{"id":195444,"date":"2023-02-20T07:30:07","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T12:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=195444"},"modified":"2023-06-27T12:57:34","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:57:34","slug":"mfa-students-draw-inspiration-from-the-past-to-create-in-the-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2023\/02\/mfa-students-draw-inspiration-from-the-past-to-create-in-the-present\/","title":{"rendered":"MFA Students Draw Inspiration from the Past to Create in the Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like so many sons seeking to emulate their fathers, young David Teale also was a photographer and author \u2013 albeit of smaller acclaim than the Pulitzer Prize-winning naturalist Edwin Way Teale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And unlike his famous father\u2019s work, David\u2019s book, \u201cMr. Teale and His Pictures,\u201d is held together with paper fasteners and features a construction paper cover with a black-and-white photo of Edwin that\u2019s lifting at the edge where adhesive is giving way.<\/p>\n

Even though the keepsake may have been for only family, close friends, or a teacher, that little red book caught the endearing eye of Noah Thompson \u201924 (MFA), who describes the artifact that\u2019s part of the Edwin Way Teale Papers<\/a> in UConn Library\u2019s Archives & Special Collections<\/a> as \u201csomething so sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Noah
Noah Thompson \u201924 poses next to \u201cMr. Teale the Younger and His Pictures,\u201d one of his contributions to the \u201cRaid the Archive: Edwin Way Teale and New Works\u201d exhibition currently on display in the William Benton Museum of Art on Feb. 9, 2023. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When he came upon the book, Thompson says he felt drawn to young David and driven to pour through his high school and summer camp journals from the 1930s and \u201940s, along with his diary from just before he was drafted into World War II, to get a sense of the young man who was killed in action at 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I found a bunch of negatives of David\u2019s photographs,\u201d Thompson says. \u201cHe never was able to bring his prints to life. I felt compelled to do that for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resulting work from Thompson, \u201cMr. Teale the Younger and His Pictures,\u201d is part of the larger show, \u201cRaid the Archive: Edwin Way Teale and New Works,\u201d<\/a> at the William Benton Museum of Art<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaid the Archive\u201d is the culmination of photography professor Janet Pritchard\u2019s fall Special Topics in Studio Art class, ART 5383, that looked to the Teale family for inspiration and the archives located in The Dodd Center for Human Rights<\/a> for access.<\/p>\n

Pritchard, who works in the art and art history department<\/a> in the School of Fine Arts<\/a>, says she was inspired by the 2019-20 exhibition, \u201cRaid the Icebox Now,\u201d at the RISD Museum in Providence, and started considering how to use the Teale collection at UConn and efforts of first-year MFA students who take the special topics class their first two semesters in the three-year program.<\/p>\n

Since the class rotates instructors, Pritchard needed, first, to wait her turn. Then, she needed the Benton to have a gallery available. Archival staff needed to have enough free time to work with the students, and finally she needed a group of students up to the challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students had never worked this way, so it was a big ask,\u201d Pritchard says. \u201cNot only had they never worked this way, but some of them are not oriented toward the natural world; they\u2019re city people and this was foreign to them. For others, Teale was hard to connect with because he\u2019s a \u2018dead, white man.\u2019 But one of the things I told them early on is, \u2018Your job is to keep an open mind and find a point of connection, a way to engage. Follow your curiosity to do that and trust it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Monica Hamilton \u201925 (MFA) used Edwin Teale\u2019s Kodak Brownie Bullet camera to take pictures at his former homestead in Hampton, Trail Wood<\/a>, which the Connecticut Audubon Society<\/a> now operates as a sanctuary.<\/p>\n

Amira Brown \u201925 (MFA) created a wall sculpture highlighting words from one of Edwin Teale\u2019s book dedications to his wife, Nellie. The piece pops off the museum wall and states, \u201cThe longest journey of all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen these students get to their last semester of their third year, they\u2019ll have an MFA show at the Benton, and this group is going to be way ahead of others having taken this class,\u201d Pritchard says. \u201cExhibiting is an artist\u2019s performance; it\u2019s where we strut our stuff, and our students don\u2019t get to do that that much. They sometimes get here as graduate students and have very little experience hanging a show.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, not only did the class teach students how to use an archive and draw inspiration from the past for present work, it gave them the experience of curating a show \u2013 \u201chow to pull pieces out and arrange them, how to write all the wall text to inform an audience, how to get the work framed and figure out where it is going to go,\u201d Pritchard says.<\/p>\n

During installation of the show over winter break, the students came in with a written plan thinking they knew where everything would go. Pritchard says they quickly realized they needed to readapt to whatever circumstance arose.<\/p>\n

Hanieh Kashani \u201925 (MFA) was home in Iran when her sculpture, \u201cRibbon Map, The Anatomy of a Journey,\u201d was to be installed, Pritchard says. So, Mahsa Attaran \u201925 (MFA) contacted her over video chat, and together the two worked together to get the installation to look just right.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinishing work is something they don\u2019t often have a lot of experience with either,\u201d Pritchard says. \u201cHow to frame it, how to present it, how to attach it to the wall, all those practical matters take thought and consideration and negotiation with the museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anna
Anna Schwartz \u201925 poses next to her painting \u201cProjective Verse (after Charles Olson),\u201d one of her contributions to the \u201cRaid the Archive: Edwin Way Teale and New Works\u201d exhibition currently on display in the William Benton Museum of Art on Feb. 8, 2023. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anna Schwartz \u201925 (MFA) settled on the use of magnets to fasten her painting \u201cProjective Verse (after Charles Olson)\u201d to the wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the start of this project, Janet was clear that we were taking on a huge but exciting undertaking,\u201d Schwartz says. \u201cOn the first day of class, she told us we had three months to put together a show of not just our own work, but also objects from the Teale collection. The weeks that followed served as a rich course in curating, research, and familiarizing ourselves with the history of our new surroundings in Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Thompson, who\u2019s a second-year student and took the class as an elective, was inspired by David Teale, Schwartz says she was fascinated by the relationship between husband and wife, Edwin and Nellie Teale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey worked in partnership. I read his diaries and his books on the actual nuts and bolts process of being a naturalist, and I found her interwoven throughout so much of it,\u201d Schwartz says. \u201cShe was just as much of a researcher as he was. I see her in partnership with him even though he is the big name, and I think that is very much because of the time. She contributed so much. It feels like from his notes he was really aware of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her piece, Schwartz framed the two in partnership, showing them from behind, arm in arm, moving forward. The oil painting looks like graph paper, harkening to the meticulous notes Edwin Teale kept. Red squares on the painting mark the couple\u2019s wedding anniversary, reminiscent of an actual marker in a notebook.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really nice to work in the Dodd Center and see the things in the archives, items we have available to us all the time,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have so much here at UConn in terms of resources. I knew a little bit about that, which is why I chose UConn, but you don\u2019t fully understand what\u2019s available until you\u2019re here on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson says his biggest takeaway from the class was learning to leave room for surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we got into the archives, I decided to let my mind wander. While it\u2019s good to have a set idea going into an archive to do research, leave yourself open to surprise,\u201d he advises. \u201cSelect a random box and go through it and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest surprise for Schwartz was how quickly the show came together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t realize we could do this in three months, and I know that\u2019s not common,\u201d she says. \u201cNormally, the Benton has shows planned one or two years out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pritchard says she\u2019s called on other collections on campus for class assignments over the years, but the Teale collection is something that never disappoints \u2013 especially since ongoing inspiration comes from The Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series<\/a> put on by the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering<\/a> at UConn\u2019s Institute of the Environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to do this again with another group,\u201d she says. \u201cThe Teale collection is probably the richest singular resource we have on campus. And part of what is interesting about this collection and what is most important for the students\u2019 engagement is what they can learn from his voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Visit \u201cRaid the Archive: Edwin Way Teale and New Works\u201d<\/a> at the William Benton Museum of Art<\/a> through March 10.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Raid the Archive’ exhibition explores the life of naturalist Edwin Way Teale to inspire new works of art<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":195465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1711,1914,2235,2225,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2368],"class_list":["post-195444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-sfa","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 23:06:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195444"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195690,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195444\/revisions\/195690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/195465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195444"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=195444"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=195444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}