DANA SPRING 2018 SPRING 2018 A MAGAZINE FOR MEMBERS OF NEWARK MUSEUM
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DANA
SPRING 2018
SPRING 2018
A MAGAZINE FOR MEMBERS OF NEWARK MUSEUM
A M A G A Z I N E F O R M E M B E R S O F T H E N E WA R K M U S E U M
newarkmuseum.org | i
DANA
Spring 2018
John Cotton Dana
ISSN 2472-9701 © Copyright 2018 The Newark Museum, a not-for-profit Founding Director
Newark Museum museum of art and science, receives
49 Washington Street operating support from the City of Newark,
Newark, NJ 07102-3176 the State of New Jersey, the New Jersey
DANA is published by the Newark
State Council on the Arts/Department of
State—a partner agency of the National
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Museum Association as a benefit of Endowment for the Arts, the New Jersey
Museum membership. View it at: Cultural Trust, the Prudential Foundation,
newarkmuseum.org/membership the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation,
the Victoria Foundation, the Wallace
Ulysses G. Dietz Foundation, and other corporations, 1 Message from the Leadership Team
Chief Curator Emeritus & foundations and individuals. Funds for
Interim Co-Director acquisitions and activities other than
Deborah Kasindorf operations are provided by members
Deputy Director, and other contributors.
2 Featured Exhibition
Institutional Advancement &
The Rockies & The Alps: Bierstadt, Calame,
Interim Co-Director
U. Michael Schumacher and the Romance of the Mountains
Director of Marketing & PR Gallery Hours
Alex Dreyfuss Wednesday through Sunday,
Graphic Designer noon–5 pm 4 New Long-Term Installation
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Comments can be sent to: Vantage Points: History and Politics
editor@newarkmuseum.org (Except Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
in American Landscape
To receive the latest information Observed closings: January 1, July 4,
on Museum events and programs, Thanksgiving Day, and December 25
sign up for our monthly eBlast at 5 Dramatic Threads: Textiles of Asia
newarkmuseum.org/email-signup Barrier-free entrance & on-site
parking available for a fee.
Newark Museum Association
Clifford Blanchard, Co-Chair
6 Membership
Christine C. Gilfillan, Co-Chair Museum Admission
Jacob S. Buurma, Vice President Adults: $15; Children, Seniors, Veterans
Robert H. Doherty, Vice President and Students with valid ID: $8; 8 Development
Stephanie Glickman, Vice President Members and Newark Residents: FREE
Kathy Grier, Vice President
Peter B. Sayre, Treasurer Not yet a member? 973.596.6699 10 Education
Deborah Kasindorf, Interim Secretary General Information: 973.596.6550
Group Reservations: 973.596.6690
Executive Committee 12 Curator's Spotlight
Sara Bonesteel TTY: 711
Eleonore Kessler Cohen
Ulysses G. Dietz For information about exhibitions, 14 Impact
Arlene Lieberman programs and events, as well as for
Judith Lieberman directions and parking information,
Shahid Malik visit us at newarkmuseum.org. 15 Behind the Scenes
Marshall B. McLean
Ronald M. Ollie
Seth L. Rosen
16 Docents' Favorite Works
City of Newark
Ras J. Baraka, Mayor
17 Summer Programs
Municipal Council
Mildred C. Crump, President
Augusto Amador, East Ward
John S. James, South Ward
Carlos M. Gonzalez, At-Large
Anibal Ramos Jr., North Ward
Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins,
Central Ward
Joseph A. McCallum Jr., West Ward
Eddie Osborne, At-Large
Cover image:
Luis A. Quintana, At-Large Albert Bierstadt, Cho-looke, the Yosemite Fall, (detail),
1864. Oil on canvas, 34 1/4 x 27 1/8 in. The Putnam
Foundation, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
ii | DANA Spring 2018 1966:001
MESSAGE FROM THE LEADERSHIP TEAM
Community Service is in our DNA modern art was being made
in traditional cultural contexts
outside urban industrial
The Institute of Museum and Library Services recently centers. Everything we did
announced that the Newark Museum was among the finalists as a museum was intended
for the 2018 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. to be useful to our commu-
This welcome national validation of our work reminds us that nity—and our community
our purpose as a museum is to serve the community in which was everybody who lived in
we were established well over a century ago. or near Newark.
The Museum’s founding director, John Cotton Dana, was a In the 109 years since we
national force in transforming the country’s public libraries were founded, Northern New
from hushed clubs for the educated few into busy hubs of Jersey, where the majority of
community life and learning. When this museum was estab- the Museum’s visitors live,
lished on the fourth floor of the Newark Free Public Library has become one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse
in 1909, Mr. Dana’s public-service vision as a librarian carried parts of the United States. Ecuadoreans are now the largest
over into the newborn institution. Objects representing the ethnic group in the town of Hackensack, while Asian Indians
“art of everyday life,” demonstrating living cultures from every comprise the largest group in Secaucus and Parsippany. The
corner of the world, were the Museum’s way of bringing visual Museum’s visitors, who represent the full range of this diver-
literacy and international understanding to the complex, sity, come from affluent suburbs and working class towns.
multiethnic population of a thriving industrial city. From National and international visitors drawn by the Museum’s
our beginnings in 1909 to our current holdings of more than renowned global collections are also among the Museum’s
130,000 works of art and culture, our mission has expanded core constituencies.
but has never really changed: serve the people of our
community by bringing the world to where they live and work. At this very moment the Museum is at the center of an
economic development boom that is transforming the
In 1909, the Newark Museum did what no other museum city’s footprint. Newark’s social and cultural life is also being
in the tri-state area would do. It showed the work of living significantly changed by an influx of new residents including
American artists. Contemporary art by American painters and young professionals, entrepreneurs and artists, as well as
sculptors, logically enough, was seen to represent the way students, academics and administrators from local colleges
we, as Americans, lived in and saw the world. In an era when and universities.
many museums were collecting Old Master paintings and
antique objects from Europe, Newark was focused on the Even as museums all across the country are questioning
here and now. their own identities as the twenty-first century evolves, the
Newark Museum’s founding mission is as on-target and
The young Museum was aware of art that was more than relevant as ever. We use art in its broadest definition to offer
painting and sculpture. We turned our attention to two knowledge—expanding opportunities for all ages and abilities
particular media—ceramics and textiles—that formed cultu- that promote lifelong learning, emotional and physical well-
ral intersections dating back thousands of years and across being, and workforce development. We use our collections
the geography of the globe. Ceramics were both the result of and programs to strengthen community bonds across our
artistic inspiration and a product of modern industry— diverse constituencies. And we know that our exhibitions and
particularly in New Jersey. Textiles, the literal fabric of people’s our interpretive strategy encourages cross-cultural under-
lives around the world for millennia, were also a major pro- standing in a world that gets smaller, more challenging and
duct of New Jersey factories, and both the collections and the more interesting every day.
exhibitions at the Museum celebrated the textile arts in ways
unprecedented in American museum history. The city has changed;
our community has changed;
The Museum’s interest in the arts of Asia and Africa date to
our very beginnings, because we understood that the “art of but our mission remains constant.
everyday life” should include daily life in places far away from
our American experience, thus highlighting commonalities of Deborah Kasindorf and Ulysses G. Dietz
human culture. Our Native American holdings were begun as Interim Co-Directors
a means of underscoring the rather radical notion that
newarkmuseum.org | 1
FEATURED EXHIBITION
NEW GALLERY FEATURES
MAJOR LANDSCAPE
EXHIBITION
THE ROCKIES & THE ALPS: BIERSTADT, CALAME,
AND THE ROMANCE OF THE MOUNTAINS
After three years in development, it is wonderful to see
The Rockies & The Alps: Bierstadt, Calame, and the
Romance of the Mountains living in the Museum’s brand-
new exhibition gallery. It’s hard to calculate exactly how
much of a difference 1,500 additional square feet of space
makes—not to mention the clean site lines, gorgeous floors
and upgraded lighting—until you actually have it. All of these
new assets the gallery provides help make the works on view different feel than finished large-scale salon pieces. How can
look their best and tell the story that guest curator Katherine you tell a work painted on-site from those painted in the
Manthorne and I hoped it would: that American art is deeply studio? There is a freshness to the brushwork and a loose,
and naturally transnational, and that landscape painters in sketch-like quality that studies done from nature have that
the nineteenth century were working as part of a much larger often was lost when composing works after the fact in a
interdisciplinary trend. This culture both reflected and foster- studio. A strong example of this type of painterly oil sketch is
ed a fascination with mountains, travel and experiencing the Bierstadt’s Landscape Study: Estes Park, Colorado Morning,
landscape up close. ca. 1859, on loan from a private collection in New Jersey. This
painting has a lightness and spontaneity that suggests it was
The new gallery is the space that the Museum’s collections painted directly from nature. The moody and very particu-
and exhibition program merit, and The Rockies & The Alps lar quality of light feels like morning, and the term "study" is
is an ideal exhibition to highlight both the permanent col- typically usually used to describe an informal sketch. Whether
lection and the Museum’s ability to mount large-scale loan or not this work documents an exact location in Estes Park
exhibitions. In this inaugural show you will find treasures at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the view appears
from Newark’s permanent collection, making up approxima- believable, with an element of quiet, untouched beauty just
tely one-third of the exhibition, as well as many remarkable, discovered.
rarely seen works from private collections and museums
around the country. All together there were twenty different
lenders that collaborated with us in building the exhibition.
The feeling I had once we began installing the show is that
this selection of works brings the outdoors into the gallery.
One of the more striking aspects of this exhibition is the
extremes it brings together. There are views from extreme
heights, depictions of extreme weather and, in many cases,
extremely dramatic shifts of scale that convey the artist’s
experience of the mountains. Both Bierstadt and Calame
mastered the technique of the sweeping, wide-angle per-
spective that takes in the awe-inspiring vistas that the alpine
landscapes are best known for. These are the grand views
that caused lines to form at Bierstadt’s exhibitions during his
lifetime and caused Calame’s large-scale paintings to attract
wide-spread attention at the Paris salons. The Rockies &
The Alps includes many impressive panoramic views of this John Singer Sargent, Camping Near Lake O'Hara, 1916.
type, but perhaps the more exciting and understudied work Watercolor on Paper, 15 Ǫ x 21 in.
Purchase 1957 Felix Fuld Bequest Fund 57.86
this show features are the smaller, intimate scenes. Modestly
scaled oil sketches painted directly from nature have a
2 | DANA Spring 2018
One of the many themes this show points out is that artists'
reputations may change dramatically during and after their
lifetimes, and when considering any artist's contributions,
we should look at the "big picture." Calame's paintings were
admired and studied by Bierstadt and many other American
Artists in his lifetime, and works by the Swiss master were
acquired by American collectors in the nineteenth century.
Bierstadt also was something of a celebrity during his lifetime
for his panoramic large-scale works more than his smaller and
quieter compositions. The Rockies and The Alps opens up a
new kind of narrative for both of these artists, by considering
their work in a broad and multifaceted context.
-Tricia Laughlin Bloom, PhD
Curator, American Art
On view in the Special Exhibition Gallery,
second floor, main building
Major support provided by:
PSN Family Charitable Trust
This project is supported in
partby an award from the Albert Bierstadt, Landscape Study: Estes Park, Colorado, Morning, ca. 1859.
National Endowment for the Arts. Oil on paper mounted on canvas, 12 ¾ x 8 ¾ in.
Amy C. Liss Collection, Summit, NJ TR5.2018
newarkmuseum.org | 3
FEATURED EXHIBITION
NEW LONG-TERM INSTALLATION
IN THE EARLY AMERICAN GALLERIES VANTAGE POINTS
Since Europeans first began to settle in the Americas in the landscape. Hopi-Tewa artist Michael Namingha shows the
fifteenth century, the struggle for ownership and steward- layers of history at work in recent native art and raises issues
ship of the land has dominated American politics as well as of environmental concern often overlooked in works further
landscape art. Despite the appearance of objectivity it often removed from our current moment of crisis. Kenseth
conveys, American landscape painting has never been Armstead’s large-scale expressionist drawing, Surrender
neutral. Representations of the natural environment have Yorktown, was created in response to an idealized eighteen-
always reflected the politics and worldview of artists and th-century French painting of the surrender at Yorktown.
their broader culture. Thanks to the relocation of a number Vantage Points explores issues of land ownership, stewar-
of American landscape paintings to the new special exhi- dship and the dominant narratives that have been staged in
bitions gallery for The Rockies & the Alps, curators Tricia and through American landscape art, challenging viewers to
Laughlin Bloom and William Coleman had an opportunity to sort out fact from historical fiction.
collaborate on a small but thought-provoking exploration of
On view in Seeing America,
these topics in historical and contemporary landscape art. first floor, north wing
Vantage Points: History and Politics in the American
Landscape places recent acquisitions of contemporary
landscape art in dialogue with monumental nineteenth-
century works by the German American Albert Bierstadt and
the Shoshone Chief Washakie. Both the colonialist notion of
Manifest Destiny—the idea that European Americans were
divinely intended to take ownership of the American conti-
nent—and the conventions of European landscape painting
helped to determine the style and content of early lands-
cape paintings. In contrast, representations of the landscape
are rare or highly abstracted in historical Native American art,
reflecting a different relationship to the environment. Native
Americans were often misrepresented and treated in stereo-
typical ways in historical landscape paintings.
On view through May 2019, Vantage Points features work
by two contemporary artists responding to the American
Kenseth Armstead next to his work, Surrender Yorktown.
4 | DANA Spring 2018
DRAMATIC THREADS: TEXTILES OF ASIA
IN OUR POSTINDUSTRIAL tapestry, damask, plain and twill weaves), embroidery (including
an extraordinary counted-stitch needlepoint) and knitting. For-
WORLD WHERE TEXTILES tunately, the world-renowned Dr. Young Yang Chung—master
needlewoman, embroidery scholar and author of the founda-
tional publications Silken Threads: A History of Embroidery in
ARE SO ABUNDANT, China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam as well as Painting with a
Needle—generously contributed her knowledge on the labels to
it is a challenge to imagine how highly valued textiles were
better illuminate aspects of stitching.
in preindustrial societies. Raw materials like silk, cotton and
wool as well as dyestuffs ranging from indigo to madder to
The original intended functions of the textiles exhibited range
cochineal all held great value—even before they were spun
from ceremonial armor and rank badges to architectural furni-
into threads, woven into cloth, and tailored to produce a
shings and presentation cloths employed like extremely expen-
usable item with or without additional woven, dyed, stam-
sive gift wrapping papers often given with wedding presents.
ped or embroidered finishing. Historically, textiles (instead of
Interestingly, the Japanese and Indian presentations cloths
cash) might even pay your taxes. The collections exhibition
illustrated here not only served identical functions, both of their
Dramatic Threads: Textiles of Asia not only introduces rarely
imagery feature radishes and rodents. Surprising to urbanites
seen luxury textiles from China, India, Japan and Korea, but
today, the radish and rodent depictions reveal agrarian socie-
also invites visitors to re-examine textiles depicted in paint-
ties’ dependence on a good
ings and sculptures throughout the Asian galleries.
harvest—and protecting the
harvest from vermin. In this
and other ways, textiles are
global connectors.
Finished products ranging
from raw materials and bolts
of cloth to ready-to-wear
clothing and furnishings have
been traded locally, regionally
and globally for countless
centuries. During the nine-
teenth century, the city of
Radish, Rice Bales and Mice Fukusa Wrapper
Newark and the state of New Japan, 1850-75, Embroidered silk on satin, with
Jersey were major textile pro- gold wrapped thread, 32 ½ x 26 ¼ in., Gift of
Herman A. E. Jaehne and Paul C. Jaehne, 1941
ducers. Costumes and textiles 41.1340
are great collection strengths
of the Museum’s holdings. The Asian collections alone include
more than 3,000 textiles from over 3,000 years of history and
feature works from all forty-eight countries of Asia.
- Katherine Anne Paul, PhD
Krishna and Gopis Dancing with Ganesh, Rats and Radishes, Chambal Rumal Embroidery
Himachel Pradesh, India, late 19th or early 20th c., Silk floss on cotton, 28 ½ x 29½ in.
Curator, The Arts of Asia
Gift of Dr. Richard J. Nalin, 1988 88.546
On view in the Asian galleries,
third floor, north wing
A wide range of materials are employed to make textiles.
The objects showcased in the exhibition feature works not
only made from silk and cotton with gold- and silver-wrap-
ped threads, but also luxury woolens exported to Korea from Generous support provided by:
Europe. Highlighted textile making techniques are also very Roger Pratt/The Schumann Fund for New Jersey
diverse and feature a range of weaving styles (slit-woven Dr. Young Yang Chung/Seol Won Foundation
newarkmuseum.org | 5
MEMBERSHIP
LONG TIME MEMBERS JOIN US FOR
HISTORIC WASHINGTON STREET ENTRANCE
REOPENING CELEBRATION
Many have already entered the Museum through our reopened Louis Bamberger entrance and experienced our stunning
new Welcome Center. If you have not, we encourage you to do so soon. It will truly enhance your Museum visit. Longtime
members Sam Convissor (member since 1956) and Warren Grover (member since 1962) were among the first.
Inside the reinstalled Arts of Global Africa gallery, Sam and Warren were eager to share their wonderful experiences at the
Newark Museum. According to Sam, “People today don't realize that their support
for institutions such as the Museum are going to live on...People like Bamberger and
others made a major investment in the future, and today people have to recognize
that they too have to come forward and make investments in the future. I remember
the classes that we took here, which was so interesting because I met people I never
would have met ordinarily. This [museum] has been an inspiration to me since I was
about nine years old.”
Says Warren, “This is one of the major cultural institutions in Newark and in this state.
If people want to support culture, they have to become members of the Newark
Museum.” (See back cover for additional photos.)
MAKE ART A PRIORITY.
GIVE THE GIFT OF MUSEUM MEMBERSHIP.
Now is an excellent time to be a member of the Newark
Museum. Exciting things are happening, and we want
everyone to be part of it!
The beautifully renovated Bamberger entrance leads you into one of America’s
great cultural treasures. Upon entering the grand lobby and welcome center, visi-
tors are greeted by the dazzling mural, Gateway, by Odili Donald Odita as well as
our flagship galleries on the first floor. A second-floor gallery has been transformed
into a state-of-the-art exhibition space showcasing its inaugural exhibition, The
Rockies & The Alps: Bierstadt, Calame, and the Romance of the Mountains.
Remember too that Museum membership offers valuable benefits—free admission, invitations to private tours, discounts in
the Museum Shop, travel opportunities and much more. Your membership promises a year filled with delightful experiences
and savings. But perhaps the best benefit of all is the satisfaction you get from supporting this valuable national treasure.
Museum membership will quickly pay for itself with the many benefits you receive. Consider sharing this cultural treasure with
your family or friends.
Purchase a gift membership today
newarkmuseum.org/become-member or call 973.596.6686.
6 | DANA Spring 2018
NEWARK MUSEUM MEMBERS TRAVEL
You are always guaranteed a memorable travel experience
on a Newark Museum trip. You never know who you’ll meet!
Traveling with the Newark Museum is always enlightening—
and at times it is truly an amazing experience.
On a recent trip to India, Museum volunteer Adrianne Geller
discovered that His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was a
guest at the same hotel where the group was staying. Since
he had visited the Museum several times, Adrienne felt
it would be nice to send him the group’s regards. To their
surprise and delight, His Holiness came to greet the group
on the morning before their departure. He spoke fondly of
his visits to the Newark Museum and wished them a good
journey.
NEWARK MUSEUM
SUMMER DAY TRIPS SPEAKERS BUREAU
Join us for some great adventures, complete with all the
perks of traveling with the Newark Museum. The Newark Museum is one of the nation’s most
influential institutions. Yet, surprisingly, far too many
A DAY OF FELLOWSHIP AND FASHION
people do not know about it. Using visually rich Power-
Riverside Church and The Cloisters
Point presentations, the Newark Museum Speakers
Wednesday, July 18, 2018 | $145 per person
Bureau presenters bring the Museum right to the
doorsteps of organizations such as libraries, business
CAPE MAY: WHERE THE FASHIONABLE SUMMERED associations, alumni clubs and adult living communities.
Tuesday, July 24, 2018 | $145 per person
If you or someone you know is interested in sharing the
WHO, WHAT, WEAR Museum with your organization, the Speakers Bureau is
Stuart Weitzman at The New-York Historical Society one of the best ways to do it.
and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wednesday, August 1 | $145 per person To schedule a presentation or for more information
contact speakersbureau@newarkmuseum.org
THE ROBBER BARONS:
or call 973.596.6337.
THEY KNEW HOW TO LIVE, THEY KNEW HOW TO GIVE!
Lyndhurst and the Union Church of Pocantico Hills
We promise it will be a rewarding experience.
Wednesday, August 8 | $145 per person
All trips include morning coffee, lunch, admissions,
transportation, snacks and gratuities.
Sign up today—there are just a few spaces available.
To register or for additional information, contact
Merle Lomrantz, Director of Member Travel Services
mlomrantz@newarkmuseum.org or 973.596.6643.
For a complete listing of the trips offered, visit the Members
Travel section of the Museum’s website:
www.newarkmuseum.org/members-travel
newarkmuseum.org | 7
DEVELOPMENT
COBY FOUNDATION GRANT SUPPORTS
KIMONO REFASHIONED: 1870S–NOW!
The Coby Foundation, Ltd. recently awarded the Newark Museum a
major grant to support the upcoming international exhibition, Kimono
Refashioned: 1870s–Now! which is co-organized by the Kyoto Costume
Institute and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. The show will
explore intercultural conversations between Japan and the West—as
seen through the lens of fashion from the late eighteenth century to the
present day.
This fashion-focused exhibition is
an ideal collaboration between the
Museum and The Coby Foundation,
which funds exhibitions and
programs in the textile and needle
arts fields. “The Coby Foundation
is pleased that its grant to the
Museum will aid in borrowing a
LEAP INTO SCIENCE
major international exhibition to The Newark Museum is a member of the New Jersey
which it can add significant works leadership team—one of six states to participate in
from Newark’s own collections,” the first year of a national Leap into Science network
said Ward L. E. Mintz, executive initiative—which also includes the New Jersey State
Furisode Over-robe with Floral and Water director of The Coby Foundation. Library and the New Jersey Makers Day organization.
Motifs Japan, 19th c., Silk crepe with discharge
printing and hand-painting, silk brocade, The four-year initiative is led by the Franklin Institute,
Newark Museum Purchase 1929. 29.4
Stunning designs from well-known the National Girls Collaborative Project, and the
Japanese and Western designers including Chanel, Worth, Gucci, John Institute for Learning Innovation and will be evaluated
Galliano, Hanae Mori, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo will be featured. by the Education Development Center, with support
The exhibition, which will open in October 2018, will also include kimono, from the National Science Foundation.
woodblock prints, textiles and other objects from the Newark Museum’s
Japanese art collections. Developed by the Franklin Institute, Leap into Science
is a nationwide initiative designed for children ages
three to ten and their families that integrates open-
ended science activities with children’s books. The
program empowers educators to teach in community
settings such as libraries and museums, as well as
out-of-schooltime sessions to engage underserved
audiences in accessible and familiar settings.
IMLS 2018 NATIONAL MEDAL FOR
MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICE This evidence-based program, available to “informal
educators” in New Jersey through in-person training
The Newark Museum has been selected by the Institute for Museum beginning in late 2018, will further the Museum’s
and Library Services (IMLS) as a finalist for the 2018 National Medal for commitment to STEAM-based (science, technology,
Museum and Library Service, along with twenty-nine other institutions engineering, art and mathematics) education.
from across the country. The National Medal is the nation’s highest
honor given to museums and libraries for service to their communities.
For twenty-four years, the award has celebrated institutions that
demonstrate extraordinary and innovative approaches to public service
and are making a difference for individuals, families and communities.
The Museum was nominated for the national medal by U.S. Senator
Cory Booker of New Jersey.
8 | DANA Spring 2018WHY I GIVE IN MEMORIAM
People like YOU, our Newark Museum supporters, make great We are honored to have benefited from the generosity, leadership
things possible. Each gift makes a powerful statement and and advocacy of these dedicated Museum supporters. We are
empowers youth and families in our community with access to grateful to those in our community for their thoughtful tribute
lifelong learning in art and science. gifts in honor of Pat and Donald.
“From when I was very young, my father steered our family
to participate in all the Newark Museum had to offer, ranging
from art classes in grade school to the most life-expanding
travels that I continue to savor as an adult. With a donation in
his memory, I celebrate him and my deepest gratitude to him
for always providing springboards, broadening the edges of my
curiosity.”
- Constance Satz, Member honoring David M. Satz, Jr.
What inspires you to give back to the Newark Museum?
Tell us your story. Share your favorite memory, an inspiring
Patricia E. Ryan Donald M. Shachat
experience, or your reasons for supporting the Newark
1944 - 2018 1934 - 2017
Museum. We look forward to hearing from you!
Contact us at msaliola@newarkmuseum.org or 973.596.6491 Sponsored by the John Cotton Dana Society
or reach out on social media: @NewarkMuseum #WhyIGive
LET US HONOR YOU
The John Cotton Dana Society honors those who have made gifts
GIVE A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING: by will to the Newark Museum.
RECURRING GIFTS ARE NOW POSSIBLE Have you made a gift to the Newark Museum in your will?
Recurring and monthly gifts are an increasingly popular way for Would you like to name the Museum as a beneficiary of a
people to support causes that matter to them. At the Newark retirement plan, life insurance policy or donor-advised fund?
Museum, recurring gifts are put to work immediately serving
visitors of all ages. What’s more, you will be able to maximize Have you considered creating a lead trust, charitable remainder
your investment by spreading your annual donation over time trust or charitable gift annuity to qualify for unique tax benefits
along with your other expenses throughout the year. while supporting the Museum’s programs?
To make a recurring gift: newarkmuseum.org/monthly-gift Society honorees receive exclusive benefits, including invitations
to special events and donor recognition. Most importantly, you will
know your gift makes possible programs that will teach and inspire
future generations of visitors.
For more information:
Visit www.newarkmuseum.org/planned-giving
or contact Michele Saliola, Director of Individual Giving
973.596.6491 | msaliola@newarkmuseum.org
newarkmuseum.org | 9EDUCATION EDUCATION HIGH FASHION & HIGH TECH Lie Sangbong & NJ Makers Day On March 10th the Newark Museum participated in the fourth annual New Jersey Makers Day, a statewide event hosted by nearly 300 organizations and drawing over 80,000 participants from across New Jersey. For this one-day event, the MakerSPACE at Newark Museum engaged over 200 visitors in our hands-on Hi-Tech Fashion activity inspired by the innovative and technology-driven work of Korean fashion designer Lie Sangbong, a few pieces of which are now on view in the MakerSPACE. Lie Sangbong’s designs blend references to traditional Korean culture with modern technological approaches. He incorporates elements like the 500-year-old Korean script, Hangul, into some garments. Others are inspired by Chaekgeori, a style of art which translates to “books and things” and depicts objects from everyday life. Pushing fashion into the future, Lie Sangbong uses cutting-edge materials like holographic leather and laser-cut fabrics, working with new processes like digital textile printing and LED illumination. For Hi-Tech Fashion, participants created their own light-up designs using laser-cut fleece in the five colors of the traditional Korean palette, Obangsaek: black, white, blue, red and yellow. By hand stitching conductive stainless steel thread, they created flexible circuits embedded in their fabric projects, allowing electrons from the battery to flow through the circuit and energize a sewn-in LED. Like most MakerSPACE activities, the Hi-Tech Fashion event had options for the entire family. Participants could choose from a light-up paper bracelet perfect for three-to-five-year-olds, a sewn fleece bracelet for older kids, or for more adventurous teens and parents, a sewn fleece mitten that illuminates an LED when holding a conductive object. With this contemporary twist on the age-old activity of sewing, visitors enjoyed their time getting to know one another, helping each other with trouble spots, and even passing the projects around family groups, sharing both the work and the sense of accomplishment in this unique, futuristic “sewing circle.” Supported by: Additional support by: New Jersey Maker's Day and The New Jersey State Library and PSEG Foundation Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation 10 | DANA Spring 2018
EDUCATION
SETTING UP CAMP
Summer programs for children have been offered by the Newark Museum since the founding of the Junior Museum initiative
in 1913. Today Camp Newark Museum continues to provide a fun, enriching and unique summer experience for children
ages three to fourteen. The program combines a range of activities inspired by the Museum’s special mix of art and science
collections. Every week is different and activities are designed for each age level to encourage discovery, creativity and the
development of powerful memories and enduring friendships.
“Community”—how local and global communities work together and learn to support each other—is the focus of summer
2018. Daily gallery explorations use sketching, storytelling, music and movement, creative writing, the art of glassmaking, and
other art projects to reveal different cultural, historical and scientific perspectives about how environments around the world
influence our lives.
Camp Newark Museum’s programming is STEAM based (science, technology,
engineering, art and mathematics). Each week there are different projects that take
place not only in the galleries and studios, but also in MakerSPACE, science labs and
the planetarium. From nanotechnology to renewable energy, from low- and high-
tech tools that range from sewing to soldering to circuitry, and from 2-D and 3-D art
projects, campers find new ways to express themselves. In addition, Camp Newark
Museum incorporates a range of performing and theatrical arts.
Every Friday friends and family are invited to student exhibitions and biweekly
performances that celebrate the campers’ creativity. The first live performance
features a glow-in-the-dark dance experience inspired by our fluorescent mineral
collection. Week four showcases royal regalia, Victorian jewelry and magical patterns.
The summer program culminates in week six with the “World of Dance,” honoring the
many communities highlighted at the Museum and the lively connections we make
through social and cultural dance traditions.
Camp Newark Museum includes:
• Experiences in the Museum’s collections and special exhibitions, including
The Rockies & The Alps: Bierstadt, Calame, and the Romance of the Mountains
• Planetarium shows in the Alice & Leonard Dreyfuss Planetarium
• Visual Arts lessons and opportunities to explore the tools of the MakerSPACE
• Performance art, including theater arts, dance and spoken word
• Glassworking classes for campers ages nine and up at GlassRoots
• Jazz concerts and the Newark Black Film Festival Youth Cinema
• Outdoor activities in the Museum’s Sculpture Garden
• Weekly art exhibitions and biweekly performance showcases
Sign up today at newarkmuseum.org/camp
newarkmuseum.org | 11CURATORS SPOTLIGHT
Amy Simon Hopwood
Associate Curator of Decorative Arts
What is your role at the museum?
Being a curator means developing, protecting, researching,
exhibiting and promoting the Decorative Arts collections to the
Newark Museum members, to the public and to students and
scholars. Each day brings the possibility of a new inquiry; an offer
of a donation; discussion with the Registrar’s department about
cataloguing, storing, conserving, lending or displaying the collection;
or speaking with the Exhibitions and Education departments and
William L. Coleman docents about interpretation. All of these conversations provide
Associate Curator of American Art opportunities to study the objects within the Decorative Arts
collection, in order to know them better and to build a foundation
What is your role here at the Museum? for all the other projects connected to the collection.
My position was created by a major grant from the Henry Luce
Foundation in support of the reinstallation of our modern and What makes your work at the Museum important?
contemporary American art, as well as the publication of catalogues I mentioned the Registrar’s department above. We work together
of our abstraction and Native American art. In addition to assisting as a team for all the behind-the-scenes work to bring objects into
Curator of American Art Tricia Bloom with those complex projects, I the collection, store them safely, and exhibit them here or through
make use of my own research expertise in colonial and nineteenth- loans to other museums. I see all of my work as part of a machine
century American art, especially landscape painting, one of the with lots of interconnected parts. I enjoy discussing projects with all
strengths of the collection since its founding. of the curators so that we can intertwine objects and ideas across
all of the collections. I also work with the Exhibition, Education,
What makes your work at the Museum important? Publications & Marketing, and Members’ departments to insure
This institution has one of the most important collections of that all of the exhibitions, docent tours, school tours and public
early American art in the world. As a result, this part of the programs integrate my curatorial research with the interpretive
collection is the subject of frequent inquiries from a wide range of approaches used by the educators, docents and Junior Explorers.
constituencies, including other institutions who hope to borrow our
works for temporary exhibitions. What projects are you working on currently and long-term?
Currently I am developing two exhibitions, one based upon a
What projects are you working on currently and long-term? collection of Yves Saint Laurent jewelry and the other featuring
The most important project I’m working on is the Luce Foundation- a collection of early twentieth-century Steuben glass. Both
funded rethinking of how we present modern and contemporary exhibitions will have their own theme, but I want to introduce
American art to the public, including redesigned galleries. I also do visitors to how the objects were made, what the materials reveal
extensive consultation with internal and external constituencies, about their makers, and provide a connection to the Newark
in advance of these galleries reopening in early 2019. On the early Museum’s collections. Visitors might also see their own glass and
American side, my goal is to devote more attention to our still life jewelry in a new way.
and genre paintings, hugely important in their period but often
overlooked here because the major landscape holdings demand Where is your favorite place to have lunch in Newark?
so much attention. In the longer term, I am laying the groundwork Central Restaurant and The Deluxe Diner are my favorites.
for a variety of projects that relate to my piece of the collections,
including an idea for a show on global art colony movements. Do you have a favorite collection object?
Ilonka Karasz’s hot milk pitcher is one of many favorites. She
Where is your favorite place to have lunch in Newark? transforms a traditional form into a streamlined, modernist or art
La Cocina on New Street for delicious Cuban food. deco form that appears to fly off the shelf where it is displayed
in Style and Status in Sterling: American Silver in the Newark
Do you have a favorite collection piece? Museum. The rounded columns of the body, knob and handle as
My current favorite is Albert Bierstadt’s intimate but virtuosic well as the geometric spout and square handle reflect elements of
Sunshine and Shadow, now on view in Seeing America. This automobiles and airplanes that zoomed and roared through the
intimate work in oil on paper mounted on canvas is very different, 1920s. I am also drawn to this pitcher as it is electroplated silver,
both in its subject and scale, from those people might expect making it more affordable so that more people could enjoy owning
from the artist. His virtuosic handling of light in this beautiful little or using it in their home.
painting urges greater attention to the technique at work in his
sweeping Western views, not just the big ideas that technique was For the complete interviews with William and Amy, visit:
used to convey. newarkmuseum.wordpress.com/2018/06/11/meet-curators/
12 | DANA Spring 2018EDUCATION
INSPIRING CHILDREN TO LEARN, GROW AND MAKE
Families know that kids learn from museums. That’s why
so many families make the Newark Museum one of their
learning destinations. But museums learn from kids, too.
And this spring, families visiting the Museum can be part
of new research that is revealing more about how young
children learn.
.
In a partnership with Dr. Elizabeth Bonawitz, Dr. Vanessa
Lobue, and Dr. Patrick Shafto, all Rutgers University–
Newark Campus faculty in child development and data
science, the Museum is hosting a pop-up Mobile Maker
Center. Situated near the Museum’s popular MakerSPACE,
the Mobile Maker Center is a giant, bright Lego-like
structure—a fun, creative setting that also houses
high-tech research equipment like motion sensors and
sophisticated image-analysis computing. Kids are invited
to explore a new and interesting object while researchers
study how they learn, using data from their movements, speech and facial expressions to answer scientific questions about
learning and development, such as what role emotions play in creating new understandings.
It’s a great match for both partners. Already recognized as a leader in informal education for early childhood learners, the
Museum is also committed to the deep exploration of objects and making. The Mobile Maker Center is a natural extension of
questions we’re posing in the Museum’s MakerSPACE, where visitors of all ages challenge themselves to discover new ideas
in art, materials and technology. According to Dr. Bonawitz, the faculty are discovering that the Maker movement not only
helps foster learning, but that our human ability to create might lie in our earliest explorations of the world. “We suggest not
only that children’s play behavior is like making,” she says, “but that making is possible because of childhood.”
Museum visitors will also benefit from the project’s discoveries, as the staff uses what is being learned to continuously
improve programs for early learners. The Rutgers faculty will offer training to parents, caregivers, early childhood educators and
Museum staff, helping us to better understand how children use their senses to observe and learn, pursue curiosity, try new
things and solve problems. With what we’re learning together, we can help caregivers and parents understand more about
how their children learn and how they might use Museum galleries together to investigate, imagine and create.
THE NEWARK MUSEUM IS FOR TEENS!
The Explorers are making sure that the next generation of leaders gets to know
the Newark Museum. Four times a year they take over the Museum and host
“Teen Nights at the Museum.” Designed and produced by the Explorers for their
peers, each evening is organized around a theme that mixes art, culture and
social activities.
At the recent “Mystery Night at the Museum,” 160 teens worked together
in small groups to solve a crime via a scavenger hunt. They found clues
throughout the galleries, with a focus on the American and Asian galleries. As
they explored, teens from different schools and neighborhoods collaborated
and formed teams—and new friendships. Through activities like these, the
Museum becomes a fun and safe place to hang out. The next teen night will be
Friday, June 29th. Word is that the Museum will be the place to be.
In March, the Explorers hosted eighteen Museum Apprentices from the New Bedford Whaling Museum, fellow recipients of the 2017
National Arts and Humanities Youth Award. Accompanied by former Newark Museum board member and valued supporter Gurdon
Wattles, they spent a Saturday getting to know one another, exploring the Newark Museum and discovering the MakerSPACE. It was a
great exchange and the Explorers look forward to a trip to New Bedford in the near future.
newarkmuseum.org | 13IMPACT
They will also take part in professional development sessions
DIVERSIFYING ART pertaining to diversity issues in museum leadership. In the
program’s second year, interns will participate in a summer
MUSEUM LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE externship at one of three partnering museums—Crystal
Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas,
the Princeton University Art Museum and the Brooklyn
Historical Society. These externships will allow students
to broaden their experience of the museum world at three
highly respected cultural institutions that steward distinctive
collections and serve very different constituencies.
Finally, in their third year, DAMLI interns will work on
museum-related independent study projects developed in
coordination with their universities for course credit. Program
mentors will also work with each individual student to help
with either securing a job or gaining admission to a graduate
program in a museum-related field.
This summer the Newark Museum will launch an important
three-year initiative to increase the number of students from
diverse backgrounds who pursue art museum leadership #THISPLACEMATTERS
careers. Part of the Diversifying Art Museum Leadership
Initiative (DAMLI), funded in part by the Walton Family
Foundation and the Ford Foundation, the Newark Museum's
DAMLI program will provide six Newark-area college
students, representing populations that are not traditionally
part of museum leadership, with paid internships and one-
on-one mentorships with senior Museum staff. The Newark
Museum will be one of twenty pioneering art museums from
across the country working to develop creative solutions to
diversify the museum field. At the Newark Museum, the 1885 Ballantine House is a national
landmark and a source of local pride in Newark’s illustrious
The PSN Family Charitable Trust, a long time supporter of history. As part of the Newark Museum’s vibrant cultural
the Museum’s summer college internship program and other campus, the Ballantine House ranks high among our diverse
efforts to advance higher learning, is also contributing to the collections and is one of the most visited by school groups.
Museum’s DAMLI program by providing additional matching This past May, many supporters helped raise awareness to the
funds for the project. importance of this Gilded Age mansion as part of the National
Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preservation Month.
The long-term goal of the initiative is to develop a diverse
pool of museum professionals, particularly in curatorial and But it's never too late to share a group shot or your own personal
senior management positions, who are prepared to become selfie featuring the Ballantine House and show your love for your
the next generation to lead America’s art museums. home away from home!
Over the course of their three years in the DAMLI program, As caretaker for the Ballantine House, the Newark Museum
students will gain the skills, knowledge and experience accepts donations year round dedicated to its care and
necessary to succeed in the museum field and have preservation. To support this effort with a donation, contact the
opportunities to build professional networks. During the Development Office at 973.596.6626.
first year of the program, DAMLI interns will participate in
an intensive overview rotation through several Museum
departments: Curatorial, Exhibitions, Registrar, Marketing,
Development and Administration.
14 | DANA Spring 2018BEHIND THE SCENES
BEHIND THE SCENES OF AN EXHIBITION INSTALLATION
This spring the Newark Museum unveiled its inaugural exhibition—The Rockies & The Alps: Bierstadt, Calame, and the
Romance of the Mountains—in its new special exhibition gallery, located on the second floor of the Museum’s main building.
Hundreds of visitors on opening night were awed by the stunning landscapes from Newark’s renowned collection of
nineteenth-century landscape paintings, contrasted with European Alpine paintings of the same period. What they weren’t
aware of (and of course, that’s the way we planned it) were the three years leading up to the opening.
What exactly does it take to put on a new major exhibition show, to building and placing temporary walls to meet a
while renovating 5,000 square feet of gallery space? collective vision of curators, educators and designers. It also
included planning for motion detectors to reduce light levels
First, a lot of intricate research, including sorting through within Museum conservation standards, and mounting
an immense amount of material, themes and masterwork books and specimens from our natural science collections.
landscapes. Along the way, a trip to the Library of Congress The knowledge and ingenuity devoted to preparing The
in Washington, D.C., was necessary to view sketchbooks Rockies and The Alps show was both incredibly impressive
dating back to 1832. Tricia Laughlin Bloom, our curator of and indicative of what the Newark Museum staff does
American art, traveled to meet with the Library’s registrar regularly. (Although, we don’t always have the additional
and conservator to view Samuel Morse’s sketchbooks challenge of multiple snowstorms interrupting schedules in
related to the Morse painting featured in the exhibition early spring!)
(The Wetterhorn, ca. 1832). The tiny sketchbooks were so
delicate that just the simple act of handling them had to Many thanks to our dedicated and creative staff for
be done very carefully. developing the already-beloved experience that is The
Rockies and The Alps show. Congratulations to everyone
The exhibition also required a broad range of talents and involved.
skill sets. Staff and consultants worked tirelessly—together - The Trustees of the
and independently—on a myriad of details. These included Newark Museum
everything from creating a room for a magic lantern slide
newarkmuseum.org | 15DOCENTS' FAVORITE WORKS
Recently, we asked the Museum Docents which work in the collection was
their favorite and why. Here are some of their responses.
“My favorite often changes. At the moment it's the Alaskan snow goggles
in the Native American Gallery, made of walrus tusk. I always show the belt
buckle and needle cases, too, but the goggles are the hit.
—Dorothy Krauss
“The Voice of the City of New York Interpreted by Joseph Stella speaks to me
as an artistic treasure depicting a vibrant example of the city I love and live
in. As an immigrant from Italy, he captured the [urban] sights, sounds and
even smells, and then he added at the bottom that which makes the city
work.”
—Beverly Nadler
“My favorite piece is the Stella homage to the city of New York. Each panel
speaks to me so vividly and draws me into it. Without words, it recreates
[the] vitality, noise, description and, in my eyes, it is a masterpiece. I never
tire of seeing it and helping our visitors to read it as I do.”
—Barbara Ostroff
El Anatsui, Many Came Back (detail), 2005, Aluminum
(liquor bottle tops) and copper wire, 84 x 115 in. “Loving creativity and being a major recycler, I am enthralled with our piece by the
Purchase 2005 The Members' Fund 2005.34
Ghanaian artist El Anatsui, Many Came Back. I enjoy getting our visitors involved
and hearing their opinions of this [work].”
—Ruth Hutter
“Easy! Mrs. Charles Thursby. She's my kind of gal. She epitomizes The New Woman
(circa 1900) and is fun to talk about, as is her artist, John Singer Sargent, who had a
checkered but incredibly successful career as a portraitist.”
—Casey Bradford
“My favorite piece is Robert Henri’s Portrait of Willie Gee, which speaks to me as an
image of the beauty, wonder and pure innocence of a child.”
—Janet Capsol Cashion
“My favorite, among many, is Lady Walking a Tightrope in the Arts of Global Africa.
The fabric, the color and the concept that women walk a tightrope is appealing visually
and intellectually stimulating.”
—Rita Nadler
Please note that Robert Henri’s painting Portrait of Willie Gee is on loan to the
National Portrait Gallery for its exhibition The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying
American Workers (through September 3). Joseph Stella's mural The Voice of the City
of New York will be back on view in February 2019 in the Museum's newly refurbished
modern and contemporary galleries of Seeing America.
John Singer Sargent, Mrs. Charles Thursby, 1897-98,
Oil on canvas, 78 ¼ x 39 ½ in. Purchase by exchange,
1985. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. Duncan Pitney, Emilie
Coles (from the J. Ackerman Coles Collection), Mrs.
Lewis B. Ballantyne, Mrs. Owen Winston and the
Bequest of Louis Bamberger 85.45
16 | DANA Spring 2018SUMMER PROGRAMS
newarkmuseum.org | 17Nonprofit
49 Washington Street Organization
Newark, NJ 07102-3176 U.S.. Postage
PAID
Newark, NJ
Permit No. 2803
HISTORIC WASHINGTON STREET REOPENING CELEBRATION
18 | DANA Spring 2018You can also read
