Established in 2007 by the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology, this fund provides up to $4,000 in support for both small and large exhibitions of ancient and medieval art (or related historical art) at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. Artworks from these time periods are rare in the Salem area, and indeed in the entire Pacific Northwest, so any exhibition that brings to the museum a really fine Roman portrait, an exquisite Chinese bronze vessel, or a brilliant French Gothic illuminated manuscript would provide a unique first-hand experience of a cultural masterpiece of high aesthetic quality and historical significance. University students, faculty and staff, local schoolchildren, as well as the general public benefit from these enriching displays. Such objects, carefully chosen for their multifarious links to the university’s curriculum, displayed in the quiet and distinctive galleries of the university’s art museum, and accompanied by abundant explanatory materials and related programming, also encourage careful and critical viewing habits. The fund helps to make possible the exhibition of such objects (which is often otherwise prohibitively expensive) in this context — objects that wonderfully complement the university’s paramount mission to pass on the tradition of liberal learning by fostering the skills of critical thinking and questioning, reading and observing, as well as speaking and writing.
University faculty and curators interested in organizing an exhibition and applying for support from this fund must begin their planning process by discussing their ideas with the director of the museum, John Olbrantz. Once the envisioned exhibition is approved and scheduled by the museum, an application for support from this fund may be made in the form of a detailed memo describing the content and goals of the exhibition in relation to its potential pedagogical benefits. The memo must also describe and justify any planned programming in conjunction with the proposed exhibition as well as providing a detailed budget for the project. Applications will be accepted at any time, but must be accompanied by a letter of support from the museum’s director. Applicants are encouraged to seek other, outside sources of funding as well.
Please submit all application materials electronically (as .pdf files) to:
Andrea Foust
Coordinator for the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology
afoust(AT)willamette(DOT)edu
Current Exhibition Project
Supported by the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology
Glory of Kings: Ethiopian Christian Art from Oregon Collections
March 19, 2011- June 12, 2011
Curated by Dr. A. Dean McKenzie, Professor of Art History emeritus,
University of Oregon, Eugene, and Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski, Faculty Curator and
Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Willamette University
This exhibition features 38 objects including traditional Ethiopian icons, richly illuminated manuscripts, magic scrolls, icon and cross pendants, as well as the handheld and monumental processional crosses that are such a distinctive expression of the Ethiopian Christian faith and ritual practice. The exhibition includes objects from the permanent
collection of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art and from the fine collections of Ethiopian art at the University of Oregon's Museum of Cultural and Natural History and the Knight Library in Eugene, as well as several private collections. This exhibition is accompanied by a 16-page full color brochure authored by Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski and Dr. A. Dean McKenzie.
In conjunction with this exhibition, Dr. Marilyn E. Heldman, Visiting Scholar and Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, presented an illustrated lecture at Willamette entitled "Lalibala: From Dynastic Center to Pilgrimage Site" (March 31, 2011). In addition, Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski will present an illustrated
paper entitled "Introduction to Ethiopian Christian Art" (April 10, 2011) at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Salem.
Previous Exhibition Projects Supported by the
Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology
Ancient Mosaics: Selections from the Richard Brockway Collection
September 26-December 23, 2009
Curated by John Olbrantz, The Maribeth Collins Director of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Drawn from the collection of Richard Brockway of Vero Beach, Florida, this exhibition features six mosaic pavements from Roman Syria that date from the fourth to the sixth centuries CE. Included in the exhibition are two geometric mosaics, two figurative mosaics, and two animal mosaics that once graced a house, bath, mausoleum, or church somewhere in the Orontes Valley. This exhibition is accompanied by a 13-page full color brochure authored by John Olbrantz.
In conjunction with this exhibition, Dr. Christine Kondoleon, the George and Margo Behrakis Curator of Greek and Roman Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, presented an illustrated lecture at Willamette entitled “An Introduction to the Mosaics of the Greek East and their Culture” (October 1, 2009).
From Hestia’s Sacred Fire to Christ’s Eternal Light:
Ancient and Medieval Lamps from the Bogue Collection
March 14-May 17, 2009
Curated by: Dr. Lisa R. Brody, Associate Curator of Ancient Art and the Yale University Art Gallery, and Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski, Faculty Curator and Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Willamette University
This exhibition featured 84 oil lamps from the Bogue collection at Portland State University. Oil lamps were essential objects of daily life in ancient and medieval times, and every household would have owned several. Like other ceramics, the simplest oil lamps were plain and purely functional, while others contained ornamental and/or figural relief scenes, often taken from mythological or religious contexts.This exhibition was accompanied by a 6-page full color illustrated brochure authored by Dr. Lisa R. Brody and Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski.
In conjunction with this exhibition, Dr. Lisa R. Brody, Associate Curator of Ancient Art and the Yale University Art Gallery, presented an illustrated lecture at Willamette entitled "Illuminating Art: The Study of Ancient Lamps" (March 18, 2009). In addition, Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski presented an illustrated paper entitled “The Bogue Collection of Ancient Lamps at Portland State University,” at the Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon (April 4, 2009). Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski also presented an illustrated paper entitled "From Hestia's Sacred Fire to Christ's Eternal Light: Ancient and Medieval Oil Lamps," at the annual Northwest Regional Middle East Seminar, Portland, Oregon (May 8, 2010).
For more information, contact Andrea Foust, coordinator of the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology at (503) 370-6654.