Making Collections, Revealing Histories 

Floor 3 Theater, and Online

The Whitney Museum of American Art presents an afternoon of discussion reflecting on the category of American art today through the lens of museum collecting and artistic practices. The conversations will explore how exhibition making can propel new art historical narratives and how artists can inspire audiences to understand American art and history from different perspectives.

This program is co-presented by the Lunder Institute for American Art, a part of the Colby College Museum of Art. Lunder Institute @ invites institutions to be in conversation with one another and challenges them to look critically at American art, its history, its future and its evolution. Lunder Institute @ the Whitney Museum of American Art culminates the inaugural year of the Lunder Institute @ program. 

Program Schedule

1:30 pm  
Welcome remarks
Erica Wall, Director of Lunder Institute for American Art 

1:45pm  
Part 1 
Whitney Curators discuss recent and upcoming exhibitions drawn from, and building upon, the Whitney’s collection. Mining themes of landscape, craft, and inheritance, these exhibitions have been part of an ongoing process of expanding the category of American art. The conversation is moderated by Megan Heuer, Director of Public Programs and Academic Engagement. 

Jennie Goldstein, Jennifer Rubio Associate Curator
Marcela Guerrero, DeMartini Family Curator 
Rujeko Hockley, Arnhold Associate Curator 

3 pm  
Break  

3:30 pm  
Part 2 
Artists Alan Michelson and Every Ocean Hughes present their recent projects that engage with the Whitney’s current site at 99 Gansevoort Street and invite viewers to consider underknown histories embedded in both place and institution. The conversation is moderated by Kim Conaty, Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator. 

Alan Michelson is an internationally recognized New York-based artist, curator, writer, lecturer and Mohawk member of the Six Nations of the Grand River.  

Every Ocean Hughes (formerly known as Emily Roysdon) is a transdisciplinary artist working in performance, photography, video and text.