Overview

September 17, 2022 – May 20, 2023

Curated by Tracy L. Adler, Johnson-Pote Director, and Alexander Jarman, Assistant Curator of Exhibitions and Academic Outreach

Dialogues Across Disciplines celebrates the ten year anniversary of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art. Featuring a selection of artworks acquired through gifts and purchases over the last decade, the exhibition highlights the museum’s ongoing commitment to building a globally representative collection that is reflective of the academic and cultural richness of Hamilton College. Featuring over 7,000 works of art and artifacts—2,000 of which have been acquired since the Wellin was established in 2012—the Wellin’s collection represents a broad range of cultures, historical periods, artistic practices and movements. As a teaching museum, the Wellin has worked to activate its holdings to engage the curiosity of students, faculty, staff, and the community, and advance interdisciplinary learning by introducing new ideas and perspectives to classroom conversations. 

The works included in this exhibition mirror Hamilton’s liberal arts mission more broadly by highlighting a plurality of voices and viewpoints using art as a means of addressing subjects relevant to a range of disciplines from the humanities to the sciences. To foreground this, members of the Hamilton community have been invited to lend their personal and expert perspectives by writing texts to accompany the artworks on display. This collaboration both deepens our understanding of individual works, but also underscores how the active participation of faculty, students, staff, and administrators enrich the collection and bring the artworks to life. To spark responses to the themes in the exhibition, educational prompts are situated throughout the gallery interspersed between artworks highlighting the interrelationship between the curatorial and education aspects of the museum.

Artists featured in the exhibition include Berenice Abbott, Firelei Báez, Romare Bearden, Ilse Bing, Rhona Bitner, Akea Brionne, Charles Burchfield, René Burri, Margarita Cabrera, Sang-ah Choi, Mark Citret, Larry Colwell, Gerald Cyrus, Yvan Dalain, W.E. Dassonville, Edwin Dickinson, Francesca DiMattio, Mike Disfarmer, David Driskell, Judith Eisler, Liat Elbling, Chris Enos, Spencer Finch, Bisson Frères, Jason Fulford, Jeffrey Gibson, Burt Glinn, Marion Greenwood, Karen Hampton, Donté K. Hayes, Ken Haymen, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Candida Höfer, Katushika Hokusai, Henry Horenstein, Walter Iooss, Julia Jacquette, Yun-Fei Ji, Priya Kambli, Clarence Kennedy, Yashua Klos, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, Deanna Lawson, Nate Lewis, Sharon Lockhart, Nicola López, Louis Lozowick, Roberto Lugo, Danny Lyon, Édourd Manet, Julian Martinez, Maria Poveka Martinez, Christine Nofchissey McHorse, Joel Meyerowitz, Jean-François Millet, Inge Morath, Wright Morris, Ray Mortenson, Eamon Ore-Giron, Bill Owens, Elizabeth Peak, Margaret Rhodes Peattie, Beverly Pepper, Howardena Pindell, Al H. Qöyawayma, Michael Rakowitz, Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers), Wendy Red Star, Marc Riboud, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Cara Romero, Arthur Rothstein, Casey Ruble, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Allison Saar, Ibrahim Said, Collier Schorr, Charles T. Scowen, Jamel Shabazz, Yinka Shonibare MBE, RA, Alyson Shotz, Elias Sime, Laurie Simmons, Dayanita Singh, Erika Stone, Jason Stopa, Lou Stoumen, Renée Stout, Judith Taylor, Toyen, Giuseppe Vasi, Barbara Walker MBE, Sidney Waugh, Dyani White Hawk, Dorothy Wilding, and Letha Wilson.

Exhibition Programming:

Spring 2023

Artists In Conversation: Jamea Richmond-Edwards
Monday, February 6, 4:30–6:00 p.m.
In-Person: Bradford Auditorium, KJ125
Exhibiting artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards will present a lecture and lead a discussion about her artistic practice and recent projects. Her work Devotional for the Divine Mind is currently on view in the exhibition Dialogues Across Disciplines: Building a Teaching Collection at the Wellin Museum. Light refreshments will be provided.

Artists in Conversation: Donté K. Hayes
Wednesday, March 9, 4:30–6:00 p.m.
In-Person: Overlook Classroom, Wellin Museum
Exhibiting artist Donté K. Hayes will present a lecture and lead a discussion about his artistic practice and recent projects. His work Protector is currently on view in the exhibition Dialogues Across Disciplines: Building a Teaching Collection at the Wellin Museum. Light refreshments will be provided.

Fall 2022

Virtual Tour with the Curators of the Exhibition Dialogues Across Disciplines: Building a Teaching Collection at the Wellin Museum
Friday, September 16, 12:00–1:00 p.m.
Virtual
Johnson-Pote Director Tracy L. Adler and Assistant Curator Alexander Jarman will lead a virtual preview of the exhibition on Facebook Live.

Film premiere and Q & A with filmmaker Brett Novak
Saturday, September 17, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
Bradford Auditorium, KJ125
Join us for the in-person premiere screening of a feature documentary commissioned to commemorate the Wellin Museum’s tenth anniversary. Directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Brett Novak, the film revisits the Wellin’s exhibiting artists today, and through new interviews and archival exhibition footage, explores how their exhibitions at the Wellin impacted their artistic practice. Participating artists include Margarita Cabrera, Jeffrey Gibson, Karen Hampton, Julia Jacquette, Yun-Fei Ji, Yashua Klos, Sarah Oppenheimer, Michael Rakowitz, Alyson Shotz, Elias Sime, Renée Stout, and Umar Rashid/Frohawk Two Feathers. Support for this documentary has been provided by the Daniel W. Dietrich ’64 Fund for Innovation in the Arts. 

After the screening, Brett Novak and Tracy L. Adler will discuss the film, followed by a Q & A. 

Open House for Dialogues Across Disciplines
Saturday, September 17, 3:00– 6:00 p.m.
Join us for an in-person opening celebration of our tenth anniversary exhibition. Refreshments will be provided on the Selch Museum Terrace. 

What Museums Can Teach Us: A Panel Discussion with Wellin Museum Docents Past and Present
Friday, September 23, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
On the occasion of the Wellin’s tenth anniversary, this in-person discussion brings together current Wellin student docents in dialogue with former docents who have graduated and pursued work in the arts. Moderated by Marjorie Johnson, the Wellin’s Museum Educator and Docent Program Supervisor, the panel "What Museums Can Teach Us" will include stories about working at the Wellin Museum as well as how the experience informs future careers in the arts.
Participants:
Matthew Tom, ’20, Majors: Visual Art and Literature. Currently working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Isha Parkhi, ’21, Majors: Cinema and Media Studies and Sociology. Currently working at Resnicow and Associates in New York.
Olivia Davis, ’23, Major: Economics; Minors: Italian and Anthropology
Maeve Zimmerman ’23, Majors: French and Art History  

Roehrick Lecture: Julia Jacquette
Monday, October 3, 4:30 p.m.
This in-person lecture and discussion led by exhibiting artist Julia Jacquette will address her artistic practice, her 2017 solo exhibition at the Wellin—Julia Jacquette: Unrequited and Acts of Play—and her more recent artistic explorations. 

About the Wellin Museum:
Through the lens of art, the Wellin Museum sparks dialogues across disciplines, inspires experimentation, and fosters creative inquiry. Embodying the liberal arts experience, the Wellin is an interdisciplinary hub for Hamilton College and the broader community to discover the arts and form unexpected connections through groundbreaking exhibitions, a globally representative teaching collection, and engaging programming.