Crafting a Selection: An Overview
Lehigh University's Art Galleries (LUAG) has expanded its permanent collection with a significant acquisition. During the Spring 2023 semester, students enrolled in the ART275: Museum Collections and Exhibitions course selected and purchased a large, evocative sculptural piece by rising contemporary artist and activist, Lauren Halsey.
The artwork, titled Untitled, 2023, is part of a traveling exhibition called "Young, Gifted and Black." This distinctive piece will be displayed in LUAG's Lower Gallery starting in Fall 2023.
The ART275 course, created in 2021 by William Crow, director and professor of practice at LUAG, provides students with a direct and immersive insight into museum operations. The course combines academic study with real-world application, offering hands-on experience in managing and curating art collections.
A practical component of the course involves students selecting and purchasing artwork for LUAG’s permanent collection. Students review available artworks, considering factors like artistic quality, relevance to the collection, and budget. The process mirrors the decision-making processes used by professional museum acquisition committees.
In this instance, Jackson Darling '24, a history and museum studies major, advocated for a work by Chiffon Thomas, an artist from Chicago. However, after careful consideration, the students decided on Halsey's Untitled, 2023.
Halsey's work speaks to current times and addresses Lehigh's goal of exploring themes of diversity, inclusion, and equity. The artwork features images of heads and hairstyles inspired by the barber shops and advertisements of Halsey's community, carved into a canvas of gypsum.
Karine Marculino '23, an Integrated Business and Engineering major, was one of the students who advocated for the purchase of the Halsey artwork. She expressed that ART275 was "amazing" and one of the best courses she took at Lehigh because it gave her the opportunity to talk about a lot of topics, not just math or engineering.
Lauren Halsey is known for her use of architecture and installation art to explore the life of urban neighborhoods, the idea of community, and the Black experience. Her full-scale site-specific architectural installation titled "the eastside of south central los angeles hieroglyph prototype architecture (I)" is currently on display at the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The selected works from the first offering of ART275 have been on display for two years and include Chitra Ganesh's "Architects of the Future," Hurvin Anderson's "Paradise," Curlee Raven Holton's "Hands Up, Nimbs" and "Spinning Glory."
ART275 will continue to be offered every other year, and it has value for students from any major. The course offers a unique opportunity for students to work closely with a university program, LUAG team, and collector Bernard Lumpkin during gallery visits.
As the semester comes to a close, the students can take pride in their contribution to LUAG's collection and the university's commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive community.
- The ART275 course, which combines academic study with real-world application, provides an opportunity for students from any major to engage in education-and-self-development, as demonstrated by the recent acquisition of Lauren Halsey's Untitled, 2023, a piece that reflects themes of diversity, inclusion, and equity in science, engineering, and lifestyle.
- The selection of Halsey's Untitled, 2023, for Lehigh University's Art Galleries' permanent collection was a result of the course's practical component, where students conducted research on available artworks, considering factors like artistic quality, relevance to the collection, and budget, mirroring the decision-making processes used by professional museum acquisition committees.
- The significant artwork acquisition by Lehigh University's Art Galleries, Untitled, 2023 by Lauren Halsey, not only enhances the diversity of their permanent collection, but also raises the profile of the university's science, engineering, and education programs, as it is part of the traveling exhibition "Young, Gifted and Black."
