Student Projects

“Walker Wisdom” Podcast Series

Developed by Andrew Tran ’26, Summer 2023 Education and Shop Assistant, this podcast series explores the lives of different staff members in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. This project aims to increase the visibility of the Museum and solidify the institution as an educational resource welcoming to all perspectives and audiences.

Often, there is the perception that the “army” handling the operations behind museum exhibitions and artifacts remain hidden behind the curtain. The podcast will include an intro episode and 13 interview episodes; each is be 12-20 minutes long. I ask willing staff members about how they individually found their way to the museum field, how they envisioned art becoming part of their careers, their daily tasks, the obstacles they face during events (such as Night at the Museum and the Summer Opening), and how their jobs differ during the academic term and summer period, among other topics.

Explore the podcast series here: https://courses.bowdoin.edu/walker-wisdom-2023/

Looking Closer: A Collection Without Labels

Created by Summer Education and Shop Assistant, Gavin Sychterz ’25, Looking Closer is designed to introduce a new way to explore and appreciate artworks from the Bowdoin College Museum of Art’s permanent collection. The goal of this project is to challenge convention and encourage a diverse and enriched understanding of art through an interactive platform that moves beyond conventional curatorial labels.

In many museums, curatorial labels guide viewers towards a singular avenue of interpretation. Often, the voice of a select few individuals or museum authority dominates, leaving little room for individual imagination and creative thinking. This approach can inadvertently limit the richness and multitudes of perspectives that art can inspire. Looking Closer aims to break free from these constraints and empower the viewer to uncover the multitude of ways to enjoy and find meaning in art. Instead of traditional labels, a captivating array of artworks from the Museum’s diverse collection is displayed through the page “Artwork Gallery.” Each piece will be identified solely by its accession number, leaving a blank canvas for exploration.

Visit the website here: https://courses.bowdoin.edu/art-museum-label-project-2023/

Composer’s Concert at the Museum

Summer Education Intern, Tessa Frank ’23, compiles interviews, photo and video documentations for Bowdoin International Music Festival (BIMF)’s Composer’s Concert at the Museum series. This summer features the talented composers Sam Wu, Kai Kubota-Enright, (Luís) Daniel Jiménez Rojas, Younje Cho, Zihan Wu, Sami Seif, Xiaofeng Jiang, Benjamin Norbrook, and Kate Ragan; each musician selected a work of art on view at the BCMA to craft their original composition.

Visit the website here:

https://courses.bowdoin.edu/bimf-composers-concerts/

Innovation and Resilience Across Three Generations of Wabanaki Basket-Making

Curated by Amanda Cassano ’22, Sunshine Eaton ’22, and Shandiin Largo ’23, members of the Native American Students Association at Bowdoin College.

(February 1, 2022 – September 18, 2022, Markell Gallery)

The exhibition seeks to highlight the dynamic tradition of Wabanaki basket-making, reflecting Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Micmac artists’ unique styles and designs. The exhibition brings together historical and contemporary baskets, which represent some of the finest examples of Wabanaki artistry in recent times. While the Wabanaki have been weaving baskets since time immemorial, when Wabanaki were forced off their land under European colonization, basketmaking became a means of economic independence and resistance to assimilation. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Wabanaki artists innovated traditional utilitarian forms to meet tourists’ tastes, leading to a new and vibrant style of basketmaking—fancy baskets.

While basket-making continues to be a source of economic empowerment for Wabanaki communities, basket-making remains a powerful form of individual artistic expression and vehicle for sharing generational knowledge. Over the past few generations, artists such as Molly Neptune Parker, Clara Neptune Keezer, and Fred Tomah have significantly influenced young generations of basket-makers, shaping the path of Wabanaki basket-making traditions for generations to come.

In addition to reconnecting with Indigenous forms of artistic and cultural expression, Wabanaki basket makers have partnered with natural resource managers and forestry scientists to create the Ash Task Force. In this way, community members and scholars are working to de-colonize Western academies and systems that have ignored the value of Indigenous knowledge and culture. The Ash Task Force works to combat an invasive beetle called the Emerald Ash-borer, which threatens the future of Wabanaki baskets’ primary material, brown ash. In protecting and promoting Indigenous artistry and culture, the process of de-colonizing Western and Eurocentric systems of knowledge has begun.

Explore the online version of the exhibition here:

https://www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum/exhibitions/digital/innovation-resilience/index.html

Art Up Close | Indian and Islamic Painting from the Museum’s Collection

Episode 10: “Indian and Islamic Painting from the Museum’s Collection” with Bronwen Gulkis.

In this tenth installment of “Art Up Close at the BCMA”, Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History Bronwen Gulkis highlights little-known examples of Indian and Islamic painting from the Museum’s permanent collection. Hosted by Lucy Siegel ’22. Presented by the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.

Recorded on December 1, 2021.

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