Winter At W&L Museums Programs Offer Exploration Of Exhibits, Collections
The Museums at Washington and Lee University is currently hosting four temporary exhibitions that will run through the winter term. All exhibits are free and open to the public.
“Long Time No See ( 好久不見 )” is on view in the Reeves Museum of Ceramics through June 7 and features the work of photographer and visual artist Stephanie Shih, the Museums’ inaugural artist-in-residence. The exhibit is an original collection of 15 life-size photography and video-based still life installations inspired by the Museums’ historic collection of Asian export porcelain.
“Emma Steinkraus: Impossible Garden/ Dusk & Dawn” is on view in the Watson Galleries through May 4. An immersive art installation by Emma Steinkraus, assistant professor of art at W&L, the exhibit celebrates the achievements and ambitions of women artists who made art in overlooked genres. The installation features two panoramic wallpapers that incorporate illustrations of flora, fauna and fungi made by women artists across the globe between the 16th and 19th centuries.
“Points of Exchange: Asian Ceramics in the Reeves Collection,” curated by visiting curator of Asian art Rachel Du, a specialist in Chinese works of art, opened Aug. 28 and is on view in the Reeves Museum of Ceramics. Featuring a selection of earthenware, stoneware and porcelain from the museum’s permanent collection, the exhibit highlights the complex cultural dialogues and economic networks that have shaped the history of Asian ceramics, both domestic and export, dating back to the 16th century.
“Expressions of Color: Paintings by Evelyn Dawson” opened Sept. 16 and is an ongoing exhibit in the McCarthy Gallery in Holekamp Hall. Featuring works by Evelyn Dawson gifted to the university by her second husband, Larry Wynn ’34, the exhibit celebrates the power and effects of color in art. -The Museums at W&L will also host various programs and events inspired by “Long Time No See” and “Impossible Garden” that encourage engagement with the Museums’ collections and facilitate an interdisciplinary appreciation of art, history and culture.
These programs include artful yoga sessions every Saturday from Jan. 18 through Feb. 8 at 8:30 a.m. in the Watson Galleries; “For the Love of Plants: Plant Worlds in the Shadows of Empire,” a lecture delivered by Prof. Banu Subramaniam (Wellesley College) on Feb. 10 about how gender, race, sexuality and nation shape the foundational language, terminology
Find us on Facebook
and theories of the modern plant sciences; an exploration of the stories Chinese and Japanese export porcelain can tell on March 6; and a cooking demonstration with forager, writer and recipe developer Zoe Yijing Yang on April 8.
A “Lunch and Learn” series will also be hosted on select weekdays this winter. This year’s theme, “Buried Stories, Hidden Lives,” invites poets, scholars and community members to consider whose voices and stories have shaped our dominant historical narratives, whose stories have been excluded, erased or hidden, and how we can render these stories more visible. The Museums will provide a lunch served at 11:30 a.m. Seating is limited and RSVP is required.
The programs are free and registration is required. For more details and registration information, visit https://wlu.edu.arts/museums/ programs. The Museums at W&L are open to the public Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. To learn more about the 20242025 exhibitions, visit the Museums at W&L’s website: https://wlu.edu/arts/ museums.