A Conversation with Muscarelle’s Art Director Aaron H. De Groft
UPDATE: The “21st Century Diplomacy: Ballet, Ballots, and Bullets” exhibit date has been changed to open on May 30, 2014.
On grounds once walked by George Washington, Diplomatic Courier sat down with Muscarelle Museum of Art Director Aaron H. De Groft, Ph.D. to discuss his career and the work of the Muscarelle, as well as the forthcoming “21st Century Diplomacy: Ballet, Ballots, and Bullets” photography exhibit, due to open to the public on May 30, 2014.
Though De Groft is well recognized on the campus and in the museum world today, his relationship with art began in childhood while traveling abroad with his parents. On the home front, he dug up several old glass bottles in his grandmother’s side yard—all in the name of archeology and preservation—that started De Groft’s early collection. By the time he demurred on an architectural degree in favor of art history and finally attended the school he dreamed since first grade, De Groft was well into his love affair with Italian masters. Wearing his William and Mary fraternity sweatshirt at the Uffizi in Florence, De Groft recalled that first moment when he was more than just intrigued by art: “I remember distinctly, I sat there very aware of the moment—how did this middle class kid from rural Virginia get here? This was also one of the moments when you become unafraid. Humble is one thing, and modest, but someone has to wrestle with the monsters.” By monsters, he meant old master paintings and other greats. To this day, De Groft upholds the importance of faculty mentoring students, of his Professor Miles Chappell taking young minds to the House of Medici to challenge their understanding of the world and step onto an unravelling path.
The space between the art and the viewer, the moment when the viewer is “unafraid,” is the exact atmosphere De Groft strives to cultivate at the Muscarelle. Given its strategic location between Norfolk and Richmond with a short drive to the nation’s capital, the Muscarelle aims to present an uncleansed view of reality. “A university museum is a place where you can have the greatest sort of debate, discussion, and disagreement…it broadens the lines on the field,” reflects De Groft. Whether showing paintings that changed the world with one billion social media impressions or debuting Glenn Close’s costumes for the first time, De Groft takes pride in the Muscarelle as a “Museum as Laboratory” and highlights, “we balance the scale of being at one of the great universities in America by producing scholarly research that is cutting edge in many ways like our Michelangelo show…with giving students and faculty a real world experience.”
The College of William and Mary is known, among many things, for being the first college in America to include the “fine arts” in its curriculum by appointing in 1779 Reverend Robert Andrews (ca. 1747-1804) to instruct in "Sculpture, Painting, Gardening, Music, Architecture, Poetry, Oratory, and Criticism.” As the Muscarelle re-established itself in the 1990s and 2000s, De Groft sought to fulfill Thomas Jefferson’s and Andrews’ dreams of a proper art institution by blending the campus with the Museum. Indeed, the Muscarelle has been described as pound for pound, the best university art museum in America. In addition to working tirelessly to bring famous works of art to Williamsburg, De Groft invests heavily in faculty projects, including “Picturing Paradise: Duadros by the Peruvian Women of Pamplona,” “Athenian Potters and Painters: Greek Vases from Virginia Collections,” and soon “21st Century Diplomacy: Ballet, Ballots, and Bullets.”
A collaboration between Diplomatic Courier and Muscarelle “21st Century Diplomacy” pauses history and allows the passerby to momentarily be practicing a plié, satirizing a political candidate, or surviving in a refugee camp via poignant photographs. Each image uniquely communicates and advances its version of diplomacy. While the viewer will have his or her own reaction, I cannot help but return the gaze of the person in the photograph and sympathize with the human condition. We cannot be all that different, and my suffering might be immortalized with a camera if my life had taken an alternative path. When asked how photography fits into the museum scene, De Groft offered, “art is a document of the world from a time at which it comes. Whether that art is a piece of literature or music, it is indicative of its time and the people around it who make it. The same with photography; it’s just a different technological tool.”
“21st Century Diplomacy” will debut student work, but also feature a variety of established photographers. World renowned conflict photographer Sebastian Rich will include several images from his time in war zones. This will be Rich’s first photography exhibit with the Muscarelle and third show with the Diplomatic Courier. As highlighted by De Groft, “what is fundamentally interesting about this exhibit is that none of us can relate to what this is. You can say that about a lot of things, but to try to understand a life that is so different than from virtually everyone that lives in our community, and certainly the students and faculty that go to this school, doesn’t mean it’s not real. These kinds of communications of ideas through images have broad reaching influences from political decisions to financial decisions to humanitarian decisions.”
Students and faculty will be involved in several stages of the exhibit. “This exhibit is an exciting opportunity for the entire academic community at William and Mary and highlights the College’s commitment to engaging students in real world policy issues. The Project on International Peace and Security is delighted to support this effort. We strongly believe that bridging the academic and policy communities benefits student education and the nation,” adds Dennis Smith, Director, The Project on International Peace and Security (PIPS).
There are no white walls in the Muscarelle, and De Groft has no Plan B for the path of enlightenment that his museum is charging. With “21st Century Diplomacy,” De Groft ends with the following reflection: “but if you don’t know, see, and experience these things, then you have no idea what is going on. Think of what it would be like to live in Syria today.” I cannot help but agree. Join us on May 30th to surround yourself with ballet, ballots, and bullets. Embrace your entrepreneurial spirit. And be fearless.
Kathryn H. Floyd is Visiting Instructor, Department of Government, College of William and Mary and the Curator of the 21st Century Diplomacy exhibit, a collaboration between Diplomatic Courier and Muscarelle running from May 30 to September 28, 2014, which she brokered.
Accredited by the American Association of Museums in 1988 with subsequent accreditations in 2000 and 2012. The Museum was the first university/college museum of art in the Commonwealth of Virginia to be accredited by the AAM. This distinction is held by fewer than five percent of museums in the United States.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's January/February 2014 print edition.
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21st Century Diplomacy: Ballet, Ballots, and Bullets
January 30, 2014
A Conversation with Muscarelle’s Art Director Aaron H. De Groft
UPDATE: The “21st Century Diplomacy: Ballet, Ballots, and Bullets” exhibit date has been changed to open on May 30, 2014.
On grounds once walked by George Washington, Diplomatic Courier sat down with Muscarelle Museum of Art Director Aaron H. De Groft, Ph.D. to discuss his career and the work of the Muscarelle, as well as the forthcoming “21st Century Diplomacy: Ballet, Ballots, and Bullets” photography exhibit, due to open to the public on May 30, 2014.
Though De Groft is well recognized on the campus and in the museum world today, his relationship with art began in childhood while traveling abroad with his parents. On the home front, he dug up several old glass bottles in his grandmother’s side yard—all in the name of archeology and preservation—that started De Groft’s early collection. By the time he demurred on an architectural degree in favor of art history and finally attended the school he dreamed since first grade, De Groft was well into his love affair with Italian masters. Wearing his William and Mary fraternity sweatshirt at the Uffizi in Florence, De Groft recalled that first moment when he was more than just intrigued by art: “I remember distinctly, I sat there very aware of the moment—how did this middle class kid from rural Virginia get here? This was also one of the moments when you become unafraid. Humble is one thing, and modest, but someone has to wrestle with the monsters.” By monsters, he meant old master paintings and other greats. To this day, De Groft upholds the importance of faculty mentoring students, of his Professor Miles Chappell taking young minds to the House of Medici to challenge their understanding of the world and step onto an unravelling path.
The space between the art and the viewer, the moment when the viewer is “unafraid,” is the exact atmosphere De Groft strives to cultivate at the Muscarelle. Given its strategic location between Norfolk and Richmond with a short drive to the nation’s capital, the Muscarelle aims to present an uncleansed view of reality. “A university museum is a place where you can have the greatest sort of debate, discussion, and disagreement…it broadens the lines on the field,” reflects De Groft. Whether showing paintings that changed the world with one billion social media impressions or debuting Glenn Close’s costumes for the first time, De Groft takes pride in the Muscarelle as a “Museum as Laboratory” and highlights, “we balance the scale of being at one of the great universities in America by producing scholarly research that is cutting edge in many ways like our Michelangelo show…with giving students and faculty a real world experience.”
The College of William and Mary is known, among many things, for being the first college in America to include the “fine arts” in its curriculum by appointing in 1779 Reverend Robert Andrews (ca. 1747-1804) to instruct in "Sculpture, Painting, Gardening, Music, Architecture, Poetry, Oratory, and Criticism.” As the Muscarelle re-established itself in the 1990s and 2000s, De Groft sought to fulfill Thomas Jefferson’s and Andrews’ dreams of a proper art institution by blending the campus with the Museum. Indeed, the Muscarelle has been described as pound for pound, the best university art museum in America. In addition to working tirelessly to bring famous works of art to Williamsburg, De Groft invests heavily in faculty projects, including “Picturing Paradise: Duadros by the Peruvian Women of Pamplona,” “Athenian Potters and Painters: Greek Vases from Virginia Collections,” and soon “21st Century Diplomacy: Ballet, Ballots, and Bullets.”
A collaboration between Diplomatic Courier and Muscarelle “21st Century Diplomacy” pauses history and allows the passerby to momentarily be practicing a plié, satirizing a political candidate, or surviving in a refugee camp via poignant photographs. Each image uniquely communicates and advances its version of diplomacy. While the viewer will have his or her own reaction, I cannot help but return the gaze of the person in the photograph and sympathize with the human condition. We cannot be all that different, and my suffering might be immortalized with a camera if my life had taken an alternative path. When asked how photography fits into the museum scene, De Groft offered, “art is a document of the world from a time at which it comes. Whether that art is a piece of literature or music, it is indicative of its time and the people around it who make it. The same with photography; it’s just a different technological tool.”
“21st Century Diplomacy” will debut student work, but also feature a variety of established photographers. World renowned conflict photographer Sebastian Rich will include several images from his time in war zones. This will be Rich’s first photography exhibit with the Muscarelle and third show with the Diplomatic Courier. As highlighted by De Groft, “what is fundamentally interesting about this exhibit is that none of us can relate to what this is. You can say that about a lot of things, but to try to understand a life that is so different than from virtually everyone that lives in our community, and certainly the students and faculty that go to this school, doesn’t mean it’s not real. These kinds of communications of ideas through images have broad reaching influences from political decisions to financial decisions to humanitarian decisions.”
Students and faculty will be involved in several stages of the exhibit. “This exhibit is an exciting opportunity for the entire academic community at William and Mary and highlights the College’s commitment to engaging students in real world policy issues. The Project on International Peace and Security is delighted to support this effort. We strongly believe that bridging the academic and policy communities benefits student education and the nation,” adds Dennis Smith, Director, The Project on International Peace and Security (PIPS).
There are no white walls in the Muscarelle, and De Groft has no Plan B for the path of enlightenment that his museum is charging. With “21st Century Diplomacy,” De Groft ends with the following reflection: “but if you don’t know, see, and experience these things, then you have no idea what is going on. Think of what it would be like to live in Syria today.” I cannot help but agree. Join us on May 30th to surround yourself with ballet, ballots, and bullets. Embrace your entrepreneurial spirit. And be fearless.
Kathryn H. Floyd is Visiting Instructor, Department of Government, College of William and Mary and the Curator of the 21st Century Diplomacy exhibit, a collaboration between Diplomatic Courier and Muscarelle running from May 30 to September 28, 2014, which she brokered.
Accredited by the American Association of Museums in 1988 with subsequent accreditations in 2000 and 2012. The Museum was the first university/college museum of art in the Commonwealth of Virginia to be accredited by the AAM. This distinction is held by fewer than five percent of museums in the United States.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's January/February 2014 print edition.
