University Museum's Genesis of Artwork and Intellect
Lehigh University Art Galleries (LUAG) recently hosted the "AAD Faculty Exhibition," a showcase of the diverse work of 15 faculty members from the department of art, architecture and design (AAD). The exhibition, curated by William Crow, a professor of practice in AAD and director of LUAG, underscores the university's commitment to recognizing faculty artistic endeavours as a legitimate form of research.
The exhibition featured works from a variety of disciplines, including design, architecture, and art history. Notable participants included Stacie Brennan, LUAG's curator of education, who developed programming to showcase the interdisciplinarity of the works in the exhibition. Other faculty members showcased included Amy Forsyth, Marilyn Jones, Anna Chupa, Deirdre Murphy, Eugene Han, Peter Lusch, Lucy Gans, Nik Nikolov, Anthony Viscardi, Christine Ussler, Susan Kart, Nicholas Sawicki, Jason Travers, and Wesley Heiss.
In addition to the physical exhibition, LUAG offers online resources and experiences on its LUAG@Home page. One such exhibition was Apparition, created by Wesley Heiss in 2020. Apparition, made from balsa wood, plastic, and glue, showcases the artistic process as a form of open-ended inquiry and discovery.
According to Mark Wonsidler, the curator of the Apparition exhibition, there is a similarity between pure science and the arts, where individuals engage in open-ended inquiry with many questions and uncertain outcomes, and enter into a process of discovery. This perspective is shared by William Crow, who argues that faculty members in fields like art, art history, design, and architecture should be viewed as researchers who engage in the process of making, creating, and designing as another way of knowing about the world.
Several faculty members were paired with individuals from different fields for a series of conversations called "Art in Dialogue." This initiative aimed to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration, further emphasizing the interconnectedness of the works in the exhibition. One such pairing was between Susan Kart, assistant professor of art history and Africana studies, and Stacie Brennan. Kart provided written commentary on works from LUAG's permanent collection that she uses in her teaching, while Brennan developed programming to showcase the interdisciplinarity of the works in the exhibition.
Overall, the "AAD Faculty Exhibition" at LUAG serves as a platform for thinking about how knowledge gets created in multiple ways, and for recognizing the artistic endeavours of faculty members as a legitimate form of research. The university museum and gallery acts as a bridge between production, presentation, and scholarly discourse, reinforcing the notion that art-making is a vital research activity in academia.
References:
- Universities increasingly recognize the artistic endeavours of faculty members as a legitimate form of research
- Artistic research is conceptualized as practice-based inquiry that contributes to collective knowledge production
- Faculty artistic practice is often evaluated under research criteria that include the development of innovative methods, the creation of new knowledge or ways of knowing, and the impact of their work nationally or internationally
- Faculty members in art schools and colleges articulate artistic research as encompassing material gathering, reflection, and experimentation with forms and contexts that align with academic research paradigms but rooted in artistic processes
- Lehigh University acknowledges faculty members' artistic endeavors as a legitimate form of research, as showcased in the "AAD Faculty Exhibition."
- The exhibition, featuring works from diverse disciplines, highlights the university's commitment to recognizing faculty research in art, architecture, and design.
- The creative process, seen in the exhibition, is compared to pure science, emphasizing open-ended inquiry and discovery.
- Interdisciplinary collaborations like the "Art in Dialogue" series foster dialogue and collaboration among faculty members from different fields, furthering the interconnectedness of artistic and academic research.
- Online education platforms, such as LUAG@Home, provide opportunities for broadening access to faculty research and artistic works, like Wesley Heiss' Apparition exhibition.
