The Mind’s Eye
Found in Cuba: Handmade books illustrate Cuban poetry through repurposed materials
Nov. 3, 2020—Ediciones Vigía, a publishing house in the town of Matanzas, Cuba, began to create handbills and invitations in 1985 for local cultural events. Displayed through March of this year, these works now can be enjoyed again in the online exhibit Found in Cuba: The Ingenuity and Creativity of Ediciones Vigía.
American Experiment: Professor hopes to inspire the vision of indivisibility for which the American flag stands
Jul. 29, 2020—The symbolism of frayed, worn flags in "Flag Exchange" by Mel Ziegler, Paul E. Schwab Professor of Fine Arts, raises questions about the capacity of the American experiment to be sustained through national triumphs and shortcomings, including our own time of divisiveness.
Reimagining a Lost Book
Feb. 17, 2020—Artists from the United States, Cuba and Haiti envision social change through reinterpretation of a lost work Visionary Aponte: Art and Black Freedom brings together 20 contemporary artists working across a range of media to interpret an extraordinary—and now lost—historical artifact: a so-called “Book of Paintings” created by José Antonio Aponte, a 19th-century Afro-Cuban revolutionary...
Ceramics Capstone
Aug. 20, 2019—Clay artist Susan DeMay’s retirement exhibit showcases a three-pronged approach to ceramic art From the day in 1977 that Susan DeMay, MS’79, arrived at George Peabody College for Teachers to study with artist and professor Michael Taylor in the basement ceramics studio at East Hall, her journey as a ceramic artist has followed three paths....
Patterns: Visual artist Alicia Henry challenges conventions of femininity
Feb. 19, 2019—Paper dolls have long been used to emphasize cultural norms regarding femininity and beauty. As often happens, childhood play subtly reinforces society’s notions of the “ideal.” Once these playthings are cast off and one enters adulthood, these romanticized notions should fall out of our conscience as easily as clothes from paper dolls. Yet, somehow, they...
Seasons Greetings: Polly Cook’s mural attests to the rhythms of campus
Sep. 6, 2018—Come sun, rain or snow, one of the best places on Vanderbilt’s campus to find shelter is under Calhoun Hall’s stone portico, facing out toward the law and business schools. This refuge is also home to a mural of campus life, Seasonal Cycles, created in ceramic tiles by Nashville native Polly Cook. Installed in 1993,...
Painting Personality: Everett Raymond Kinstler ‘performs’ the role of portrait painter
Jun. 8, 2018—Successful portraiture is all about conveying the personality of the sitter. It sounds easy, but it’s not, because those character traits that make up a person’s true self have little to do with actual physical appearance. To successfully capture the sitter, portraiture requires the artist to be part psychologist or anthropologist—or maybe to possess a...
Mind’s Eye: Violins of Hope
Feb. 26, 2018—The power of hope—and a dark history—come to life through violin project Some say the violin is the instrument that most closely imitates the human voice. In March, 22 violins, most of which were played by Jewish musicians interned in concentration camps during the Holocaust, will arrive in Music City from Israel, where they will...
Winning Hand: Vanderbilt now home to extraordinary gaming collection
Nov. 21, 2017—The George Clulow and United States Playing Card Co. Gaming Collection—one of the world’s premier collections of books about card games, games of chance, playing cards and chess—has been acquired by the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. The collection of approximately 1,000 volumes dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries was acquired from The...
Restoring Humanity: The Interconnectedness of Life Is Illustrated in Shimmering Glass Tiles
Aug. 12, 2016—It has been 47 years since Ben Shahn’s mosaic Peabody—1968 was dedicated in the Hobbs Human Development Laboratory on what was then the campus of George Peabody College for Teachers. The effort to commission Shahn, an artist well known for his advocacy for the poor, was spearheaded by Susan Gray, professor of psychology, emerita, and an advocate for children, particularly those held back developmentally by poverty.
Visual Arts: Molten Mysteries
Mar. 22, 2012—Jose Santisteban—beads of perspiration glistening on his brow—rotates a long, thin metal tube tipped with a bubble of honey-colored molten glass inside a furnace that’s been heated to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. As African jazz plays in the background, Santisteban removes the pipe from the furnace, blows air into the glass bubble, and gently rolls it...
Books and Writers: A Focus on Family
Mar. 22, 2012—The year 2011 was a very good one for writer Kevin Wilson, BA’00. His first novel, The Family Fang, was published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, in August to glowing reviews, and he was the subject of an admiring profile in The New York Times. He did a 12-city promotional tour and looks forward...