People from across the community gathered at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum on Feb. 5 for its spring exhibition opening and reception.
As visitors came into the lobby, student workers gave out feather boas to guests in an homage to the new exhibit “The Immortal Magu” and were welcomed with remarks from Wellesley College faculty and Davis Museum staff, celebrating the significance of the Davis Museum exhibitions as part of the 150th anniversary of the college.
Curator of Education and Public Programs (right). Photo by Iris Zhan
The new exhibits included “Only To Be There: Student Traditions At Wellesley,” “The Immortal Magu: A Sixteenth-Century Chinese Painting Up Close” and a new fifth floor with contemporary art from various artists. Guests were also invited to revisit exhibits from last semester that reopened for continued viewing this semester, including “In Focus: Wellesley College Faculty Artists,” “The Worlds of Ilse Bing,” and “Suzanne Ciani: Sound Lounge.”
The new exhibit on Wellesley College traditions contains artifacts, records, and pictures of how student traditions have evolved over time. Some traditions highlighted include Flower Sunday, hoop rolling, step singing, and marathon Monday. They also included lesser known traditions that have been discontinued such as the Wellesley fudge cake and float night. Pictures of students ranged from the 1900s to the 2010s, showcasing the longevity of some traditions.
“The Immortal Magu: A Sixteenth-Century Chinese Painting Up Close” features a large Chinese scroll painting of Magu, a Taoist goddess associated with beauty and longevity. The exhibit includes details on the steps taken to conserve and repair the painting as well as a poem on the significance of Magu in both Chinese and English translations
The fifth floor showcases a new diverse collection of 2D and 3D contemporary art across many different styles.
The Davis Museum will be doing curatorial tours of these new exhibits as well as drop-in public tours across different themes throughout the museum. You can visit the Davis Museum website to find more information.
