005
Organized by Rob Linrothe, Associate Professor of Art History at Skidmore College in collaboration with the Rubin Museum of Art,
New York.

Hair: Untangling a Social History
January 31 – June 6, 2004
Co-curated by Penny Jolly, Kenan Professor of Art and Art History at Skidmore College and Ian Berry, curator of the Tang Museum.

Brushing the Present: Contemporary Academy Painting from China
October 17 – December 31, 2003
Co-curated by Doretta Miller, Professor of Art at Skidmore College and Ian Berry, curator of the Tang Museum.

Staging the Indian: The Politics of Representation
February 2-June 2, 2002
Co-curated by Jill Sweet, Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Skidmore College and Ian Berry, curator of the Tang Museum.

The World According to the Newest and Most Exact Observations: Mapping Art and Science
March 3–June 3, 2001
Co-curated by Susan Bender, associate dean of the faculty and associate professor of anthropology; Bernard Possidente, professor of biology; Ian Berry, curator of the Tang Museum; and Richard Wilkinson, professor of anthropology of the University at Albany, State University of New York

Skidmore College encourages faculty to develop new ideas for Tang exhibitions through the Tang Exhibit Grant program, administered through the Office of the Dean of the Faculty. Tang Exhibit Grants are designed to support faculty work in the planning and development of interdisciplinary exhibits in the Tang. These grants are aimed at exhibit development, not budgetary support for the exhibit per se. Exhibition proposals are evaluated on intellectual merit, visual significance and/or effective use of museum space, degree of interdisciplinarity, relevance to college curricula, and extent of interest to the regional community.

Programming Collaboration

The Tang has partnered with many departments to coordinate programming around themes in the museum’s exhibitions. Some examples include:

History and American Studies
Film Series

In conjunction with The Tumultuous Fifties: A View from the New York Times
Faculty from the History and American Studies departments of Skidmore curated a film series structured around themes in the exhibition, The Tumultuous Fifties. Various faculty members introduced the films that included Steel Helmet, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Pajama Game, Sweet Smell of Success, On the Waterfront, and Rebel Without a Cause.

Asian Studies, Art and Art History
Different Chinas

In conjunction with Brushing the Present: Contemporary Academy Painting from China.
Different Chinas was a series of campus events addressing the many different identities of contemporary China. Events included a film series, several lectures, a panel discussion and a brush painting demonstration. Included in the planning were representatives from the Asian Studies Program, Chinese Studies, Department of Art and Art History, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Department of Government, and the Office of Institutional Diversity

Link: List of Past "Different Chinas" Events

English
Chain Reaction Poetry Event
In conjunction with Chain Reaction: Rube Goldberg and Contemporary Art.

A poetry event organized by the English department and presented by Skidmore students and faculty that underscored Goldberg’s delight in taking the long way around a simple task.

English, Astronomy, Art and Art History and the Office of Special Programs
Favorite Poems About the Heavens

In conjunction with A Very Liquid Heaven
Faculty members from the English department and the co-curators of A Very Liquid Heaven exhibition organized a Skidmore community poetry reading based on celestial subjects. Robert Pinsky, former Poet Laureate of the United States brought his community-based Favorite Poem Project to Skidmore in conjunction with his week-long residency as the McCormack Visiting Artist.

Link: Skidmore Scope Winter 2005 Article on A Very Liquid Heaven

Special Events

"Traditional hierarchical and programmatic separations merge as spaces visually eavesdrop and the distinction between display and archive, subject and object dissolve. The building invites one to pause, reflect, perform and explore."

Antoine Predock, Tang Museum Architect

Beginning with the Tang’s inaugural season, Skidmore faculty members have collaborated to bring to life the interdisciplinary spirit of the museum through unique performances created specifically for Tang exhibitions. They include:

MAK3
Fall 2004

In a unique programming twist, planning for a performance of George Crumb's “Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III) for Two Amplified Pianos and Percussion” (1974) actually spawned the idea for the Tang exhibition A Very Liquid Heaven. Margo Mensing, associate professor of art; Mary Crone Odekon, associate professor of physics; David Porter, Skidmore President Emeritus; Richard Hihn, senior artist-in-residence in music; and Deb Fernandez, associate professor of dance worked for two years planning the performance and exhibition. Beginning with interviews of figures from the history of astronomy and culminating in a live performance of Crumb's “Makrokosmos III,” Mak3 was an interdisciplinary mix of music, dance, and theater performed in the Tang’s Wachenheim Gallery.

Link: Skidmore Scope Winter 2005 Article on MAK3

Balls
Fall 2002

Debra Fernandez, associate professor of dance, choreographed several pieces based on Paul Henry Ramirez’ Elevatious Transcendsualistic painting series. The pieces were performed by Fernandez and current Skidmore dance students along with Skidmore dance department alumni and guest artists.

PDF: Skidmore Steps Article on the performance Balls

A Satie/Cage Tango
Fall 2000

Inspired by the Tang’s inaugural exhibition S.O.S.: Scenes of Sound, the Satie/Cage Tango featured Erik Satie’s Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano and John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano. The experimental performance work created by nearly two dozen Skidmore faculty, students, alumni, and guest artists was a blend of music, dance, art, readings, and audience participation. Skidmore faculty performers and organizers included David Porter, Skidmore President Emeritus; Richard Hihn, senior artist-in-residence in music; Mary DiSanto-Rose, associate professor of dance; Debra Fernandez, associate professor of dance; Margo Mensing, associate professor of art; John Anzalone, professor of French.

Link: The Skidmore News Article on Satie/Cage Tango

PDF: Satie/Cage Tango Press Release Satie-Cage_Press_Release.pdf 

Lectures & Dialogues

Dunkerley Dialogues
The Dialogue series, initiated with the museum’s first season in 2000, pairs Skidmore faculty with contemporary artists whose works are on view in the Tang at the time of the Dialogue. Beginning with the fall ’05 season, the series will be named the Dunkerley Dialogues in honor of Michele Dunkerley, a 1980 graduate of Skidmore who has given a generous gift to support the series.

The Dialogue series reflect the Tang's mission as an interdisciplinary art center, linking art with areas of study as diverse as chemistry, dance, history, language, sociology, and more.

Past pairings for the series have included:
• Christian Marclay with Lary Opitz, Associate Professor, Theater
• Martin Kersels with David Vella, Professor, Mathematics
• Annette Lemieux with Joanna Zangrando, Professor, American Studies
• Vik Muniz with Charles Stainback, Dayton Director of the Tang
• Joyce Kozloff with Susan Bender, Professor, Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work
• Dennis Wood with Terry Diggory, Ross Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Chair, English
• Nina Katchadourian with Margo Mensing, Professor, Art and Art History
• Alyson Shotz with Karen Kellogg, Visiting Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies
• Nayland Blake with Mason Stokes, Assistant Professor, English
• Shahzia Sikander with Deborah Hutton, Visiting Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
• Jeanne Silverthorne with Linda Simon, Associate Professor, English
• Xu Zheng with Jack Ling, Director of Institutional Diversity and lecturer, Art and Art History
• Yvette Smalls with Jerry Philogene, Lecturer, American Studies
• Mel Ziegler with Michael Arnush, Associate Professor of Classics and Director, First-Year Experience
• Richard Pettibone with Ian Berry, Malloy Curator, Tang Museum