Spring 2023 Opening Reception
Feb. 4, 6-9 pm
Join us at the AU Museum for the opening of our Spring Exhibitions! See Madayin, the first major exhibition of Aboriginal Australian bark painting to tour the US, photojournalism from World War II, winners of The Trawick Prize for Contemporary Art, a look at the “art” of art collecting, and a retrospective of photography by DC artist Gail Rebhan.
James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Artist Series Lecture: Featuring Sculptor Christina Cordova
Feb. 4, 2-3 pm
The James Renwick Alliance brings notable American craft artists from around the country to Washington DC for the Distinguished Artist Series, weekend events which include a Saturday workshop and Sunday lecture. The AU Museum is proud to host these visiting artists for the lecture portion of their event as they discuss their unique techniques, influences, and careers.
*Note: This free lecture is online only
Gallery Talk: The Deeply Social Art of Gail Rebhan
Feb. 5, 2-3 pm | Exhibit: Gail Rebhan: About Time
Take part in this lively discussion of the photography exhibition Gail Rebhan: About Time. This Gallery Talk features a panel discussion titled “The Deeply Social Art of Gail Rebhan.” Explore the many ways Rebhan jumps the narrow lane of art-for-art’s sake in terms of resisting the simple power of the mute single image by exploring with a variety of formal techniques the imbricated categories of the-personal-is-political (raised by second wave feminism) & the political is (or defines the) personal.
March
Gallery Talk: First-Generation American Visions Bridging Old and New Worlds
March 4, 2-3 pm | Exhibit: Gail Rebhan: About Time
Take part in this lively discussion of the photography exhibition Gail Rebhan: About Time. This Gallery Talk features a panel discussion titled “First-Generation American Visions Bridging Old and New Worlds.” Explore how might we see the history of recent immigration as a thread or factor informing the multi-cultural character of Rebhan’s work and likewise enriching that of other artists whose family histories contain a rich mix of cultural influences.
James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Artist Series Lecture: Featuring Sculptor Virgil Ortiz
March 5, 2-3 pm
The James Renwick Alliance brings notable American craft artists from around the country to Washington DC for the Distinguished Artist Series, weekend events which include a Saturday workshop and Sunday lecture. The AU Museum is proud to host these visiting artists for the lecture portion of their event as they discuss their unique techniques, influences, and careers.
Gallery Talk: Barlow Gilotty Collection
March 18, 2-3 pm | Exhibit: Barlow Gilotty Collection
Join collectors, artists, curators and special guests for an interactive Gallery Talk on The Barlow Gilotty Collection at the AU museum.
Eastern Front – Western Front: World War II Photojournalism by Georgi Zelma and Constance Stuart Larrabee: Exhibit Closes
March 19 | Exhibit: Eastern Front – Western Front
The Trawick Prize: 20th Anniversary Emerald Award: Exhibit Closes
March 19 | Exhibit: The Trawick Prize
Gallery Talk: The Draw (& Drawbacks) of Family Connections for Women Artists & Their Art
March 25, 2-3 pm | Exhibit: Gail Rebhan: About Time
Take part in this lively discussion of the photography exhibition Gail Rebhan: About Time. This Gallery Talk features a panel discussion titled “The Draw (and Drawbacks) of Family Connections for Women Artists and Their Art.” Rebhan came of age when women faced discrimination in many fields including the arts. Children and family were often seen as encumbrance to a full-fledged commitment to the pursuit of art, yet many feminist artists began to foreground in their art their multi-dimensional lives & attachments. How do we see this in Rebhan’s work and how might it align with feminist art by other women artists of the period?
James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Artist Series Lecture: Featuring Artist Jack Mauch and Sculptor/Jewelry designer Morgan Hill
March 26, 2-3:30 pm
The James Renwick Alliance brings notable American craft artists from around the country to Washington DC for the Distinguished Artist Series, weekend events which include a Saturday workshop and Sunday lecture. The AU Museum is proud to host these visiting artists for the lecture portion of their event as they discuss their unique techniques, influences, and careers.
Flipping the Narrative: Historical Collections as Sites of Cultural Diplomacy
March 31, 1-3 pm | Exhibit: Madayin
This lecture seeks to explore museums from a different perspective: it considers collections as containing forms of historic cultural diplomacy enacted by Indigenous people themselves – as expressive of their desire to extend and deepen knowledges of culture and experience across cultural worlds. If we are prepared to recognize this as a legitimate form of agency, we can re-frame the world’s museums, from sites of ongoing colonization and dispossession to sites of cultural strength with the potential to shape and inform stronger, intercultural futures.
Hear from Dr. Jilda Andrews, a Yuwaalaraay cultural practitioner and museum ethnographer based in Australia, as she draws from her heritage to recognize the cultural ecologies surrounding objects in museum collections.
Note: While the exhibition associated with this lecture, Madayin, is at the AU Museum, the lecture itself will be held at the Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street NW, Washington DC. Registration required.
Yolnu Ceremonial Performance
March 31, 6 pm | Exhibit: Madayin
Watch a live Yolnu performance featuring a ceremonial procession, yidaki (didjeridu) and bilma (clapping sticks) that will culturally and spiritually celebrate the exhibition.
A reception with light refreshments will follow.
April
Matha Nupanmi: A Summit of Yolnu Art and Ideas
April 1, 9 am-4 pm | Exhibit: Madayin
Explore the depths of Yolnu art and culture in this day of conversations and short films featuring Yolnu artists and leaders, curators, art historians and more. Talks are centered around four topics:
- Stewarding the Land
- Harvesting the Land
- First Nations Voices in Museums
- Yolnu Art Tomorrow
Note: The summit will take place directly across from the museum (and within the Katzen Arts Center) at the Abramson Family Recital Hall. Registration required.
Gallery Talk: Madayin
April 2, 2-3 pm | Exhibit: Madayin
Join Henry Skerritt, assistant professor at the University of Virginia and Aboriginal art expert, as he hosts a fascinating Gallery Talk on the traveling exhibition Madayin – listed as one of 90 exhibits to see by the New York Times and on view now at the AU Museum.
Opening Reception: Student-led Exhibitions
April 8, 6-9 pm | Exhibit: Still, Moving and end quote
Come celebrate the work of our talented students from two AU master’s programs! Still, Moving is a Master in Curatorial Practice exercise showcasing the collaborative efforts of students in their design of an exhibition using pieces from the Corcoran Legacy Collection. End Quote is the master’s in fine arts thesis exhibition which punctuates the end – and signals the beginning – of eight artists’ time together here in DC.
James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Artist Series Lecture: Featuring Glass Sculptor Susan Taylor Glasgow
April 16, 2-3 pm
The James Renwick Alliance brings notable American craft artists from around the country to Washington DC for the Distinguished Artist Series, weekend events which include a Saturday Workshop and Sunday lecture. The AU Museum is proud to host these visiting artists for the lecture portion of their event as they discuss their unique techniques, influences, and careers.
Do The Loop
April 22, 11 am-4 pm
Discover the art loop of Northwest Washington, DC! The Kreeger Museum, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Dumbarton Oaks, Jackson Arts Center, and galleries on Georgetown’s Book Hill collaborate for Do The Loop, a free day of indoor and outdoor art programming, complete with shuttle service provided between locations.
Gallery Talk: Greater DC and the Depiction of Urban Flux
April 29, 2-3:30 pm | Exhibit: Gail Rebhan: About Time
Take part in this lively discussion of the photography exhibition Gail Rebhan: About Time. This Gallery Talk features a panel discussion titled “Greater DC and the Depiction of Urban Flux.” Just as Rebhan explored the way the personal is political and both elements are subject to change over time, so too her art insists on the way the political so often finds its way into the changing shape and experience of our lives.
Event Contacts
Sam Hamilton
shamilton@american.edu
Patricia Edwine-Poku
ppoku@american.edu