This thought-provoking symposium examines the intersection of art, political discourse, and social practice.

Artists, art historians, curators, students, and art enthusiasts will come together to explore issues of identity, race, class, gender, and the environment through the lens of artworks in the Crystal Bridges collection. The program includes an opening lecture on the evening of Friday, April 7, and a full day of interchange on Saturday, April 8. For Saturday attendees, we will contact registrants prior to the event with options to purchase lunch.

FULL SYMPOSIUM $50 ($40/Members, $20/students)
FRIDAY CONVERSATION $10 ($8/Members)
SATURDAY PROGRAM $40 ($32/Members)

PROGRAMME:

Friday, April 7

6:30 to 7:30 pm – Opening Conversation with Alice Walton and Sandy Edwards
Crystal Bridges founder and board chair Alice Walton will discuss artworks in the Museum collection they consider transformative, either on a personal basis or for society at large.
Following the conversation, join fellow guests and symposium participants in a cocktail reception.

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Saturday, April 8

10:00 am – Welcome with Margi Conrads, Director of Curatorial Affairs, Crystal Bridges
Opening Conversation with Nari Ward: We the People
Hosted by Lauren Haynes, Curator, Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges

The recent Crystal Bridges acquisition We the People (black version) poses a fundamental question: How does a work of art serve as a call to action to challenge societal power structures? Artist Nari Ward will discuss this with Crystal Bridges Curator Lauren Haynes in an exploration of the relationships between art, American history, and issues of race, identity, and politics that remain relevant in this country today. The conversation will pose questions that will be pursued more in the following panels.

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10:30 am to Noon – Session One: One Planet, One Experiment
With Opening Spoken Word Performance
Moderated by Chad Alligood, Curator, Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges
Panelists: Laura Turner Igoe, art historian / Pam Longobardi, artist /Nathalie Miebach, artist

Through the centuries, American artists have responded to nature’s transcendental qualities, the rapid cultivation of the wilderness, and now, issues around global climate change. Art historian Laura Turner Igoe will present new scholarship toward understanding how artists in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries presented environmental issues of the time. Igoe’s presentation will be followed by a conversation with artists Nathalie Miebach and Pam Longobardi, who address environmental issues in their work.

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1:30 to 3:00 pm – Session Two: The Myth of the Melting Pot
With Opening Spoken Word Performance
Moderated by Lauren Haynes, Curator, Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges
Panelists: Claudia Mesch, art historian / Ghada Amer, artist / Jeffrey Gibson, artist

In popular culture, American identity has been idealized as a homogenous “melting pot” of cultures, rather than as a rich system of cultural exchange. While this exchange can result in a diversity of new traditions and artistic forms, it can also lead to an unfortunate appropriation of cultural elements by those who are naïve or insensitive to their significance. Art historian Claudia Mesch will present new scholarship exploring how cultural exchange has informed artmaking in the Americas through history. A discussion with artists Jeffrey Gibson and Ghada Amer, each of whose work explores issues of cultural identity and re-appropriation, will follow.

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Break 3:00 to 3:30 pm

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3:30 to 5:00 pm – Session Three: The Unreality of Memory
With Opening Spoken Word Performance
Moderated by Mindy Besaw, Curator, American Art, Pre-WWII
Panelists: Erika Doss, art historian / Sandow Birk, artist / Michael Waugh, artist

Collective memory is preserved and perpetuated through texts, visual culture, oral histories, monuments, and more. It shapes our views of the past and of everyday contemporary life, but memory is selective and often biased. Deeper exploration requires us to pause and ask who and what is missing. Art historian Erika Doss will present new scholarship about artists’ use of memory throughout history, which will spark a larger conversation with artists Sandow Birk and Michael Waugh about the role memory plays in art and how it is often at odds with social reality.

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5:00 pm – Concluding Thoughts
Following the symposium, join fellow guests and symposium participants in a cocktail reception and informal conversation.

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www.crystalbridges.org