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Arts

Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire presents

The Artists Revealed: 2021 Studio Art Faculty Review

      DURHAM, NH – A new exhibition, The Artists Revealed: 2021 Studio Art Faculty Review will be on view at the Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire beginning August 30 until December 14, 2021. An artist reception will be held Thursday, September 9, 4 p.m.- 6 p.m. The Museum of Art and programs are open to the public free of charge. The Museum will be closed October 11 and 25-27, 2021.

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Brian Chu, Cocheco Mill, 2020-21, Oil on canvas, 24” x 23”

      This exhibition of work by the artists who teach in the Department of Art and Art History reveals the breadth and range of the department’s studio art program. The participating faculty members are professional artists, involved in national and international exhibitions while serving as mentors to undergraduate and graduate students at the University. This exhibition highlights the broad scope of the department’s visual voice and creativity.

      Exhibiting artists include Benjamin Cariens, Michael Cardinali, Jamie Bowman, Brian Chu, Julee Holcombe, Meghan Samson, Emily Wernig, Leah Woods, and Liese Zahabi. Works will also be shown in memory of Alumni and adjunct faculty member Jason Bombaci ’07 (1982-2020), who passed away from cancer in 2020.

      All faculty members will be presenting a series of artists talks throughout the duration of the exhibition. Beginning on Wednesday, October 6, 12:10 p.m., Julee Holcombe, Emily Wernig, Leah Woods, will discuss current work and studio practices. Benjamin Cariens, Michael Cardinali, and Liese Zahabi will present on Wednesday October 13, 12:10 p.m. - 1 p.m.  And Brian Chu and Meghan Samson will present on Wednesday, October 17, 12:10 p.m. - 1 p.m. Please visit our website for more information.

      Exhibitions and accompanying programs are supported by Friends of the Museum of Art. 

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Julee Holcombe, Re-visioning Babylon, 2021, Archival Inkjet, 8” x 11”

      The Museum of Art hours of operation during the academic year: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday: 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday: 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday: 12 - 4 p.m., Closed Sunday; closed University holiday. Follow and subscribe to the Museum of Art on Facebook, Twitter , YouTube, and Instagram. 

See History Anew with The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming

Exhibition on view September 18, 2021-March 20, 2022

      SALEM, MA — This fall, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) presents a new exhibition about the tragic events and lasting legacy of the 1692 witch trials. The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming dives into the circumstances that fueled the crisis while recognizing the individuals who rose to defend those unjustly accused. The exhibition features authentic 17th-century court documents and objects as well as two compelling contemporary responses made by artists with direct ancestral links to the trials. Fashion by Alexander McQueen and photography by Frances F. Denny revive the impact of Salem’s historical trauma and provide a new perspective on a centuries-old story. The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming is on view at PEM September 18, 2021 through March 20, 2022. 

      “More than 300 years after the Salem witch trials, the personal tragedies and grave injustices that occurred still provoke reflection as we continue to reckon with the experiences of those involved,” said Dan Lipcan, the Ann C. Pingree Director of PEM’s Phillips Library and one of the exhibition co-curators. “Thanks to these artists’ mining of Salem’s painful history, we are able to put these events into context with our lives today and imagine how we might courageously mold our communities moving forward while continually advocating for justice and tolerance.” 

      PEM holds the world’s largest collection of Salem witch trials materials, including more than 500 original documents on deposit from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Selections of these documents along with furnishings and personal objects help tell the tragic and

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Alexander McQueen, Evening dress, from the In Memory of Elizabeth How, Salem, 1692 (detail), Ready-to-wear collection, fall/winter 2007. Velvet, glass beads and satin. Gift of anonymous donors in London who are friends of Peabody Essex Museum, 2011.44.1. © 2019 Peabody Essex Museum. 

Photo by Bob Packert/PEM.

      The fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2007 collection, In Memory of Elizabeth How, 1692, was based on his Salem research into his ancestor Elizabeth How, one of the first women to be condemned and hanged as a witch in July 1692. More than three centuries after How’s death, McQueen and Sarah Burton, now the creative director for the House of McQueen, visited Salem. Selections from the resulting intensely personal and autobiographical collection will be on view, including the form-fitting velvet press sample runway dress from PEM’s collection, with a starburst hand-sewn in iridescent gunmetal-gray bugle beads that radiates down the neckline and across the chest and shoulders. 

      Set in context, nearby authentic documents help tell How’s story, from the initial complaint filed May 28, 1692 to the warrant for her arrest, her examination in court, testimony, indictment, pardon, and final restitution to her family in 1712. 

      “Alexander McQueen’s theatrical fashion show, featuring his powerful designs, reclaimed How’s power and memory from the false accusation that led to her unjust execution,” said exhibition co-curator, Paula Richter. “His visit to key sites in Salem and research into his ancestestry left a lasting impact on him. The resulting designs include symbols of witchcraft, paganism, magic and religious persecution.”

        From a woman in hospital scrubs to a local Salem shop owner, photographer Frances F. Denny’s series Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America reclaims the meaning of the word “witch” from its historical use as a tool to silence and control women. As a descendent of both accusers and the accused, Denny set out on a journey to discover modern-day witches. She

true story of those accused, including a trunk that once belonged to Jonathan Corwin, the magistrate who resided at the 17th-century building in Salem that is today known as the Witch House. 

      The exhibition opens with the power dynamics, fear and community tensions that plagued Salem in the summer of 1692. The extraordinary crisis involved more than 400 people and led to the deaths of 25 innocent people between June 1692 and March 1693. The panic grew from a society threatened by war and a malfunctioning judicial system in a geographical and cultural setting rife with religious conflict and intolerance.

encountered healers, artists and tarot readers, a vast spectrum of identities and spiritual practices. The exhibition features 13 portraits and accompanying personal essays, each revealing a fascinating glimpse into the contemporary spiritual movement.

SEPTEMBER 2021

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