Thursday, April 29, 2021
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Nora Atkinson, Fleur and Charles Bresley Curator-in-Charge of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Emily Zilber, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at the Wharton Esherick Museum
Free and open to the public | Suggested $10 donation for Not-Yet-Members
Location: Zoom | Register to receive link
Lecture Description
Take a deep dive into Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020 with Nora Atkinson, Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Guest Curator Emily Zilber. The exhibition focuses on four artists whose creative engagement with the natural world allows us to explore what it means to be human. We’ll pay special attention to two site-specific installations created using materials including fiber, glass, mosaic. These works which examine the idea of environment in a broad sense and through physical engagement with the unique architecture of the Renwick Gallery.
About Nora Atkinson
Nora Atkinson is the Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and was named Washingtonian Magazine’s 2018 “Best Boundary-Pushing Curator” for her work on the critically-acclaimed exhibitions such as, No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man (2018) and Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death (2017). Atkinson joined the Renwick in 2014 and was part of the team responsible for the gallery’s major two-year renovation and reinvention. She has written and spoken extensively on her work, and was honored to be included in the 2018 TED Conference in Vancouver, BC. Before joining the Smithsonian, Atkinson was curator at the Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Wash., from 2006 to 2014.
About Emily Zilber
Emily Zilber is the Director of Curatorial Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at the Wharton Esherick Museum. She maintains an independent curatorial and consulting practice, including her work with the Renwick Gallery as Guest Curator for Forces of Nature, and teaches at Tyler School of Art and Architecture. Zilber was the first Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she served from 2010-2018. She has also held positions as Assistant Curator at Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum and Editor of Metalsmith. Zilber serves on the boards of the Center for Craft in Asheville, NC and CraftNOW Philadelphia.
Nora Atkinson, Fleur and Charles Bresley Curator-in-Charge of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Emily Zilber, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at the Wharton Esherick Museum
Free and open to the public | Suggested $10 donation for Not-Yet-Members
Location: Zoom | Register to receive link
Lecture Description
Take a deep dive into Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020 with Nora Atkinson, Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Guest Curator Emily Zilber. The exhibition focuses on four artists whose creative engagement with the natural world allows us to explore what it means to be human. We’ll pay special attention to two site-specific installations created using materials including fiber, glass, mosaic. These works which examine the idea of environment in a broad sense and through physical engagement with the unique architecture of the Renwick Gallery.
About Nora Atkinson
Nora Atkinson is the Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and was named Washingtonian Magazine’s 2018 “Best Boundary-Pushing Curator” for her work on the critically-acclaimed exhibitions such as, No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man (2018) and Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death (2017). Atkinson joined the Renwick in 2014 and was part of the team responsible for the gallery’s major two-year renovation and reinvention. She has written and spoken extensively on her work, and was honored to be included in the 2018 TED Conference in Vancouver, BC. Before joining the Smithsonian, Atkinson was curator at the Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Wash., from 2006 to 2014.
About Emily Zilber
Emily Zilber is the Director of Curatorial Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at the Wharton Esherick Museum. She maintains an independent curatorial and consulting practice, including her work with the Renwick Gallery as Guest Curator for Forces of Nature, and teaches at Tyler School of Art and Architecture. Zilber was the first Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she served from 2010-2018. She has also held positions as Assistant Curator at Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum and Editor of Metalsmith. Zilber serves on the boards of the Center for Craft in Asheville, NC and CraftNOW Philadelphia.