30 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | FROM THE NEST Purchasing works of art for a museum or gallery might seem like an exclusive, high-stakes enterprise that takes place in a largely hidden world of money, access and fame. Indeed, sometimes it is, but the more you know, the less mysterious and more accessible the business of art acquisition is. Sixteen Lehigh students who took ART275: “Museum Collections and Exhibitions” in the Spring 2023 semester not only learned the behindthe-scenes business of museums and galleries, but became participants by going to New York City to choose and purchase a work for Lehigh University Art Galleries (LUAG). As a result, Lehigh now owns an evocative sculptural piece by Lauren Halsey, a contemporary artist and activist from Los Angeles, who uses architecture and installation art to explore the life of urban neighborhoods, the idea of community and the Black experience. The 4-by-8 untitled relief sculpture features images of heads and hairstyles inspired by the barber shops and advertisements of Halsey’s community carved into a canvas of gypsum. Course Creation The course was created in 2021 by William Crow, director and professor of practice at LUAG, to offer a unique educational experience. “We are believers in learning by doing at LUAG and at Lehigh broadly,” Crow said. “Experiential learning is such a fundamental aspect of what we do. There’s nothing quite like having the experience of going to a major global center of art and talking to the gallery directors and asking questions.” First students had robust classroom conversations, then researched works for purchase with funds provided by LUAG’s Fine Art Endowment. The students explored works by artists included in a traveling exhibition at LUAG in 2022 called “Young, Gifted and Black,” and traveled to Manhattan to check out works in a tour of galleries described by Crow as a “marathon.” The Acquisition Finally, students wrote acquisition proposals and advocated for their chosen works. LUAG’s collections committee ultimately chose the Halsey work. Karine Marculino ’23, an Integrated Business and Engineering major, was one of the students who advocated for Halsey’s work from the David Kordansky Gallery in Chelsea. “Everyone was so captivated,” she said. “LUAG’s mission is about fostering a community, and what better way than to have an art piece that fosters community.”—Jodi Duckett MARCUS SMITH '24 / CHRISTA NEU / DAVID KORDANSKY GALLERY INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING The Art of Curating Students learn the behind-the-scenes business of museums and galleries. NEW PARTNERSHIP Lehigh has established a new partnership with the Technische Universität Dresden in the state of Saxony, Germany, that will provide opportunities for joint research and publications, as well as facilitate academic and student exchanges. Lehigh President Joseph J. Helble ’82 and Ursula M. Staudinger, rector/ president of Technische Universität Dresden, signed the Memorandum of Understanding in May, as Lehigh continues efforts to expand opportunities for its faculty and students. Additionally, Cheryl Matherly, vice president and vice provost of International Affairs at Lehigh, and Peter Rosenbaum, head of the International Office at Technische Universität Dresden, signed a student exchange agreement between the universities. TU Dresden is one of the largest universities of technology in Germany and covers a wide research spectrum. Above, the artwork that the students decided to purchase (Untitled, 2023 by Lauren Halsey). At left, students explore artworks at Lehmann Maupin Gallery’s private viewing room in Chelsea.
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