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ONEONTA, N.Y. -- SUNY Distinguished Service Professor
Gretchen S. Sorin, Professor of Museum Studies and Director of the
Cooperstown Graduate Program
of the SUNY College at Oneonta, is the curator of "Through the Eyes of
Others: African Americans and Identity in American Art," an exhibit being
presented at the Fenimore Art
Museum in Cooperstown through December 31. Upon its closing in
Cooperstown, the exhibit will begin a national tour.
"Through the Eyes of Others" explores the role that race played in
American culture by examining the objects in the art of the
New York State Historical Association
that depict African Americans. The exhibition juxtaposes nineteenth-century
views of American life with contemporary interpretations by prominent
African American artists to examine how Americans have constructed and
interpreted race.
"Together these paintings and sculptures help us to understand the role
that race played in American culture in the past and the legacy that
attitudes about race bring to bear on the present day," said Sorin.
"Through the Eyes of Others" contains paintings by celebrated artists
such as William Sidney Mount and Thomas Cole and African American artists
including Romare Bearden, Kyra Hicks, and Betye Saar, as well as a multitude
of other works including drawings, photographs, woodcuts, art objects,
books, and ephemera. The exhibition is funded in part through a grant from
the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Gretchen Sorin, who holds a master's in History Museum Studies from the
Cooperstown Graduate Program, has been a consultant to more than 200 museums
and historical organizations as a scholar, exhibit curator, and education
and interpretive program planner and developer. Some of her other major
exhibitions include the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition
Service's "In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr."; "Wilderness Cure: Tuberculosis and the Adirondacks" at the
Adirondack Museum; "Bridges and Boundaries: African Americans and American
Jews" at the Jewish Museum; and "Freedoms' Journals" for the New York Public
Library.
Professor Sorin's publications include the books Touring Historic
Harlem: Four Walks in Northern Manhattan with Andrew Dolkart and In
the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The SUNY College at Oneonta's Cooperstown Graduate Program in History
Museum Studies, offered in partnership with the New York State Historical
Association, is nationally known. Founded in 1964, it prepares students for
careers in museums, historical societies, and related agencies.
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