Students turn curators, show to open at Elvehjem

The poet William Blake may have seen the world in a grain of sand, but the students in Ann Smart Martin’s yearlong art history course have seen “reflections” of an entire culture in a teapot.

Last year as part of the class, the 16 mostly undergraduates curated “Reflections: Furniture, Silver and Paintings from Early America.” The exhibition opens on Saturday, Oct. 11, at the Elvehjem Museum of Art.

Drawn from a private collection in Florida, the items include chests, tables, tankards, coffee- and teapots to portrait paintings by John Singleton Copley, Charles Willson Peale and Thomas Sully.

“The students were able to do a hands-on study of an important comprehensive collection of early American decorative arts,” says Martin, assistant professor of art history. “They also saw how exhibitions work as a means of public education and became savvy about theories of museum practice, with issues and complexities seldom noticed when touring a museum.”

Martin’s class was one of Jennifer Hope Wilson’s last before graduating in May with a bachelor’s degree in art history. She says she plans to apply to graduate schools in social work; she’ll be able to apply to any discipline what she learned curating the exhibition, she says.

“In addition to being taught about early American furniture and crafts, I also learned what it’s like to work within a group whose members have very diverse strengths and interests,” Wilson says. “To accomplish a single large task, we identified what each of us did best and enjoyed doing most. Gaining an understanding of how a group can learn and benefit from what each individual brings to the table is a skill I can use in whatever field I enter.”

“Reflections” will run through Sunday, Dec. 28.

The Elvehjem celebrates the abstract as well as the practical in a show opening Oct. 11. “Abstraction in the Mid-20th Century” features works on paper from the 1950s through the 1970s. Items from the Elvehjem’s permanent collection feature work by artists from America, Europe and Japan. This exhibition will remain on view through Sunday, Dec. 7. Information: 263-2246, http://www.lvm.wisc.edu.