The Emerson Gallery will present two exhibitions in conjunction with the college’s bicentennial celebration. The exhibitions will commemorate its cultural history while providing a view toward the future with objects from various campus collections and archives. The exhibitions will be on view Sept. 15 – Dec. 16. The exhibitions and related programs are free and open to the public.
• Time Capsules and Cornerstones: 200 Years of Collective Memory at Hamilton examines how Hamiltonians have created and shared their history during the college’s first 200 years. Inspired by a 19th century campus tradition in which classes buried time capsules, the exhibition explores how devices such as mementos, scrapbooks and monuments have been used by generations to create a shared experience. It features an array of items from the college archives, various campus groups, alumni, faculty and staff and concludes with an invitation to contribute ideas and content for a 2012 time capsule to be sealed at the end of the bicentennial celebration.
• Learning to Look: Hamilton's Cabinets, Galleries and Museums Past, Present and Future traces the history of galleries and museums at Hamilton from early “cabinets of curiosities” to the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, which will open Fall 2012. This exhibition presents the legacy of these spaces and their functions as classrooms and visual laboratories through collections and archival materials. Highlights include selections from the Oren Root Mineral Collection, ethnographic and natural specimens once featured in the Knox Hall of Natural History (1883-1926) and works from the Memorial Hall and Art Gallery (1873-1924).
SPECIAL EVENTS:
Opening of 1871 Time Capsule and Opening Reception
with a performance by the College Hill Singers
Thursday, Sept.15, 4:10 – 6:30 p.m.
Emerson Gallery
Gallery Talks
Time Capsules and Cornerstones with co-curators Barsha Baral ’13, Associate Director and Curator Susanna White, and Associate Professor of German, Russian Languages and Literatures Frank Sciacca
Friday, Sept. 23, 3:30 p.m.
Emerson Gallery
Learning to Look co-curators Associate Professor of German, Russian Languages and Literatures Frank Sciacca and Associate Director and Curator Susanna White
Saturday, Sept. 24, 3:00 p.m.
Emerson Gallery
The Emerson Gallery is located on the Hamilton campus in Clinton, N.Y., in the Christian A. Johnson Hall, directly behind the Chapel. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. For information on parking and wheelchair accessibility, contact the gallery at 315-859-4396 or visit the gallery’s website www.hamilton.edu/gallery.
