Please join us on March 10, 2023 for a Museums and Collections Panel Discussion. The panel discussion coincides directly with the featured exhibition OBJECT# at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art and correlates with the museum’s Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) award. Panelists include museum curators, historians, artists and writers from Montana, who have experience and knowledge in the field of Museum Practice and Museum Studies. The discussion will focus on the care of collections, meaning/history of collecting, and the future for museum collecting.
OBJECT#: A Permanent Collection Exhibition about Art Museums and the Practice of Collecting Art, on view through March 18th, 2023.
Museums and Collections Panel Participants:
Nicole Maria Evans, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art
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Nicole Maria Evans is Curator of Exhibitions and Collections at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art in Great Falls, Montana. In addition to the featured exhibition OBJECT#: A Permanent Collection Exhibition about Museums and The Practice of Collecting Art, her recent exhibition projects include Peter Koch: The Book as a Work of Art; Beyond Intention: A Contemporary Fiber and Mixed-Media Arts Exhibition, featuring the work of Jennifer Reifsneider, Ashley V. Blalock, and Maggy Rozycki Hiltner; Dr. Charles Smith: Black History Lessons; VESSEL: Formative Works by Peter Voulkos. Prior to her position as Curator at The Square, she held the position of Curatorial Research Associate at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for the exhibition GOYA: Order and Disorder. Evans was a fellow at the Smithsonian Institution Latino Center Museum Program conducting language research and translations for the National Museum of the American Indian, as well as co-founder of the Itinerate Arts Collaborative in San Diego, California. She has served in curatorial, research and educational roles at the C.M. Russell Museum, Tufts University Art Gallery, deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, UCLA Hammer Museum and The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Evans holds a Master of Arts in Art History and Museum Studies from Tufts University and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History from University of California Los Angles (UCLA). Evans serves on the Board of Trustees of the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association.
H. Rafael Chacón Ph.D., Bruce and Suzanne Crocker Director of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture and Professor of Art History and Criticism at the University of Montana-Missoula
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H. Rafael Chacón, Ph.D., is Bruce and Suzanne Crocker Director of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture and Professor of Art History and Criticism in the School of Visual and Media Arts at the University of Montana—Missoula. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in art history with honors from the University of Chicago. Dr. Chacón has taught a range of courses in art history and criticism and received numerous teaching and publication awards over 25 years, most recently being named among the top ten lecturers by the Smithsonian Institute. His academic research and publications lie in American architectural history, historic preservation, and Montana history, especially its visual arts. A new passion is for vexillology (the study of flags) having received the top awards for his research at both national and international conferences. He is presently overseeing the construction of the MMAC’s first permanent building in its 128-year history.., is Bruce and Suzanne Crocker Director of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture and Professor of Art History and Criticism in the School of Visual and Media Arts at the University of Montana—Missoula. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in art history with honors from the University of Chicago. Dr. Chacón has taught a range of courses in art history and criticism and received numerous teaching and publication awards over 25 years, most recently being named among the top ten lecturers by the Smithsonian Institute. His academic research and publications lie in American architectural history, historic preservation, and Montana history, especially its visual arts. A new passion is for vexillology (the study of flags) having received the top awards for his research at both national and international conferences. He is presently overseeing the construction of the MMAC’s first permanent building in its 128-year history.
Gordon McConnell, Artist and Writer
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Gordon McConnell is a visual artist and writer based in Billings, Montana. He curated 65 exhibitions and helped shape the Montana Collection at the Yellowstone Art Center (now Museum), serving as Assistant Director (1982-1998) and Senior Curator (1992-1998). He was curatorial consultant to the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming (2002-06). Through his writings and curatorial activity, he has long been an advocate for the contemporary artists of Montana and the American West, while maintaining his own significant and evolving studio practice. McConnell did graduate work at the California Institute of the Arts and received his M.A. in art history from the University of Colorado, Boulder. In 2020, he was a recipient of the Montana Governor’s Arts Award.
Jennifer Reifsneider, Artist and Ex-Registrar
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Jennifer Reifsneider lives in Missoula and has exhibited her work around the country. Current projects include Made in L.A., a two-year installation at the Los Angeles International Airport curated by the Center for Craft in America, and preparations for a solo exhibit at the Lewistown Art Center in 2024. Her work is in public and private collections, including the High Desert Test Sites Archive at the Nevada Museum of Art and the Franklin Furnace Artist Book archive at the Museum of Modern Art. In 2019, she received a Montana Arts Council Artist Innovation Award. She earned her BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1995 and MFA from California State University, Long Beach in 2011.
Between 1994 and 2020, Reifsneider worked in museums, including 15 years as Registrar at the Missoula Art Museum. She served as a committee member for the international Association of Registrars & Collection Specialists, peer reviewer for the federal Institute of Museum & Library Services, and presenter for the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association. She is a current member of the Montana Museum of Art & Culture Collections Committee and provided leadership in revising its Collection Management Policy.
Brandon Reintjes, Senior Curator at the Missoula Art Museum
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Brandon Reintjes is senior curator at the Missoula Art Museum. He previously worked at the Montana Museum of Art & Culture at the University of Montana-Missoula, Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, the Akron Art Museum in Akron, Ohio, and the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, Montana. Recent publications include Anne Appleby: Hymn (2021) and Jon Lodge: Fracture (2021), which was a High Plains Book Awards Finalist. In addition, Brandon regularly contributes articles to the Journal of Modern Craft, Ceramics Art & Perception, and Ceramics Monthly. He received a BFA in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and MA in curatorial and critical studies from the University of Louisville.
Jennifer Woodcock-Medicine Horse, Ph.D., Program Director: IndigenEyes: Contemporary Native American Art of the Rocky Mountains and Plains
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Jennifer Woodcock-Medicine Horse, PhD • Program Director: IndigenEyes: Contemporary Native American Art of the Rocky Mountains and Plains • Dr. Jennifer Woodcock-Medicine Horse holds a PhD in American Studies and an MA in Native American Studies from Montana State University-Bozeman; and a BA in Anthropology/Archaeology from UC Berkeley. Her academic research explores the complex intersection of museum studies, Indigenous representation, contemporary Native art, climate disruption, anthropology, and education; seeking effective and affective ways of engaging museum visitors regarding cataclysmic Anthropocene issues and an enthusiastic appreciation of contemporary Native art. She serves as Adjunct Faculty in MSU’s Departments of Art History, Native American Studies, University Studies and Gallatin College. Recent work includes • 2022-23: SLAM advisory board member • 2022-2023: Montana Arts Council: State of the Arts quarterly contributor • 2022: Asst curator, Tinworks Art - Louis Still Smoking - mural installation, Gina Still Smoking - Native fashion show, July 8-9 2022. • 2021: Guest curator, “ReCouping Sovereignty” Bozeman Art Museum. Jennifer lives in Bozeman, Montana with her spouse, Cassidy; her three supervisory felines - Elvis, Attica and Sassafrass; and faithful hyperdog, Lizzie.
March 10, 2023
5:00pm Museum Members pre-Party (anyone can become a member! Visit www.the-square.org/membership for more information on how you can support the museum through annual membership).
5:30pm Reception Begins, Public Welcome
6:15pm Panel Discussion
7:00pm Public Q&A
7:15 Discussion Ends
7:30 Reception and Panel CLOSE