Museums at W&L: Fall 2024 Programs and Exhibitions This academic year’s lineup of exhibits and events will highlight the university’s Reeves Museum of Ceramics and the Watson Galleries.

The Museums at Washington and Lee University is pleased to announce an exciting series of events during the 2024-25 academic year that revolve around the Reeves Museum of Ceramics and the Watson Galleries.

Three exhibits — “Points of Exchange: Asian Ceramics in the Reeves Collection,” “LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見)” and “Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn” — will run concurrently this year. Together, the exhibits highlight the impact of cultural exchange, recognizing artistic contributions from around the world and uncovering overlooked stories and underrepresented voices across art, history and science.

An exciting lineup of programs accompanying the exhibits will underscore the importance of university museums as essential civic spaces that ignite curiosity, preserve cultural and historical memory, and shape our collective appreciation of art, history and culture.

All exhibits are free and open to the public. The W&L community is invited to schedule guided tours of the three exhibitions at https://tiny.cc/classvisit.

“Points of Exchange: Asian Ceramics in the Reeves Collection”

The Reeves Museum of Ceramics is currently undergoing a new installation within its Chinese Export Gallery. Titled “Points of Exchange: Asian Ceramics in the Reeves Collection,” the exhibit is curated by guest curator Rachel Du, a specialist in Chinese works of art, and will be on view beginning Aug. 28. The exhibit highlights the complex cultural dialogues and economic networks that have shaped the history of Asian ceramics, both domestic and export, dating back to the 16th century.

Featuring a selection of earthenware, stoneware and porcelain from the museum’s permanent collection, the exhibit explores the global impact of these coveted objects from their origins in China to their widespread influence across Asia, Europe and America.

“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Museums at Washington and Lee University,” Du said. “The Museums’ Reeves Collection of Ceramics is one of the largest and most significant Chinese export porcelain collections in the country. I am excited to introduce new interpretive frameworks to this collection and showcase some of its hidden gems, such as the story of the China Trade often told from a Western-centric perspective. My goal is to challenge this view by showcasing objects and narratives that highlight a nuanced and synergistic relationship between China and the West. I hope in doing so, I can give visitors a deeper understanding of the rich history and the depth of the collection.”

Rachel Du is a specialist in Chinese art and history. With expertise in jades, porcelain, scholar’s objects and bronzes, she brings a wealth of knowledge cultivated through prior roles in gallery and museum sectors. She is dedicated to promoting awareness of Chinese art, culture and history through community engagement.

Jar, hard-paste porcelain made in Jingdezhen, China, ca. 1645-60.

“LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見)”

Stephanie Shih’s solo exhibition, “LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見)” will be on view from Aug. 28, 2024, through June 7, 2025, in the Reeves Museum of Ceramics, with an artist’s talk slated for Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. in the Center for Global Learning, followed by a reception in the Reeves Museum.

The Museums at W&L invited Shih, a Los Angeles-based visual artist and second-generation Taiwanese-Chinese American, to serve as its inaugural artist-in-residence in 2022. During her residency, Shih mined the Museums’ collection of Chinese export porcelain and created a series of still-life compositions that capture Asian American experiences. “LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見)” bridges the historical and the contemporary through an innovative series of 15 large-scale still life photographic and video-based installations. These works invite viewers to explore the intricate connections between China, Europe, the United States, and Asian Americans in diaspora.

Inspired by European still life traditions, each composition incorporates Chinese ceramics, food, and Virginian fauna and flora cultivated from China, along with personal items. The resulting photographs, which feature hand-carved voids where the ceramics once resided, are presented alongside their original ceramic objects throughout the galleries. These installations create a deliberate and physical representation of diasporic experiences through presence and absence, integration and alienation, trauma and healing.

“LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見)” is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art and, in part, by the Reeves Endowment Fund and the Museum Art Fund. Learn more about the exhibit here.

Stephanie Shih (史欣雲) is a second-generation Taiwanese-Chinese American still life artist, photographer and professor of Linguistics at the University of Southern California. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows at venues including Hashimoto Contemporary (Los Angeles), Griffin Museum of Photography (Boston), USC Pacific Asia Museum (Pasadena) and The Royal Photographic Society (UK). Shih’s photography has been featured in outlets including Bon Appetit, Lenscratch, Bloomberg Businessweek, Gastronomica, Buzzfeed News, Los Angeles Times and High Country News. Her residencies include Oak Spring Garden Foundation (2024), the Museums at Washington & Lee (2023) and Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency (2022).

美(國)人(The Rose Piece), 2023, Stephanie Shih, archival pigment print on bamboo paper, mirrored vinyl, and ceramics drawn from Reeves Collection. Museums at W&L. Image © Stephanie Shih.

Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn

“Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn,” an immersive art installation by Emma Steinkraus, assistant professor of art at W&L, will be on view from Oct. 2, 2024, through May 4, 2025, in the Watson Galleries, with an artist’s talk on Oct. 3 at 5:30 in Northen Auditorium, followed by a reception in Watson Galleries.

Steinkraus creates colorful, imaginative paintings and installations about gender, mythmaking and the more-than-human world, and her upcoming exhibit pays tribute to over 100 historical women artist-naturalists, expanding upon past versions of her “Impossible Garden” series. The installation features two panoramic wallpapers that incorporate illustrations of flora, fauna and fungi made by women artists across the globe between the 16th and 19th centuries. Working in Adobe Photoshop, Steinkraus collaged their illustrations with her own hand-painted elements into a continuous landscape that teems with fruit trees, insects, mushrooms and small creatures.

“Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn” celebrates the achievements and ambitions of women artists who made art in overlooked genres, such as scientific illustration and botanical art. At the same time, the exhibition includes materials that invite viewers to grapple with histories of colonialism, slavery and gender oppression, as well as their enduring impact on the present. Steinkraus’ immersive landscape offers a portal to a fantastical world designed for both pleasure and confrontation, where human and non-human lives are deeply interwoven.

The installation is curated by Steinkraus and Nalleli Guillen, associate director of curatorial affairs at W&L, and is made possible with the support of Washington and Lee University and the Museum Art Fund.

Emma Steinkraus is a contemporary artist and painter. Her work is represented by 1969 Gallery in New York City, and has been included in recent exhibitions at the UNTITLED Art Fair (Miami), Sow & Tailor Gallery (Los Angeles), WOAW Gallery (Hong Kong, China), the StadtPalais Museum (Stuttgart, Germany) and Hashimoto Contemporary (Los Angeles). Steinkraus has attended artist residencies at the Studios at MASS MoCA, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Wassaic Project, and the Blue Mountain Center, among many others. Recent awards include an Eliza Moore Fellowship at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in 2020 and a Helen Frankenthaler Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center in 2022. Her work has been on the cover of New American Paintings and featured in Arts, Burnaway, BOOOOOOOM, Art Maze Magazine and Juxtapoz.

Details of Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn. Image © Emma Steinkraus.

Additional Programming and Events

In addition to the exhibitions, there are several workshops, tours and events on campus that will be free and open to the public. Reservations may be required for select events.

Game Night @ Watson Galleries | Sept. 24, 5:30-7 p.m.
Join artist Stephanie Shih to learn how to play the game Drive Out the Pig and discover its significance, which inspired Shih’s still life composition of the same name. Reservation required: https://tiny.cc/driveout.

Your Still Lives with Stephanie Shih @ Watson Galleries | Sept. 28, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Learn about how still lifes are a powerful medium for telling personal narratives and create your own mini still life composition. Bring a personal item of significance to incorporate into your still life photo, which you’ll make with Stephanie Shih in a still life photo booth. Two 75-minute sessions are available. Seats are limited and reservations are required: https://tiny.cc/ramen.

Museum Mindfulness Initiative: Meditation Garden @ Watson Galleries | Saturdays This Fall, 8-9 a.m.
Craving peace and calm? Join the Museums at W&L for guided meditation with Catherine Epstein every Saturday from Oct. 12 through Nov. 2. Become more present, centered and relaxed while being surrounded by the fantastical world of “Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn.” This event is free and open to all, but reservations are required: https://tiny.cc/museumgarden.

W&L employees can earn a Live Well W&L token.

Storytime at the Museums @ Watson Galleries | Oct. 16-17, 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Join the Museums at W&L, in partnership with the Lexington Rockbridge Regional Library, for a family visit to the fantastical world of “Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn” and special story time for little ones and their caregivers. The program will include stories, songs and movements inspired by the exhibition. This program is free and open to the public, with a session for children under the age of three at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 16 and 17, and a session for children under the age of five at 11 a.m. on Oct. 16 and 17.

Gallery Tour and Nature Bingo with Emma Steinkraus @ Watson Galleries | Oc. 19, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Join Emma Steinkraus for a mini-tour of her exhibit “Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn” followed by a game of Nature Bingo on the Woods Creek Trail. This event is open to the public and appropriate for all ages and fitness levels, and come prepared with good walking shoes, water and sun protection. Space is limited and reservations are required: https://calendly.com/mwlu/impossible-garden-nature-bingo

Ekphrasis and Transformation: A Student Workshop on Writing About Art @ Watson Galleries | Nov. 7, 3-4:30 p.m.
Join award-winning poet and writer Sally Wen Mao for a collective writing exercise where students can develop their own poem or prose piece responding to the art of the Museums’ galleries. The workshop will be followed by a public reading from Mao. Reservations are required: https://tiny.cc/mao.

Public Reading with Sally Wen Mao @ Stackhouse Theater | Nov. 7, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Join award-winning poet and writer Sally Wen Mao for a reading from her acclaimed works “Kingdom of Surfaces” and “Ninetails.” She will present her methods of writing poems and prose responding to art objects and discuss the speculative possibilities of poetry and her entrance from poetry to prose. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a celebrated voice in contemporary poetry and to get your books signed. This event is open to all and is sponsored by W&L’s Glasgow Endowment and the Museum Endowment Fund.

The Museums at W&L are open to the public Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. To learn more about the 2024-2025 exhibitions, visit the Museums at W&L’s website.