Ithaca College

The Handwerker Gallery is pleased to welcome the Ithaca College community to the opening of AS THEY SAW IT: The Easby Collection of Pre-Columbian Art with a reception on Thursday, March 19th, from 5-7 p.m..

AS THEY SAW IT: The Easby Collection of Pre-Columbian Art

Curated by Professor Jennifer Jolly (Department of Art History), Gabriella Jorio ('16), Sarah McHugh ('15), Kenneth Robertson ('15)

March 18-April 17, 2015

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 19, 5-7 p.m.

Today, many accept that the ancient peoples of the Americas created art: fine art museums display collections of exquisite objects, courses on pre-Columbian art and scholarly studies present their cultural significance, and the art market assigns them monetary value.  However, the ancients did not make objects for those contexts—it was only through the labor of scholars, museum professionals, dealers, and collectors that they became “art.” When Dudley T. Easby, Jr. and Elizabeth Kennedy Easby looked at pre-Columbian objects, they saw works of art, and their life work involved translating their shared appreciation for pre-Columbian art to a broader audience. Mr. Easby, a lawyer who served as the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s legal secretary, was a self-trained expert in pre-Columbian metalwork who worked tirelessly to bring pre-Columbian art back to the Met. Mrs. Easby had a Master’s in pre-Columbian art, worked as a curator at the Metropolitan and Brooklyn Museums, and researched jade. Their romantic and academic collaboration brought them around the world to pursue scholarship, plan exhibits, and engage in cultural diplomacy throughout the pivotal decades of the mid-20th century.  In the process, they assembled a modest collection of pre-Columbian Art, which was given to Ithaca College in 2008.  Curated by students, this exhibit makes visible the process of transforming artifacts into art, from the mechanisms of expatriation, to the labor of scholarship and the recontextualization of objects in museums.  It both honors the Easbys’ labors, and perpetuates their goal of presenting pre-Columbian art to new eyes. 

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All Handwerker Gallery events are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.; Thursday, 10.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.; and weekends, noon to 5.00 p.m.. The gallery is closed to the public on Tuesdays unless otherwise specified for an event but can accommodate group or class visits by appointment.

For further information or individuals with disabilities requiring parking accommodations, please contact Mara Baldwin at mbaldwin@ithaca.edu or 607.274.3548. Please make requests for accommodations as far in advance as possible.

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