Hello, I'm Kim Rorschach, the Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Director of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
Of course you would expect Duke students in Art, Art History & Visual Studies to visit the Nasher Museum fairly often. And they do. Duke students take tours of our exhibitions, meet here for classes, find inspiration for projects in the galleries. They study works of art not on public view through our Study Storage program. But a new $500,000 four-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will allow us to work even more closely with students and faculty from across all disciplines in teaching, exhibitions and research.
IMAGES: All photos by Duke Photography, except for two photos of Duke medical students by Juline Chevalier.
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One example involves first-year medical students at Duke who learn how to examine patients by visiting galleries at the Nasher Museum and looking at art. The goal is for students to learn how to communicate better with their patients. In one exercise, students work in pairs, standing back to back. One student looks at a work of art and describes it verbally; the other draws on paper what he or she hears being described.
It's fun and gratifying to see how interested the students are in this activity-they focus so intensely!
Another example is a class of advanced German II language students who came recently to study work by German artist Käthe Kollwitz. They were shown sculptures and works on paper and asked to discuss, interpret and find themes in the works-all in German. It was a terrific opportunity for them to see works of art not currently on public view and practice their conversational German skills. (You may not know that the Nasher Museum has more than 13,000 works in its permanent collection. Museum staff create mini installations, in any of three Study Storage areas, tailored to each faculty member's teaching needs.)
We're all very excited and grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for its support of our efforts to involve Duke Students and faculty-the brain trust of Duke University. With this grant, we're able to be even more proactive in supporting Duke's educational mission. Duke professors and students offer valuable insights and new ways to study and present our collections, which also benefits our broader public. For example, one faculty collaboration has resulted in the exhibition "The Past is Present: Classical Antiquities at the Nasher Museum," still on view. It was co-organized by Carla Antonaccio, chair of the Department of Classical Studies, and Sheila Dillon, professor of Art, Art History & Visual Studies.
The Mellon grant will allow the Nasher Museum to create two new positions, double the number of classes that study works of art in the museum and further engage Duke faculty in creating exhibitions and public programs.
I invite you to visit our website often to learn more, or better yet, come and visit us at the museum.
