Research & Publication

Because of the many roles it plays in the university and the community, the Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts offers superb changing exhibitions: in seasons past, lush paintings by James Rosenquist, hyper-realistic sculptures by Duane Hanson, legendary Western vistas by Ansel Adams, and social statements by feminist Judy Chicago—the works of superstar artists—have been balanced in the Museum’s calendar with thematic exhibitions representing the research of faculty and guest curators of the University, a Carnegie I Research Institution. Original curatorial research culminates in vivid exhibitions, such as: the powerful works by untrained artists in Professor Jim Roche’s Unsigned, Unsung...Whereabouts Unknown; explosive visual and societal commentary in Professor George Blakely’s Bang! The Gun as Image; historic and contemporary dialogue among the nations of North America in Professor Jehanne Teilhet-Fisk’s Dimensions of Native America: the Contact Zone, co-curated by Robin Franklin Nigh; the poetic mystery or searing clarity of works by Latina and Black women artists in Dr. Monifa Love’s “...my magic pours secret libations”; and the audacious or, alternatively, meditative points-of-view in Professor Roald Nasgaard’s Concealing / Revealing: Voices from the Canadian Foothills. The season schedule is complemented by a competitive survey of emerging artists, an open media competition entitled Combined Talents, and then re-named The Tallahassee International that is juried by faculty of the University. In 2003, the Museum received initial accreditation by the America Association of Museums (currently called the American Alliance of Museums); in part this recognition was based on the excellence of the Museum’s published research that includes not only curatorial research, but also the publication of the ATHANOR journal of art and humanities.

Dimensions of Native America: The Contact Zone, Tallahassee: Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, 1998. Curators: Jehanne Teilhet-Fisk and Robin Franklin Nigh. Preface by J. Anthony Paredes. Essays by: Blue Sau-Pa Pahdocony, Elizabeth Osceola and Ida Frances Osceola, Hilary L. Scothorn, Diana Roman, Noah Young, Diane Clark, Teri Robin Yoo, Heather Waldroup, Caroline Klarr, Jehanne Teilhet-Fisk, Ashley E. Remer and Nessa Page-Leiberman, Rebecca McNeil, Faye Elizabeth Hunt, Shari Addonizio, Marie Watkins, Jennifer Sheffield Currie, Susan Kloman, and Robin Franklin Nigh.

Trevor Bell: A British Painter in America. Tallahassee: Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, 2003. Curator: Allys Palladino-Craig. Essays: Ahlander, Leslie Judd, “Trevor Bell;” Bucher, François, “Trevor Bell;” Elderfield, John, “Trevor Bell;” Green, Lynn, “Trevor Bell: irresistible force;” Heron, Patrick, “Two Cultures;” Kidson, Alex, “Trevor Bell;” Meyer, Jon, “The Paintings of Trevor Bell;” Nasgaard, Roald, “An Englishman Always at Home Abroad;” Slade, Roy. “Trevor Bell;” Stephens, Chris, “A Sense of Something Beyond Ourselves: Re-introducing Trevor Bell;” Tooby, Michael, “Invisible/visible—questions about Trevor Bell, 1972 to 1992.”

Gabrielle Wu Lee: The Art of Dynamic Expressionism. Tallahassee: Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, 2013. Curator Allys Palladino-Craig. Essays: Bell, Trevor, “An Irresistible Application;” Dilger, Sandra C., Anne Draper, Jessie Lovano-Kerr, Sandy Kerr, Ken Rollins, and Lois Sojat, “Introductions and Recollections;” Draper, Jerry L., “The Seasoning of an Artist;” Hartman, Sharon, “Biography: Art, Science, Destiny and Choice;” Lee, Paul Z., “Notes on Early Works: Shanghai” and “Painting Series ‘Speed and Rhythm—The Art of Gabrielle Wu Lee’s Dynamic Expression;” Murphy, James. “For Gabrielle, with Sonatas and Spring Rolls;” Spike, John T., “Gabrielle Wu Lee: Ad Astra Levavit.”

Florida State University Institute on World War II: The Human Experience. Tallahassee: Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, 2015. Essays: Culver, Annika, “The Oliver L. Austin, Jr., Slide Collection: An American Ornithologist’s View of Postwar US-Occupied Japan, 1946-1950;” Glover, Christina. “The Design of War: World War II Propaganda Posters and Flags;” Jones, Christopher A. “Witness to War;” Marsh, Anne, Sharyn Heiland Shields, and Luke Cochran. “Artifact Identifications from the Institute;” Matthews, Catherine Kendall. “Sgt. Bill Mauldin: Artist of the Greatest Generation;” Piehler, Kurt G. and Richard Siegler, “The Collections of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience: Memory, Remembrance, History;” Rowe, Patrick M., “Notes from the Design of War Collection.”