Recap of week 2

This week was FULL of things to do.

To begin, on Monday I had the opportunity to partake in a celebratory lunch for the docents at the Yale Center for British Art. It was really wonderful to listen in on their reflections of the the work that they had done over the past year. The docent's take on a huge responsibility when they volunteer to lead tours and work with the museum visitors! Big thanks to them. We also celebrated each member of the education department (Linda, Camille, and Jennifer) and the director of the museum, Amy, as she will be retiring at the end of this month. They all have done and continue to do tremendous work for the Center.

Tuesday, I worked the help desk for a IIIF conference held at the Yale Center for British Art. I was able to listen in on some of the presentations and learned some interesting things! IIIF stands for International Image Interoperability Framework. With this technology we're able to zoom into images and really get into nitty-gritty details that you could not have seen with the naked eye. This is a great resource for us to learn more about the details of a work at the museum. You can only get so close to a work of art before a museum guard passes by, reminding you that they're there and their job is to protect the art. Presenters also discussed how this program can work alongside medical and scientific technology. IIIF is incredibly useful to scholars and professionals alike! And best of all, it's free to the public!

Working the IIIF help desk!

Wednesday, I participated in a discussion with HBCU museum and art educators. Jennifer Reynolds-Kaye facilitated a conversation about two pieces of art that had complex relationships to blackness in England and to the University. One was a portrait of Elihu Yale signing an agreement to marry his daughter to a wealthy duke. This is an extremely controversial portrait because it depicts an African boy in the shadows who is wearing a collar with a lock. Part of the discussion around this piece was based around the question; What do we do with controversial imagery and representation in an academic environment?

Unknown artist, eighteenth century, Elihu Yale; William Cavendish, the second Duke of Devonshire; Lord James Cavendish; Mr. Tunstal; and an Enslaved Servant, ca. 1708, Oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, Gift of Andrew Cavendish, eleventh Duke of Devonshire cropped to image, recto

As museum educators, always want to ensure that each museum visitor has a comfortable visit, so it's important that we discuss images like this and find ways to navigate the dark waters.

Myself and the SMITAH group observing the Elihu Yale portrait in the gallery.

We also looked at a sculpture titled Mrs. Pinckney and the Emancipated Birds of South Carolina by Yinka Shonibare. This too is a loaded work of art that I had never personally thought to look into. The HBCU group gave great insight as to how this was linked to the black diaspora and we had a very interesting conversation about the links to colonization and generational trauma that black people experience every day. I was really enlightened by these conversations because unfortunately it is not often that I have the opportunity to listen and learn from black and brown people in a museum environment. I really loved the unique experiences and ideas that they brought to the table.

Yinka Shonibare CBE (RA), born 1962, British, Mrs Pinckney and the Emancipated Birds of South Carolina, 2017, fiberglass mannequin, Dutch wax-printed cotton textile, birdcage, birds, leather, and globe, Yale Center for British Art, Acquired with funds from the Bequest of Daniel S. Kalk, the Director's Discretionary Fund, and the Friends of British Art Fund

To finish off my week strong, I was able to listen in on a meeting with a group working to connect Yale Psychiatric Residents to each community in New Haven. I think the work they're doing and the relationships they are building with the neighborhoods is very necessary. So many medical students pass through New Haven and serve a community of primarily black and brown people, yet they leave New Haven with out really understanding the people who call this city home and the challenges that they face.