Previous Exhibition Projects Supported by the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology

  • Glory of Kings: Ethiopian Christian Art from Oregon Collections
    Glory of Kings: Ethiopian Christian Art from Oregon Collections
    March 19, 2011- June 12, 2011

    Curated by Dr. A. Dean McKenzie, Professor of Art History emeritus, University of Oregon, Eugene, and Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski, Faculty Curator and Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Willamette University

    This exhibition features 38 objects including traditional Ethiopian icons, richly illuminated manuscripts, magic scrolls, icon and cross pendants, as well as the handheld and monumental processional crosses that are such a distinctive expression of the Ethiopian Christian faith and ritual practice. The exhibition includes objects from the permanent collection of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art and from the fine collections of Ethiopian art at the University of Oregon's Museum of Cultural and Natural History and the Knight Library in Eugene, as well as several private collections. This exhibition is accompanied by a 16-page full color brochure authored by Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski and Dr. A. Dean McKenzie.

    In conjunction with this exhibition, Dr. Marilyn E. Heldman, Visiting Scholar and Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, presented an illustrated lecture at Willamette entitled "Lalibala: From Dynastic Center to Pilgrimage Site" (March 31, 2011). In addition, Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski presented an illustrated paper entitled "Introduction to Ethiopian Christian Art" (April 10, 2011) at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Salem.
  • Ancient Mosaics:  Selections from the Richard Brockway Collection
    Ancient Mosaics: Selections from the Richard Brockway Collection

    September 26-December 23, 2009

    Curated by John Olbrantz, The Maribeth Collins Director of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art

    Drawn from the collection of Richard Brockway of Vero Beach, Florida, this exhibition features six mosaic pavements from Roman Syria that date from the fourth to the sixth centuries CE. Included in the exhibition are two geometric mosaics, two figurative mosaics, and two animal mosaics that once graced a house, bath, mausoleum, or church somewhere in the Orontes Valley. This exhibition is accompanied by a 13-page full color brochure authored by John Olbrantz.

    In conjunction with this exhibition, Dr. Christine Kondoleon, the George and Margo Behrakis Curator of Greek and Roman Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, presented an illustrated lecture at Willamette entitled “An Introduction to the Mosaics of the Greek East and their Culture” (October 1, 2009).

  • From Hestia’s Sacred Fire to Christ’s Eternal Light: Ancient and Medieval Lamps from the Bogue Collection
    From Hestia’s Sacred Fire to Christ’s Eternal Light: Ancient and Medieval Lamps from the Bogue Collection

    March 14-May 17, 2009


    Curated by: Dr. Lisa R. Brody, Associate Curator of Ancient Art and the Yale University Art Gallery, and Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski, Faculty Curator and Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Willamette University

    This exhibition featured 84 oil lamps from the Bogue collection at Portland State University. Oil lamps were essential objects of daily life in ancient and medieval times, and every household would have owned several. Like other ceramics, the simplest oil lamps were plain and purely functional, while others contained ornamental and/or figural relief scenes, often taken from mythological or religious contexts.This exhibition was accompanied by a 6-page full color illustrated brochure authored by Dr. Lisa R. Brody and Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski.

    In conjunction with this exhibition, Dr. Lisa R. Brody, Associate Curator of Ancient Art and the Yale University Art Gallery, presented an illustrated lecture at Willamette entitled "Illuminating Art: The Study of Ancient Lamps" (March 18, 2009). In addition, Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski presented an illustrated paper entitled “The Bogue Collection of Ancient Lamps at Portland State University,” at the Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon (April 4, 2009). Dr. Ann M. Nicgorski also presented an illustrated paper entitled "From Hestia's Sacred Fire to Christ's Eternal Light: Ancient and Medieval Oil Lamps," at the annual Northwest Regional Middle East Seminar, Portland, Oregon (May 8, 2010).

    A selection of nine lamps from this exhibition continue to be on view at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

Willamette University

Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology

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