Rollins Museum of Art will underscore its role as an academic museum by including faculty contributions in an engaging presentation on its fall schedule.
“Art Encounters: Rethinking My Relationship to the Land,” opening September 14 and running through January 5, 2025, will parallel the idea behind the Rollins College Conference: a seminar class where first-year students explore a topic in a professor’s area of expertise. The “Art Encounters” topic of climate change and environmental justice will feature six works from the museum’s permanent collection that will be presented with quotes and insights from Rollins faculty members. The installation is meant to inspire critical thought and drive conversation, but the faculty contributions also helped with the selection of the pieces.
“With that information, we brainstormed on how we can select works that speak to these specific concerns,” said Rollins Museum of Art Curator Gisela Carbonell. “Their input informed our selection.”
“We were looking for faculty who were dealing with human-driven climate change as part of their research practice or in their teaching,” said Associate Curator of Education David Matteson. Professors of political science, biology, environmental studies, social entrepreneurship, and the arts contributed their perspectives in recordings that will be used as audio guides. Carbonell and Matteson then pulled quotes to integrate into the exhibit. “There are quotes in the information panels by the artwork and we also have larger quotes juxtaposed to some of the pieces,” said Matteson. “It’s a different way of looking at the art, it becomes a vehicle for addressing huge ideas.”
Aside from public viewings, the exhibition will host more than 40 Rollins class tours and several visits from area schools throughout the season. “It’s a really beautiful concept that reflects what we do as an academic museum,” Carbonell said. “This is a small exhibition, but it is very substantial in terms of how it will engage visitors of all ages and backgrounds.”
The Rollins Museum of Art fall schedule will also feature the following exhibitions, on view September 14–January 5, 2025:
“Nostalgia for My Island: Puerto Rican Painting from the Museo de Arte de Ponce (1786–1962)”
This traveling exhibition of 20 paintings features work by important Puerto Rican artists including José Campeche y Jordán (1751–1809) and Francisco Oller y Cestero (1833–1917). The artists represent a commitment to preserve the Puerto Rican identity, which faced threats during late 19th century political shifts. The development of identity is explored through three main themes: My Island, My People, and My Home. The exhibition is curated by the Museo de Arte de Ponce and is accompanied by a fully illustrated, bilingual catalog.
“Beyond the Surface: Capturing Meaning Through Portraiture”
The collection explores how portraits tell the stories and represent the historical context of the people they portray. The selection of paintings and sculptures by European and American artists from the 16th to the early 20th century portrays the evolution of artistic styles and techniques to convey status, wealth, faith, and power.
“What’s New? Recent Acquisitions”
This ongoing exhibition showcases a diverse group of newly acquired works to Museum’s permanent collection. The latest installment will include works by Trevor Bell, Giorgia Fiorio, Erica Lord, and others.
The fall season will also continue two exhibitions that opened on May 30 and will run through January 5. “The Fantastical Mundane: Selections from the Grasset-Linares Collection” represents the Dutch Golden Age of painting with 10 works on long-term loan from one of the largest collections of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings. And “Critical Reading: Book Arts in Dialogue with the Collection” explores ways that text can function as image to address relevant issues and storytelling.
For more information on Rollins Museum of Art exhibitions, tours, programming and events, call 407-646-2526 or visit www.rollins.edu/rma.
