Museums at W&L: Winter 2025 Programs and Exhibitions The Museums at W&L invite the public to explore its exhibitions and collections with select programming through May.

Office of Communications and Public Affairs
December 17, 2024

The Museums at W&L is currently hosting four temporary exhibitions that will run through Winter Term 2025. All exhibits are free and open to the public, and the W&L community is invited to participate in scheduled guided tours.

“LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見)” is on view in the Reeves Museum of Ceramics through June 7 and features the work of photographer and visual artist Stephanie Shih, the Museums’ inaugural artist-in-residence. The exhibit is an original collection of 15 life-size photography and video-based still life installations inspired by the Museums’ historic collection of Asian export porcelain.

“Emma Steinkraus: Impossible Garden/Dusk & Dawn” is on view in the Watson Galleries through May 4. An immersive art installation by Emma Steinkraus, assistant professor of art at W&L, the exhibit celebrates the achievements and ambitions of women artists who made art in overlooked genres. 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.

“Points of Exchange: Asian Ceramics in the Reeves Collection,” curated by visiting curator of Asian art Rachel Du, a specialist in Chinese works of art, opened Aug. 28 and is on view in the Reeves Museum of Ceramics. Featuring a selection of earthenware, stoneware and porcelain from the museum’s permanent collection, 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.

“Expressions of Color: Paintings by Evelyn Dawson” opened Sept. 16 and is an ongoing exhibit in the McCarthy Gallery in Holekamp Hall. Featuring works by Evelyn Dawson gifted to the university by her second husband, Larry Wynn ’34, the exhibit celebrates the power and effects of color in art.

The Museums at W&L also plans to host various programs and events inspired by “LONG TIME NO SEE” and “Impossible Garden” that encourage engagement with the Museums’ collections and facilitate an interdisciplinary appreciation of art, history and culture. The series invites poets, scholars and community members to consider the questions: Whose voices and stories have shaped our dominant historical narratives? Whose stories have been excluded, erased and hidden, and how can we render these stories more visible?

The following programs are free and open to the public, and registration is required.

Artful Yoga: Museum Mindfulness Initiative @ Watson Galleries | Saturdays this Winter, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Join Wendi Orrison, yogi and owner of Lexington’s Center of Gravity Yoga Studio, for gentle, artful yoga sessions every Saturday from Jan. 18 through Feb. 8. Each class offers full-body movement and awakening with a unique flow every session, all while being surrounded by the fantastical world of “Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn.” Come with an open heart, a joyful attitude and a desire to move in a beautiful, inviting setting. This event is free and open to all, and yoga mats will be provided. Reservations are required: http://tiny.cc/artful-yoga.

This event is presented in partnership with W&L Athletics and Live Well W&L.

Lunch and Learn: Buried Stories, Hidden Lives | Select Weekdays This Winter, Noon-1 p.m.
The Museums at W&L will host “Lunch and Learn,” a series of dialogues and lectures inspired by Stephanie Shih’s “LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見)” and Emma Steinkraus’ “Impossible Garden: Dusk and Dawn.” This year’s theme, “Buried Stories, Hidden Lives,” invites poets, scholars and community members to consider whose voices and stories have shaped our dominant historical narratives, whose stories have been excluded, erased or hidden, and how we can render these stories more visible. All are welcome, and the Museums will provide a lunch served at 11:30 a.m. Seating is limited and RSVP is required.

• Mohamed Kamara, professor of French at W&L, presents “Where Do We Go From Here: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Vision of the Beloved” on Tuesday, Jan 21 in the Watson Galleries. The lecture will focus on how King’s vision of the Beloved Community can be a rendezvous point where interactions between individuals and peoples are informed and determined by a clear acceptance of our differences and the interdependence of all earthly forces. Register at http://tiny.cc/kamara.
• Join Victoria Ferguson, Presidential Ambassador to Native Nations and Program Director of Solitude House at Virginia Tech University, and Tom Camden ’76, Emeritus Associate Professor and former director of W&L Special Collections and Archives, for “Past Laws that Reshaped the Future of Virginia Indians” on Monday, Feb. 3 in the Kamen Gallery in the Lenfest Center for the Arts. Ferguson and Camden will delve into the systemic erasure of Virginia’s Indigenous population, examining how the state has repeatedly used legislation to obtain property held by Indigenous tribal groups. Participants will learn about the repercussions of these laws and how, even today, families are fighting for justice and equality. Register at http://tiny.cc/virginia-indians.
• Sylvia Shin Huey Chong, associate professor of American studies and English at the University of Virginia, presents “Commodity Orientalism: Historicizing Asian American Through Objects” on Friday, March 14 in the Watson Galleries. Chong will engage with Stephanie Shih’s “LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見)” by tracing the foods, decorative objects, clothing and other consumer goods that form the backdrop of Asian American history. Although a frequent refrain of Asian American activism has been to assert humanity against objectification, what might it mean to track the commodities through which Asians have come to be known in the U.S., and how would that differ from a history that focuses on Asian American migration, political acts and social organization? Register at http://tiny.cc/commodity-orientalism.
• Join Leah Naomi Green, assistant professor of English at W&L, for “Excluded from the Garden” on Monday, April 7 in the Watson Galleries. Green will read from her current poetry manuscript, “After the Ending,” and place it in conversation with Emma Steinkraus’ “Impossible Garden: Dusk & Dawn.” The poems and discussion will explore and question the roles of language and narrative in relation to the greater-than-human world. Register at http://tiny.cc/excluded-garden.

For the Love of Plants: Plant Worlds in the Shadows of Empire @ Stackhouse Theater | Feb. 10, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Join Banu Subramaniam, professor and chair of women and gender studies at Wellesley College, as she reflects on how gender, race, class, sexuality and nation shape the foundational language, terminology and theories of the modern plant sciences, and how botanical theories remain grounded in the violence of their colonial pasts. Drawing on recent interdisciplinary scholarship in feminist, postcolonial and indigenous studies, she wrestles with these difficult origins and lays a roadmap to imagine new biological frameworks that harness the power of feminist thought to reimagine and reinvigorate our love of plants. Subramaniam is the author of “Botany of Empire: Plant Worlds and the Scientific Legacies of Colonialism” and is a renowned plant evolutionary biologist and scholar in feminist science studies and environmental humanities. The lecture is free and open to the public and registration is encouraged: https://tiny.cc/love-of-plants.

This event is sponsored by the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group within the Office of Inclusion and Engagement. The lecture will also be streamed online at https://go.wlu.edu/livestream.

CramSesh Quiet Study @ Watson Galleries | Midterms and Finals Weeks, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
The Museums at W&L invites students to elevate their study game in a quiet and art-filled environment. Grab a table and enjoy access to coffee, snacks and supplies. Quiet study will be available for W&L students Feb. 15-18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and April 12-15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Embodied Narratives: Surface and Depth, Abstraction and Presence @ Stackhouse Theater | March 6, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Join ceramicist and physicist Hideo Mabuchi as he explores how everyday objects, like Chinese and Japanese export porcelain, tell stories that resonate differently with scholars, scientists and artists. Mabuchi, professor of physics at Stanford University and the Denning Family Director of the Stanford Arts Institute, will draw from his own perspective as both a scientist and artist and share insights on Stephanie Shih’s “LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見),” examining how the physical characteristics of ceramics carry deeper meanings that shed light on issues of identity, immigration and cultural belonging within the Asian diaspora and Asian-American experience. The lecture is free and open to the public and registration is encouraged: http://tiny.cc/embodied-narratives.

This event is sponsored by the Department of Physics and Engineering and the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group within the Office of Inclusion and Engagement. The lecture will also be streamed online at https://go.wlu.edu/livestream.

Cooking Demonstration with Zoe Yijing Yang @ Evans Dining Hall | April 8, 5:30-7 p.m.
Join the Museums at W&L and Campus Kitchen to celebrate Qingming, the fifth seasonal point of the year, with a live cooking demonstration by forager, writer and recipe developer Zoe Yijing Yang. Participants will be introduced to mugwort, an important Chinese medicinal and culinary herb that grows rampant in the United States and learn how to identify it, use it throughout its lifecycle and prepare it in delicious mugwort rice cakes (青团). Bring your appetite! This event is free and open to the public and registration is required: http://tiny.cc/qingming.

This event is sponsored by the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group within the Office of Inclusion and Engagement.

Wildflower Walk with Artist Steinkraus @ Brushy Hills Nature Preserve | April 26, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Learn to identify local flora and fauna and celebrate Rockbridge County in bloom with Emma Steinkraus. Participants will meet at the trailhead for Brushy Hills Nature Preserve. Wear comfortable walking shoes or hiking boots, and sun protection is recommended. This event is free and open to the public and is appropriate for all ages and fitness levels. Registration is required: https://calendly.com/mwlu/impossible-garden-wildflower-walk?month=2025-04

Chinese Export Ceramics: Understanding the Reeves Collection in the Global and Local Context @ Center for Global Learning Atrium| May 2, 3-5:30 p.m.
Join the Museums at W&L for the closing ceremony of Stephanie Shih’s LONG TIME NO SEE (好久不見), featuring William R. Sargent, senior consultant in Chinese art at Bonhams auction house and former H.A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art at the Peabody Essex Museum. Sargent has delivered more than 260 lectures around the world, consulted with 29 museums in Asia, Europe and America, and contributed 46 chapters and articles for publication, including in “Chinese Ceramics: Neolithic to Qing” (Yale University Press, 2014). Other publications include “Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics at the Peabody Essex Museum,” “Chinese Porcelain in the Conde Collection,” “The Copeland Collection: Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Figures” and “Views of the Pearl River Delta.”

A reception will follow Sargent’s lecture at 4:15 p.m., in the Reeves Museum of Ceramics. Reservations are required for the ceremony and reception: http://tiny.cc/sargent.

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.