In 2023 the Vanderbilt Art Gallery commissioned Atlanta-based artist Amie Esslinger to produce a site-specific installation above the grand staircase in the atrium of Cohen Memorial Hall. The resulting work is Holding Impact, a series of eight distinctive multimedia installations that have collided into one, creating a force that fills, conforms to and breaks free from the confines of the space.
Holding Impact disrupts the neoclassical (formal, symmetrical) architecture of the atrium to produce new ways of seeing. To do this, Esslinger plays with scale, color, material and texture to excite awe and wonder—the building blocks for both a sense of self and a sense of community.
Esslinger will be on campus Feb. 19–23 to work in the gallery and meet with classes. She will hold workshops for K-12 students and lead programs open to the public.
Featured programs during Esslinger’s time on campus include:
- Art for Lunch, 12:30–1:30 p.m. on Feb. 20 in the Art Gallery at Cohen Memorial Hall. Join Amie Esslinger for a talk about her artistic practice and her installation, Holding Impact.
- Dean’s Dinner, 6–7:30 p.m. on Feb. 20. All dinners are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, and space is limited. Contact Shonna Greer.
- Panel Discussion, 4:30–6 p.m. on Feb. 21 in the atrium at Cohen Memorial Hall. Melissa Chambers, co-director of the Center for Structural Biology Cryo-EM Facility, and Jana Harper, associate professor of the practice in the Department of Art, will be in conversation with Amie Esslinger on understanding the natural world through art.
