Seven student-curated exhibitions opened Tuesday, May 2 at the Sweet Briar Museum. The exhibits were assembled as part of the arts management class “Curating, Collecting and Connoisseurship: Behind the Ropes at the Sweet Briar Museum,” and feature new interpretations of items from the College collection.

This Eastlake-style chair (c. 1880) was part of an exhibit titled “Victorian Eclecticism: A Look at 19th-Century Chairs." curated by Kendra Bordon ’06.
The exhibitions include the following, listed with their curator(s): Pink and Green: Sweet Briar Traditions — Sloan Houston ’07; East Meets West in the South — Maureen McGuire ’06; Are They More Than Just Bottles? — Kelly Rogers ’06; Sticking to Tradition: Photographic Discoveries of the Lives of Sweet Briar Women, 1948-1971 — Celeste Wackenhut ’07 and Shannon Schalestock ’09; Jewelry of the Fletcher-Williams Family — Meghan Kaminski ’09; Victorian Eclecticism: A Look at 19th-Century Chairs — Kendra Bordon ’06, and A Play Date with Daisy Williams — Emily Olson ’07.

Maureen McGuire ’06 talks about her exhibit, “East Meets West in the South,” which focused on 19th-century interest in Japanese culture.
In addition to their final exhibition projects, “Curating, Collecting and Connoisseurship” students visited and critiqued museums, attended conferences and interviewed museum professionals, gaining “practical skills to work in museums as exhibition designers and curators,” said Christian Carr, Sweet Briar Museum director and assistant professor of arts management.

Since it is staffed by student workers, the Sweet Briar Museum follows the academic schedule and will be closed when classes are not in session. The final day of classes was May 2, however, special tours can be arranged during the summer months and the museum will be open during Reunion Weekend, May 26-28.

The exhibits will be on display through the fall.

For more information, contact Carr at 381-6246 or ccarr@sbc.edu.

— By Suzanne Ramsey, SBC staff writer