“An Inspired Age: Selections of 18th-Century European Art From the Collection” will open Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Toledo Museum of Art in Gallery 18.
“An Inspired Age” is organized by The University of Toledo Department of Art students in Art Museum Practices Exhibition and New Media Design Practices courses under the direction of Dr. Thor J. Mednick, UToledo associate professor of art history, and Dr. Lawrence W. Nichols, the William Hutton Senior Curator, European and American Painting and Sculpture before 1900 at the Toledo Museum of Art.
“Henrietta Catherine Cholmley and Son,” 1761, oil on canvas, by Sir Joshua Reynolds is included in “An Inspired Age” exhibit curated by UToledo students.
The exhibition course, which is the last of three classes in the art museum practices curriculum, offers students the opportunity to work with a Toledo Museum of Art curator to develop an exhibition using works of art from the museum’s permanent collection. The purpose is to give students a hands-on understanding of the workings of a fine arts museum and to prepare them for a career in this field.
“The Toledo Museum of Art has a vast collection, and this allows visitors to see some of the art that has been off view while providing students real-life experience in many aspects of curating an exhibition,” Nichols said. “It has been rewarding to see the next generation of museum professionals use their education to develop this exhibition.”
The opportunity has been invaluable for the students, Mednick explained.
“Working with a world-class, private museum is a rare opportunity in museum studies courses,” Mednick said. “And to have the thoughtful and generous help of a senior curator is extraordinary.”
“An Inspired Age: Selections of 18th-Century European Art From the Collection” is sponsored by the Ohio Arts Council with additional support from 2019 Exhibition Program Sponsor ProMedica.
Admission to the Toledo Museum of Art is free. The museum is open Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; and is closed Monday and major holidays. Thursday evening hours are sponsored by Huntington Private Client Group.
The museum is located at 2445 Monroe St. at Scottwood Avenue. It is by the Center for the Visual Arts on the University’s Toledo Museum of Art Campus.
For general information, call 419.255.8000 or 800.644.6862, or visit the Toledo Museum of Art website.
