(November 12, 2014)

Centenary students selected to present at national conference

SHREVEPORT, LA — Ben Green '16 and Cadie Hancock '15 were selected to present their project, "#exhibit: Reinterpreting Art from the Permanent Collection" at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Museums Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, this October.

The pair first created the concept for their exhibit while completing an assignment in Modern and Contemporary Art, a course taught by professor of art history and visual studies and Meadows Museum interim co-director Dr. Lisa Nicoletti. The resulting exhibit, which reinterprets the permanent collection of Centenary's Meadows Museum of Art through the lens of social media to encourage cross-generational interaction, was chosen as the top concept in the class.

"After we were voted by the Friends of the Meadows, Dr. Nicoletti, and (chair of the art and visual culture department) professor Bruce Allen, and our classmates as the top project, Dr. Nicoletti told us about the Southeastern Museums Conference and encouraged us to submit an application," said Green. "We submitted two letters of recommendation and a brief description of our project and were eventually invited to present in their first ever Technology Showcase. It was an honor."

Their project's ultimate goal was to bring more students into the Meadows Museum and to teach the public about the function of hashtags.

"We wanted to create an exhibit to encourage more students to utilize the museum, as well as incorporate relevancy for a younger audience," said Hancock. "Each piece in the museum's permanent collection was categorized using different hashtags that are relevant for the 21st century. For example, we paired a classical self-portrait with the category #selfie and a portrait of a working man with #mcm. At the conference, the older generation thought it was an interesting way to bring in more students and a bigger audience into the exhibit, whereas the younger audience understood the hashtags and could relate better."

As the top class project, their exhibit will be open to the public at the Meadows Museum of Art from Saturday, February 21, to Sunday, May 3. An opening reception with a curators' talk will take place Saturday, February 28, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Museum.