St. Mary's College of Md. News Briefs


Thefts, Frauds, and Hoaxes: Museum Studies Week at St. Mary's College of Maryland

Each year, the Museum Studies Program at St. Mary's College of Maryland sponsors Museum Studies Week, an event that showcases the work museums are doing to preserve and interpret the nation's natural and cultural heritage. The theme for this year's Museum Studies Week, Tuesday-Thursday, Sept. 20-22, is "Thefts, Frauds, and Hoaxes," with two well-known and highly regarded speakers, including the founder of the FBI's National Art Crime Team. In addition, Randy Larsen, professor of chemistry at St. Mary's College, will use some of the sophisticated new equipment in the newly-opened Anne Arundel Hall to identify possible "fakes" in the St. Mary's College art collection.

James Southerland, professor of history at Brenau University, will tell the story of the mysterious Dare Stones on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 4:10 p.m. in Cole Cinema, Campus Center. In 1937, in the woods of North Carolina, a man recovered a stone purported to be the grave marker of Virginia Dare and her father. The stone, dated 1591, was carved with information about what happened to the "Lost Colony" at Roanoke. When forty more "Dare" stones came to light, however, the stones were all declared to be hoaxes. Now, scientists and historians aren't so sure—at least about the first stone discovered.

The following evening, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 4:45 p.m. in W203, Anne Arundel Hall, Professor Larsen will test objects from the College's art collection using sophisticated instruments in the College's brand new, fully-equipped Museum Studies Lab. Larsen will focus his testing on objects in the collection thought to be fakes. He will also test copper found at an Indian town in Chaptico to determine if it is Great Lakes copper or European copper. Don't miss this opportunity to see the new lab and its amazing equipment. NOTE: Because seating is limited in the Museum Studies Lab, reservations are required: jking@smcm.edu.

On Thursday, Sept. 22, at 4:10 p.m. in Cole Cinema, Campus Center, Robert K. Wittman, a retired special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and author of "Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures," will describe some of the most shocking international heists in history and the forensics used to solve these crimes. Wittman has gone undercover to rescue works by Rockwell, Rembrandt, Picasso, and Monet. His daring risks have helped to make sure the world's treasures remain where they belong.

All presentations are free and open to the public. For more information about these talks, Museum Studies Week, or the Museum Studies Program at St. Mary's College, contact Julia King at jking@smcm.edu.

Claiming Space: Nonconformist Exhibition in 1970's Leningrad at Boyden Gallery, Aug. 23-Sept. 24, curated by St. Mary's College Alumna

Opening Reception and Curator's Talk, Sept. 1, 4:30-6 p.m.

Composed of 41 works and 23 artists from the "Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union," Claiming Space: Nonconformist Exhibition in 1970's Leningrad examines how nonconformist artists reshaped exhibition possibilities in the dangerous socio-political landscape of Soviet Leningrad. The exhibition, curated by St. Mary's College of Maryland alumna Rebecca Archer '16, Riverdale Park, MD, will be on display Aug. 23-Sept. 24 at the Boyden Gallery. An opening reception and Curator's Talk will take place at the gallery on Sept. 1 from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

After the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1932 and the forced dissolution of avant-garde artist circles in favor of state-sanctioned Socialist Realism, modern artists throughout the USSR were forced underground. In the 1970s Leningrad nonconformist artists subverted artistic censorship by hosting apartment exhibitions throughout the city, despite KGB harassment and threats. However, their ultimate goal was to connect with a broader audience through public exhibition. This exhibition explores the trajectory of 1970's Leningrad nonconformism through exhibition practice, honoring their struggles and triumphs in the name of artistic freedom.

Rebecca Archer, curator of Claiming Space, is a recent graduate from St. Mary's College of Maryland, majoring in history and art history. This exhibition is the final product of her St. Mary's Project, a year-long undergraduate research project. She will be participating in the Advanced Program Internship at the Smithsonian American Art Museum for the next academic year.

The "Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union" is comprised of over 25,000 works by more than 2,000 artists from the Soviet Union who expressed themselves freely, in defiance of the repressive policies of the Soviet government.

The collection serves as a testament to the courage of all those who would challenge authority in pursuit of artistic freedom. The collection is also valuable for having preserved and presented the works of many talented artists whose contributions to art history may otherwise have been lost.

Since 1991, the collection has been on permanent display and in rotating exhibitions at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. St. Mary's College of Maryland has hosted numerous exhibitions over the years that were organized and supported by Norton Dodge during his time as a trustee and professor of economics at the College. It is gratifying that this tradition is being continued with Claiming Space: Nonconformist Exhibition in 1970's Leningrad.

The mission of Boyden Gallery of St. Mary's College of Maryland is to serve as an educational and cultural resource for students, faculty and staff of the College and the broader Southern Maryland community.

Boyden Gallery and the Fine Art Collection are guided by the conviction that engagement with visual art, media and culture is a key component of a liberal arts education. The Gallery promotes visual literacy, object-based learning and the understanding of visual art in its historic and cultural context through exhibitions, educational programs, interdisciplinary exploration, and community engagement.

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