The Weatherspoon Art Museum welcomes back UNC Greensboro’s campus and community after a brief hiatus due to remodeling projects. The galleries and building underwent significant upgrades over the summer, including entirely new and environmentally efficient lighting in all the upstairs galleries, thanks to a generous grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Climate Initiative and deferred maintenance support from UNCG. The Benjamin Auditorium also saw upgrades to the sound system, including new assistive listening devices for all Weatherspoon programming.
These improvements will not only highlight the collections to the best effect but also create a safer and more welcoming and engaging space for all visitors.
This semester, the Weatherspoon also welcomes its next faculty fellow, Dr. Lalenja Harrington. The interdepartmental instructor has spent years making higher education accessible to more students with disabilities through the Integrative Community Studies Certificate Program, as well being a renowned poet and performer. She will be working closely with two different courses in the “Crip*: Artists Engage with Disability” exhibition over the coming academic year.
Exhibition programming is designed to deepen these dialogues, and these newly renovated spaces are here to create a more welcoming experience for all. From film series in collaboration with student groups to American Sign Language–interpreted tours, the museum staff are committed to making these experiences accessible and engaging.
As always, all Weatherspoon exhibitions, programs, and events are free and open to all.
WAM Fall Open House
Saturday, September 14, 3-6pm
The Weatherspoon staff invites returning visitors to come and enjoy refreshments, food by Chez Genèse, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, music by René Roman, conversation, and gallery conversations in our new exhibitions.
Interpreting America: Photographs from the Collection
Through Dec 21, 2024
Drawn from the Weatherspoon’s stellar collection, these photographs illustrate what artists have had to say about American culture from the late 19th through the early 21st centuries. The period spanned by these images ranges from Civil War battles, Western expansion vistas, and class and racial divisions to life in rural America today, increased economic prosperity, and hints of cultural alienation. Photographs such as these have shaped our ever-evolving definition of what the term “America” means.
Space for Engagement: Visitors’ Top Picks
Through October 26, 2024
These five artworks were among the top 30 objects most often chosen and discussed by visitors who played the “You Choose!” game in 2022-23. Part of an 18-month grant-funded learning project called Leading with Objects, the interactive card game featured artworks from the museum’s collection and encouraged players to engage with the objects and one another. Building upon this activity, we want to know what key words you associate with these artworks. By sharing your thoughts, you’ll be helping us create a database that is more easily searchable.
Learn more about the “Space for Engagement” here.
Crip*| Artists Engage with Disability
Through April 26, 2025
This group exhibition features contemporary artists who engage with experiences and understandings of disability. They do so by thinking about the ways that one’s personal experience of disability always intersects with other aspects of their life. Collectively, their work in sculptures, drawings, videos, prints, and installations encourages us to fracture and reassemble the ways in which we think about who we are.
Making Connections: Art, Place, and Relationships
Through July 5, 2025
Building on the museum’s mission to engage our stakeholders in more personal and meaningful ways, this installation of artworks from the collection showcases the Weatherspoon as an academic museum with deep connections to and relationships with its campus, Greensboro, and broader communities.
Sheena Rose: Pause and Breathe, We Got This
Through December 31, 2024
A homecoming is in the works. The Weatherspoon is excited to announce its commission of a major new artwork by artist Sheena Rose, MFA ’16. A multidisciplinary artist working in animation, drawing, painting, and performance, Rose’s vibrant and energetic work is at once anchored in her Caribbean heritage and expansive in its explorations of culture and human experience.
Save the Date
In addition to the above exhibitions, a range of free programs rounds out the Weatherspoon’s offerings this fall. Mark your calendars for these special events to hear from art experts and gain a deeper appreciation for the Weatherspoon collections.
Art Historians Talk
Thursday, September 12, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Location: Margaret and Bill Benjamin Auditorium
Learn about the compelling current research of four UNCG art historians: Professors Heather Holian, Claire Ittner, Elizabeth Perrill, and Emily Voelker. Hosted in partnership with the UNCG School of Art. Check our website for updates about discussion topics. Free and open to all.
Drop-in Dialogues
Fridays from September 20 to November 22, Noon–1 p.m.
Let’s connect! Staff from across the museum will be available to chat with visitors in the “Making Connections: Art, Place, and Relationships” exhibition. These informal conversations are a chance to chat about the exhibition itself, specific works of art, or interesting details about the curation and installation processes. There’s no set agenda, and we invite your own perspectives.
“Crip*” Film Series
Join us for two film screenings in the Margaret and Bill Benjamin Auditorium, with light refreshments served in the Sculpture Courtyard before the film. This program emerged from conversations with the “Crip*” Advisory Committee, whose members expressed the desire to have alternate media to complement the works on view. The films were chosen from suggestions by the Advisory Committee, as well as research from WAM staff. We hope you find the selection interesting and come to all four screenings (stay tuned for Spring semester dates and times!). Free and open to all.
Crip Camp
Thursday, September 26, 5–7:30 p.m.
Co-hosted by the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services
Finding Dory
Thursday, November 21, 5–7:30 p.m.
Co-hosted by CoWAM
“Interpreting America” Gallery Talk with George Dimock
Wednesday, October 9, 3:30– 4 :45 p.m.
Dillard Room and Herbert S. Falk Sr. Gallery
George Dimock, Associate Professor Emeritus of Art, will discuss the American photography on display in “Interpreting America.”
Community Collection Study Session: Disney
Thursday, October 24, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
“Crip*” ASL-Interpreted Tour
Saturday, October 26, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
The museum is committed to access for all, and as part of our ongoing efforts, we are introducing ASL-Interpreted gallery tours of the exhibition “Crip*: Artists Engage with Disabilities.” There will be two tours at 11 a.m. and Noon. Tours are free. Registration is required.
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
