Register here. This panel convenes major institutional and new arts leaders as they examine treasures and trauma in the current age of protest and pandemic. Diverse experts from museums and other arts spaces offer fresh views on adaptations to exhibits, creative historical perspective and public safety. Contact: Patric@HR1981.org
Panelists engage in small group discussions, so that important professional lessons are not lost to crosstalk. Some of our offspring join in, and are expected to bring the fire, while classmates serve up deep knowledge. Surprises may abound.
With bodies and protests on streets across the nation, our civil discussion cannot afford to conduct business as usual. Best to come on time and with an open mind.
Since traditional frameworks, including introductions and formal presentations, don’t fit, here is a discussion plan, and the list of players:
Topics:
- How We Arrived In This Common Room, Stumbling To This Moment
- Listening To Our Children, Hot Takes From The Creative Frontlines
- Listen To Muted Voices, African American And Bipoc Experts Raise Alarms
- Listen To Large Institution Leaders, Changes In Venerable Spaces
- All Together Now, 1981 Classmate Idea Exchange
- Holding Our Feet To The Fire, The Next Generation: Where We March From Here
1981 Class Panelists:
- Harry Cooper, AB ‘81(‘82), PhD ‘97, is senior curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery of Art. He is organizing the postponed exhibition Philip Guston Now, to be seen in Washington, Boston, Houston, and London in 2022-2024.
- Peter Der Manuelian, AB ’81, is Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology in both the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Anthropology Departments at Harvard University, and director of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.
- Jacqueline Hicks Grazette, AB’81; MBA ’85 served at the Smithsonian Institution as the founder/director of the African American Studies Center, Assistant Director for Educational Services at the National Air and Space Museum, and Chair of Strategic Planning.
- Vada Hill, AB ’81(82). Former Chief Marketing Officer of Taco Bell; Fannie Mae; and Jackson Hewitt. Cincinnati Art Museum Trustee; member of its Executive Committee and Marketing Committee Chair. Collector of African-American art and Israeli sculpture.
- Sara Riviera Cureton, AB‘81 is Director of the New Jersey Cultural Trust. The NJHC presents history programming, striving to tell a diverse, inclusive story of the state’s past. She oversees over $4 million in annual funding programs that support cultural organizations and activities.
- Mary Schneider Enriquez, AB’81 Houghton Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums. Focus: 20th-21st century global art, with emphasis on art and politics and Latin America. Recent exhibition: Crossing Lines, Constructing Home: Displacement and Belonging in Contemporary Art, co-curated with Makeda Best.
- Karen Soohoo, AB ’81. San Diego Museum of Art, Docent Educator, retired pediatrician. DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity and Accessibility) Task Force. Public Virtual Tour Committee.
- Ann Temkin, AB ’81 The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art. Ann Temkin, has focused this past decade on re-conceiving the collection and its display.
Next Generation Contributors:
- Marcus Jamison (son of Lisa Davis ‘81) is completing a Masters at Columbia University in Modern and Contemporary Art: Critical and Curatorial Studies. He curated for his thesis, “Aestheticizing Anti-Black Violence: From Critique to Satire” at Columbia’s Wallach Gallery.
- Hannah Lundell (she, her, hers) (daughter of Brit Lundell ‘81) is Education & Volunteer Coordinator, Buddy Holly Center and Silent Wings Museum, Lubbock, TX
- Weslie Turner AB’10 (she, her, hers) (daughter of Wanda Whitmore ‘81) is Senior Editor at Versify, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She edits children and young adult books, including Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matter, Veronica Chambers and The New York Times.
Moderator:
Wanda Whitmore. AB’81 Writer/Producer, Founding Partner, Legacy, Inc., a communications, film and video production company, which consults and produces content for media, corporate and nonprofit organizations. Documentary work covers government, business and culture trends.