The Bowdoin College Museum of Art offers faculty and students the unique opportunity to curate exhibitions in the Becker Gallery, a space dedicated to projects that connect Museum collections to the academic life of the College. Faculty and student exhibitions are developed in collaboration with BCMA staff and remain on view for approximately six weeks during the academic year.
For faculty, Becker Gallery exhibitions offer an opportunity to pursue research on an important theme, historical moment, work of art, or artist. Many faculty include students in this work by integrating the exhibition into a semester-long course, offering a wealth of research and writing projects for students to pursue. BCMA staff will facilitate repeated class visits to the Museum to study objects in person, provide sustained engagement with works of art, and give insight into the curatorial process. The Museum also welcomes ideas for public programming, including tours and guest speakers, as a way to further enliven Becker Gallery shows.
Becker Gallery exhibitions also provide an avenue for individual students (or student groups and organizations) to work closely with curatorial staff and a faculty sponsor to develop a project that might relate to an experimental idea, academic interest, or specific subject matter. As with faculty-generated exhibitions, students will work to identify the theme, select works, plan the layout, write gallery texts, and brainstorm public programs related to the academic and social life of campus.
Faculty- and student-curated exhibitions require advance planning of several months, so please contact us as early as possible to learn more. Curatorial staff will collaborate with you to develop an exhibition concept, choose appropriate works of art, edit and produce gallery texts, and design and install the exhibition.
Those interested in submitting an application can contact BCMA Curator Casey Braun (c.braun@bowdoin.edu) with any questions.
Andrea Dezsö: The Visitors February 20-May 31, 2020 The Visitors features works of art by Andrea Dezsӧ, halley k harrisburg ’90 and Michael Rosenfeld Artist-in-Residence, and objects from the Museum. This exhibition of the artist’s work was organized in collaboration with Zac Wilson, Bowdoin class of 2020, and Jackie Brown, Marvin H. Green Jr. Assistant Professor of Art.
Pasado y Presente: Twentieth-Century Photographs of a Changing Mexico January 7-March 15, 2020, Markell Gallery Pasado y Presente explored the forces of change and tradition that have shaped modern Mexico through the lens of twentieth century photographers. The exhibition was curated by the students in “War of the Latin American Worlds,” a fall 2019 course in Hispanic and Latin American Studies taught by Carolyn Wolfenzon Niego, associate professor of romance languages and literatures.
African/American: Two Centuries of Portraits November 7, 2019-February 9, 2020 The exhibition featured outstanding portraits of and by leading African American artists from prior to slavery’s abolition in the United States to today. This exhibition was curated by Lauren Dove, class of 2021, curatorial and education assistant, with the assistance of Elizabeth Humphrey ’14, curatorial assistant and manager of student programs.
Photographic Lives: Robert Freson, Irving Penn, and the Portrait March 28-June 2, 2019 This exhibition explores two remarkable photographers and their different approaches to portraiture. The exhibition was curated by Ellery Harkness, class of 2021, student curatorial assistant.
Modernism for All: The Bauhaus at 100 March 1–May 12, 2019 By juxtaposing works of art and design by Bauhaus masters and their students this exhibition introduces the famous school as a highly successful learning environment. Curated with assistance from Danny Banks ’19, student curatorial assistant, Juliette Dankens ’18, and Alexander Dobbin ’18.
Fashioning Modernity: Art and Independence among Yorubas in Nigeria January 17–March 17, 2019 This exhibition examined innovations in Yoruba arts—at once traditional and modern—during a critical moment in Nigeria’s history, the transition to political independence. Fashioning Modernity was curated by students enrolled in“African Art and Visual Culture” during the 2018 fall term and Allison Martino, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Africana Studies.
Spring of Discontent: The Photography of Michael Ruetz November 15, 2018-January 6, 2019, Becker Gallery In a visual diary of iconic photographs, Ruetz captured the events and circumstances of 1968 and the ideas and socio-political changes associated with the ‘68 Movement in Germany and beyond. The installation was curated by students of the fall 2018 course “German Literature and Culture since 1945” and Jens Klenner, assistant professor of German.
Among Women October 11, 2018-April 7, 2019 This exhibition explores the artistic portrayal of women in the United States over the last three centuries. Curated by Eleanor Sapat ’20, student curatorial and education assistant.
A Handheld History: Five Centuries of Medals from the Molinari Collection at Bowdoin College July 26, 2018–January 20, 2019, Markell Gallery This installation allowed viewers to experience the intimacy and poignancy of portrait medals spanning nearly five centuries and to consider the lessons they have to impart to contemporary audiences. Organized by Bowdoin students Amber Orosco ’19, Stephen Pastoriza ’19, and Benjamin Wu ’18.
Reading Room: Experiments in Collaborative Dialogue and Archival Practice in the Arts March 29-June 3, 2018, Becker Gallery Reading Room was a material and immaterial archive of texts, books, and writings in response to the question: “How can art act as a mechanism for social action?” The exhibition was organized by Bowdoin students Hailey Beaman ’18 and June Lei ’18.
Where the Artist's Hand Meets the Author's Pen: Drawings from the Artine Artinian Collection January 19-March 22, 2018, Becker Gallery Highlights of the gifts from Artine Artinian, Bowdoin Class of 1931, provided an introduction to the visual culture of France during the Belle Époque. This exhibition was curated by Daniel Rechtschaffen, Class of 2018, student curatorial assistant.
Dmitri Baltermants: Documenting and Staging a Soviet Reality September 23, 2017–January 7, 2018, Becker Gallery This exhibition included more than thirty of Dmitri Baltermants’s most famous photographs. Curated by Johna Cook ’19, student curatorial assistant.
