Emily Jacobs ’24 shares her involvement with the Museum of Art as a Bowdoin student

There’s a countdown to graduation set on my phone, and each day I check how much time I have left as a Bowdoin student. Reflecting on my experiences at Bowdoin College and especially the Museum of Art, I have learned a great deal about the power art holds to foster community. Building bridges among the Museum, faculty, students, and the wider Brunswick network has been a privilege.

My very first class at Bowdoin was “The Medici’s Italy” with Professor Emerita of Art History Susan Wegner. Through this Florentine Renaissance course, I was introduced to the BCMA and experienced my first visit to the Zuckert Seminar Room. I found myself standing two feet away from a fifteenth century cassone panel depicting scenes from Giovanni Boccaccio’s Il Ninfale Fiesolano. I quickly became hooked on the BCMA. Continuing to study Art History and Anthropology, I returned frequently to the Museum for my courses. In a seminar titled “Transatlantic Modernisms” led by Professor of Art History Pamela Fletcher, our class visited the Museum three times during the semester to examine works by John Sloan, Robert Henri, George Bellows, and other prominent artists of the Ashcan School. Though we had seen these paintings and drawings in slideshows, their texture and depth came alive in person. This semester, my “Critical Museum Studies” class with Professor of Art History Stephen Perkinson has also visited the Museum repeatedly. We move beyond the analysis of individual artworks in this course, instead focusing on aspects of the institution such as the neoclassical architecture of the Walker Art Building, the origins of the Museum’s collections, and how exhibitions communicate with viewers. In addition to curricular Museum visits, I have made sure to take advantage of lectures and gallery talks put on by the BCMA. I have often pulled friends along to hear about topics such as the reception of Assyrian art in America or the use of blue paper in Renaissance drawings.

Feeling deeply connected to the Museum’s educational mission, I applied to work as a Student Curatorial Assistant for the summer of 2023. In this role, I had the opportunity to research the collections, lead tours for the public, and propose ideas for campus programs and academic initiatives. The most rewarding aspect of that summer was supporting the exhibition “The Book of Two Hemispheres:” Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the United States and Europe. Sean Kramer, the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow and the exhibition's curator, served as a mentor to me throughout the project. Under Sean’s guidance, I began researching in the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections in the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library. I was engaging hands-on with material connected to Harriet Beecher Stowe such as translations of her famous novel, newspaper articles about her travels to Europe, and much more.

Returning for this 2023 to 2024 academic year, I serve as the inaugural Curatorial Intern of Campus Engagement. My goal in this position has been to strengthen the connection between faculty, students, and our Museum. In the fall, I helped organize a student workshop about depictions of race and racialized imagery in museum spaces ahead of The Book of Two Hemispheres. I also arranged a student meeting with Caitlin Beach, Assistant Professor of Art History at Fordham University and Bowdoin Class of 2010. While on campus to deliver a lecture about sculptor Edmonia Lewis in conjunction with The Book of Two Hemispheres, Beach met with students to discuss her research and her career path after Bowdoin.

I have also worked closely with Post-Baccalaureate Curatorial Assistant Sabrina Lin '21 and the Education Assistants to mentor a cohort of Student Ambassadors this year. In this capacity, I lead weekly meetings where the Ambassadors develop student-focused events in addition to community programs such as Family Saturdays.

In my final semester at Bowdoin, I’ve been developing and piloting a Student Acquisitions Program which is giving students the power to select and purchase a work of art for the BCMA's Permanent Collection. Building on my research into academic initiatives from the summer, I examined similar programs at institutions like the Williams College Museum of Art and the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. I contacted staff at these museums to learn more about structuring such a project, ultimately designing a program specifically tailored for Bowdoin. I proposed this program to the Co-Directors and the curatorial team, and their enthusiastic support has made such an exciting initiative possible.

The Student Acquisitions Program is running through the Bowdoin Art Society in this pilot phase, and students are eager to acquire work that speaks to their interests and experiences. Traditionally, the Bowdoin Art Society has been a club that hosts weekly discussions about critical topics in art and culture. The group also hosts events to connect students with artists, art-world professionals, and their immediate arts community at Bowdoin. As president of the Bowdoin Art Society, I adapted the club’s structure to incorporate the Student Acquisitions Program this semester. Still convening weekly, our meetings are filled with passionate conversation and deliberation about what artwork we would like to see in the BCMA. As we wrap up the pilot, we look forward to sharing more about this initiative with you.

Amid the excitement and anxieties about what the next chapter holds for me, what I feel the most is gratitude. From attending my first class in the Museum to serving as an intern, every experience has deepened my appreciation for the BCMA’s educational mission. Striving to deepen the connections between the Museum and my Bowdoin community has been a highlight of my college experience. Working at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art has shown me a purpose that I know I will carry with me into the future. So, thank you all.

 

Emily Jacobs ’24
Student Assistant for Campus Engagement
Bowdoin College Museum of Art