Communiversity partners with art museum for new course
Learn about Cincinnati Art Museum artifacts and how they fit into the context of art history
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Fans of the Cincinnati Art Museum have the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the museum’s ancient collections in the new course Art History at the Museum.
UC College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning professor Lauren Tate will combine lectures with gallery exploration through the museum, introducing the major artistic and stylistic developments in art history from the prehistoric era through ancient Greece and Rome.
“In this class, I aim to provide students with a broad overview of some of the most important cultural, intellectual and artistic characteristics of the ancient world,” Tate said. “Students will develop visual literacy and a greater understanding of the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum.”
Some of the works explored in the course include stone reliefs from Persepolis and Nimrod and cuneiform tablets; ancient portrait sculptures from western Asia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome; Greek vase paintings; Egyptian stone reliefs and a mummy sarcophagus; and a Greek funerary lion.
“Studying art history gives you a context for the objects that you see in the museum, so it’s exciting to look at an object and have this whole other level of understanding of what was going on in the world when this piece of art was made,” said Russell Ihrig, associate director of interpretive planning at the museum. “Sometimes understanding the history helps you understand why these objects are even in a museum in the first place.”
Art History at the Museum takes place on Thursdays from 6 to 7:45 p.m. from Oct. 11 to Nov. 1 at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The course fee is $139 and includes admission to the museum.
The class lectures will focus on major stylistic trends in each culture. Some of the topics of discussion will revolve around depictions of the human form; beliefs and practices related to death and the afterlife; artistic process and materials; and the role of form, content and context in creating meaning in art.
To register for Art History at the Museum, visit our website or call (513) 556-6932 and press 2.
“The Cincinnati Art Museum is excited to partner with Communiversity because typically one learns about the history of art in a classroom, where they don’t have this kind of access to the real art,” Ihrig said. “This is a great opportunity for students to learn about different moments in history and immediately get to see objects from these same time periods in person. It’s thrilling to know that people will get to view our collection with this knowledge and that it can be a tool for learning.”
Lauren Tate
Tate is an art historian with more than 10 years of experience teaching introductory and specialized courses in art history. She received her Ph.D. from Indiana University and is currently a visiting assistant professor at DAAP. Tate has covered various topics in art history such as American art, modern art, 19th-century art, race, and identity in American culture, art appreciation, and a survey of the history of art from the prehistoric through the contemporary period. She recently led a study abroad experience in Paris with the class “Art and Architecture History in the ‘City of Light’.”
About Communiversity
Communiversity offers fun and innovative continuing education courses to enrich the lives of those around Cincinnati and beyond. With locations both on UC Victory Parkway Campus and around Cincinnati, Communiversity makes it easy for working professionals, retirees, and other lifelong learners to develop new skills and hobbies.
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