Blog – Mount Holyoke College Art Museum

MHCAM Blog

Welcome to mhcameo, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum blog. Here we post about unique happenings, including behind-the-scenes looks at our exhibitions, close examinations of objects from the collection, and art-related chats with alumnae, faculty, and students. Sign-up below for blog alerts and take a regular peek at mhcameo!

Intern Insights
Tango for Page Turning: Related Words
Self-guided tour, one of MHCAM Journeys, developed for visitors in Summer 2017
Objects of Our Affection
A 19th-Century Turkmen Asmalyk
In this Objects of Our Affection post, Associate Curator of Education Kendra Weisbin weaves together the history of a beautiful 19th-century textile—a 2017 gift to MHCAM—and her own cultivation as a specialist and enthusiast of Islamic carpets.
Multimedia
A Tale of Two Wolves
Video recording of a conversation between photographer Pete Muller and Dean of Faculty Jon Western
Teaching with Art
Methoughts the Shilling: Teaching History with Money
Money doesn’t just talk. It’s also good to think with. Assistant Professor of History Desmond Fitz-Gibbon describes some of the intriguing stories told by coins and other money-related objects in the MHCAM collection: a Spanish real with layers of history, a gold solidus with a disturbing omission, and an assignat, France’s first paper currency. Taught bienially in the spring semester, Professor Fitz-Gibbon’s History of Money course explores the meaning of money from the distant past to the present day.
Alumnae in the Arts
Maureen Millmore ’13
Maureen Millmore ’13 is a Major Gifts Coordinator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Since graduating from Mount Holyoke, Millmore has held positions at a number of important New York cultural institutions, including the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. In this installment of the blog series Alumnae in the Arts, Associate Curator Hannah Blunt interviews Millmore about the essential functions of museum development.
Intern Insights, Objects of Our Affection
Small Wonder: A 16th-Century German Pomander
Curatorial Intern Madeline Ketley ’17 recently catalogued materials from the Fellows Collection of Silver and Snuff Bottles, a gift to MHCAM in 1986 from Josephine Purtscher Fellows (Class of 1924). In the newest installment of the blog series Objects of Our Affection, Ketley reveals the history and allure of a tiny silver pomander from this collection. Read on to discover the secrets contained in this delicate 16th-century object.
Multimedia
The Roman Lares, Gods of the Home and Journey
Video recording of a lecture by Harriet Flower, Professor of Classics, Princeton University
Alumnae in the Arts
A Life in Photography
Ann Zelle ’65 still has pictures that she took with her first camera, a Kodak Baby Brownie. Throughout her life, she has created, taught with, and collected photographs, focusing on the social and technological histories they embody and document. In this first installment of the column Alumnae in the Arts, Zelle reflects on her instinct to record the world she lives in by making and saving photographs. She recently gifted to MHCAM works by 20th-century photographers Lisette Model and August Sander, as well as a collection of over 200 American vernacular images.
Intern Insights, Teaching with Art
Constructing Narratives from Vernacular Photographs
Recent Mount Holyoke graduate Emma Kennedy ’16 reflects on her work with a collection of photographs gifted to MHCAM by Ann Zelle ’65. During her curatorial internship at the Museum, and in her research for a final paper, Kennedy contemplated the mysteries of these compelling vernacular images.
Multimedia
Teaching Museums in the 21st Century