“At first I wondered if I would be a good fit for this project. I am a person from the community who is old enough to be the grandmother of the students involved. But the more I worked with the girls and listened to their conversations, the more I enjoyed myself. I realized we were similar as well as different.”
Loose Threads
Reflections on Teresa Margolles
“At the core of Margolles’s recent work are questions about the insufficiencies of traditional modes of representation. Must a work of art embody or internalize brutality in order to address it?”
New Acquisition
Asher Durand’s Catskill Mountains Near Shandaken
“For Durand, though, painting in nature wasn’t just a mode of practice; it was a way of living and working in communion with the very subject matter he put on canvas.”
On the Road
Mirken Trip to Washington, DC
A recent trip to the nation’s capitol provided Colby seniors with insights into a variety of arts professions.
Intern Insights
Eastman Johnson's The Party in the Maple Sugar Camp
“The Party in the Maple Sugar Camp is fascinating because it represents a work that never was, a project Johnson had great ambitions for that never came to fruition.”
Artist Attributed
Ruth Henshaw Bascom's Pastels
“The surviving volumes of Bascom’s diary accumulate references to over 1,100 likenesses, and the more than two hundred extant portraits demonstrate her sensitivity to nuances of physiognomy and dress and her facility with a range of materials.”
Meet and Greet
Jordia Benjamin, Mirken Coordinator of Academic and Public Programs
“I immediately sensed that there is a genuine commitment by everyone to build the Museum as an open place for learning and engaging—not only for the college but for the entire community. That attitude is a recipe for success and I am thrilled to be a part of such an enthusiastic team.”
The Art Doctor
The Language of Art Conservation
The first post in a new series looking at the conservation of objects at the Colby Museum.
Intern Exchange
A Visit from Bowdoin
The Colby-Bowdoin intern partnership enhances our students’ network, knowledge, and skills.
A Mule in the Capitol
A Summer at the Freer|Sackler
“One thin sheet of paper tells us a story of a young, broke artist who, to further his artistic development, drew on anything he could.”