IN PERSON: Recent studies show that the average visitor to a museum looks at an art piece for less than 30 seconds — 17 seconds being the average. In this course, we will sit comfortably in the Nasher Museum of Art galleries (on chairs with backs!) and spend longer reflective time with one or two works of art each session. This will allow time for contemplation, exploration and deeper collaborative discussion of each work of art. We will discuss formal elements, the artist's background and other issues that might be relevant to the work: its artistic, political, historical, religious context. We will also consider the location of the work, and what the significance is of its place in the Nasher. We will learn how and when the work was acquired, as well as other pertinent provenance information. Most importantly, we will share how this more in-depth experience of each work resonates within class members. | Facilitated discussion.
Max enrollment: 16.
Location: Nasher Museum of Art, 2001 Campus Drive, Durham NC 27705
Since her move back to North Carolina in 2011, Ruth Caccavale has taught a variety of art history courses for OLLI. She works at the Nasher Museum at Duke. For 10 years prior to this, Ruth taught art history at Rutgers University. She has worked in a number of museums including the Cloisters and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ruth earned an undergraduate degree in art history and psychology from Duke. She has a master’s in art history and a museum studies certificate from Rutgers.