Location: The Walters Art Museum/Online
Dates: Fall 2009
Images
Art-On-the-Move-main
Description
Ever wonder how objects and paintings in our museums got there? In the fall of 2009, students in the course Behind the Scenes at the Walters Art Museum: Material Migrations considered the many ways and means by which objects circulate, ranging from pilgrimage to commercial trade to archaeological excavation. These general investigations were enhanced by directed student research on the “back stories” of fourteen artworks in the Walters’ own collection. By examining how and why objects circulate, students were also invited to consider how meanings and values shift with shifting historical contexts. Students presented their research in several forms, including through interactive maps in Google Earth that chronicle the geographic journey of each piece and explore its meaning at different “stops” along the way.
This work was possible thanks to the support of Hopkins’ Center for Educational Resources and an Arts Innovation Grant.