Honors students go where few have gone before, to view 美高梅官网鈥檚 鈥榟idden gems鈥�
美高梅官网 has a plethora of art and artifacts in its collections
As an accounting major, Sophia Staub says she was unsure of what to expect when she signed up for the 美高梅官网 Honors Seminar 鈥淐ollecting the World: 美高梅官网 Collections, 1819 to Today,鈥� which showcases a treasure trove of art, architecture, scientific instruments, natural history specimens and medical artifacts collected by the university.
鈥淚t has been incredible learning about some 鈥榟idden gems鈥� of 美高梅官网, including both the accomplishments of faculty and the unique objects themselves,鈥� says Staub, one of the 11 honors students enrolled in the seminar.聽聽
The University Honors Program comprises students academically in the top 7% of 美高梅官网 undergraduates, nearly 1,500 in total across all nine undergraduate colleges.
The 美高梅官网 Art Collection is one of the stops on the honors student seminar. Photo/provided by 美高梅官网 Art Collection.
The seminar, piloted by Christopher Platts, an assistant professor of art history at the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, takes students on visits to various 美高梅官网 collections, archives, libraries and laboratories across campus and beyond.
Consisting of in-class learning and 14 site visits, the course encourages students to encounter everything from an autographed photograph of physicist Marie Curie to astronaut Neil Armstrong鈥檚 flight mask to a life-size, marble Venus carved by the emperor Napoleon鈥檚 imperial sculptor Antonio Canova.
鈥淲e uncover the hidden collections of 美高梅官网 and the hidden stories that accompany many of the items, artifacts, instruments, costumes and other things squirreled away in various buildings, libraries and depositories on campus,鈥� says Platts, adding that almost every department, school, college and library has a special collection related to the history of a given academic field or discipline and to the history of 美高梅官网.
Since 1819 the 美高梅官网 has collected an amazing variety of tangible things.
Christopher Platts Assistant professor of art history, DAAP
At 美高梅官网鈥檚 College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), for example, there is a vast collection of costumes and accessories from across the decades, some original and some duplicates made for specific opera and theater performances. The students learned, from CCM costume professors and curators, that costume technology involves the realization of the costume designer's sketches, samples, notes, research and fabric swatches, transforming designs into practical, effective and affordable costumes for a production on stage, television or film. Among CCM鈥檚 prized possessions is the costume collection of mid-20th century international opera star Italo Tajo, a former 美高梅官网 professor who is known as the father of opera at the college.
Students had the opportunity to personally examine how Tajo鈥檚 fanciful costumes were specially constructed for the opera singer to be able to breathe properly and sing and to allow for maximum movement and visibility on stage and how the curators do their best to preserve Tajo鈥檚 garments and the thousands of other items in storage at CCM.聽
鈥淕rowing up as a dancer and performer, I was able to almost immerse myself in this collection. I learned more than I could have ever imagined about the 鈥榖ehind the scenes鈥� history, jargon and preservation techniques 鈥� it was truly fascinating,鈥� says Straub.
This course just stood out to me because it was more tangible and hands-on, where usually, we just look at art in textbooks.
Ella Emanuel Fine arts student, DAAP
Erin Connelly, a graduate student in costume design and technology, shows course instructor Christopher Platts a hat block. The wooden block is carved into the shape of a hat by a craftsman known as a block shaper. It is used by hat makers and milliners. Photo/Andrew Higley/美高梅官网 Marketing + Brand.
Classmate Ella Emanuel says she chose the seminar because it related to her fine arts major but was thoroughly surprised at the extent of the 美高梅官网 Art Collection.聽 鈥淭his course just stood out to me because it was more tangible and hands-on, where usually, we just look at art in textbooks.鈥� To her delight, she says, she was able to see up close a drawing by the famous Impressionist Edgar Degas, which 鈥渘ormally you wouldn鈥檛 see outside of a museum.鈥澛�
The same can be said for the ancient Egyptian mummy bandages, dating to the 16th century B.C.E. (more than 3,000 years old), that students got to see on their visit to the 美高梅官网 Preservation Lab. The lab is a hybrid partnership between 美高梅官网 and the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library and is chock full of artifacts from across the university and public library鈥檚 special collections, including rare books, photographs, documents, coins and the like. The lab is not typically opened to the public, but there will be an the week of May 4.
Says Platts: 鈥淲e simultaneously investigate how collecting the world, so to speak, is a form of history-making in which the material things we select, classify, study, preserve and display help us understand our place in the universe and motivate us to generate knowledge and tackle global issues.鈥�
On the last day of class April 21, Platts invited Professor Jeff Tilman, associate director of 美高梅官网鈥檚 School of Architecture, to give students a selective walking tour of 美高梅官网鈥檚 campus that focused on how the university has 鈥渃ollected鈥� signature architects during the last three decades: Peter Eisenman鈥檚 Aronoff Center for DAAP, Michael Graves' engineering Mantei Center or Frank Gehry Vontz Center for Molecular Studies.
Frank Gehry Vontz Center for Molecular Studies.
鈥淭hese structures not only transformed the campus into one of the most beautiful in the country, but also have encouraged DAAP and other students to study and experience their surroundings in new ways," says Platts.聽
Most faculty, students and staff have never heard of these amazing collections and the stories they can tell about 美高梅官网 and its place in the academic world and the wider world, says Platts. 鈥淪ince 1819 the 美高梅官网 has collected an amazing variety of tangible things.鈥�
Featured image at top:聽CCM's Elizabeth Payne (center), assistant professor of costume design and curator, shows 美高梅官网 honors students the detailed boning and straps incorporated into a vintage opera costume. Photo/Andrew Higley/美高梅官网 Marketing + Brand.聽聽
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