Washington and Lee University

Highlights from the University Collection of Art & History

Over the years, a number of donors have contributed important twentieth century art work to the University's collection. This exhibit focuses on the donors, who they are, the nature of their collections, their connections to Washington and Lee, and the significance of their gifts. Sydney and Francis Lewis, Euchlin and Louise Herreshoff Reeves, Jacob and Bernice Weinstein, John Poyner, Stan Kamen and Keith Shillington are among those whose donations will be featured. "The paintings and sculpture they contributed constitute a fine teaching collection," according to Professor Pamela Simpson, curator for the exhibit. "Together they tell a story about the love of art and the love of this university."

Netsuke: A Glance at Part of the Glickstein Collection

Introduced in 14th century Japan, the netsuke would hang from a kimono's obi or sash by a cord to attach the container in which Japanese men stored their personal belongings such as pipes, tobacco, money, seals, or medicines. These ancestors of the toggle soon became elaborately sculpted from ivory, lacquer, wood, and other exotic materials like rhinoceros horn or walrus tusk. The netsuke in the Washington and Lee Collection come from distinguished alumnus, Joseph M. Glickstein.

Lucy Thurber's Where We're Born focuses on life in a small, working-class rural town, where family relationships are maintained by a delicate balance between desire and dependency. When a local girl returns home from her elite college, her new identity and world view challenges all that she once knew, leaving her family and friends in a state of utter chaos.

In a small town in Western Massachusetts, the Lawrence family struggles with poverty, boredom and lost potential. Into this isolated town comes Ellen, a highly educated, wealthy and well- traveled young woman who wants to give back to her country through education. She starts teaching in the public high school where Billy and Rachel Lawrence go, and she develops an obsession with Billy's intelligence, insight and potential. Her obsession and desire to lift Billy out of poverty tears the family apart.

The 2009-2010 season of the USSO kicks off with commemorating the 200th anniversary of the death of "Papa" Haydn, the father of the symphony. His well known trumpet concerto will be performed by W&L's Professor of Trumpet, Chris Magee. The program concludes with Beethoven's Symphony No.2.