July 5 – December 17, 2023
Rosedale Gallery, University Commons
Installation view, "Arcadia Collects: Art, Objects + Ephemera from the University Archives", Rosedale Gallery, University Commons, photo: Sam Fritch
Arcadia Exhibitions is pleased to announce the exhibition “Arcadia Collects: Art, Objects + Ephemera from the University Archives” on display in the Rosedale Gallery from July 5 – December 17, 2023.
Produced by Arcadia Exhibitions in collaboration with Anastasia Rousseau, project archivist, “Arcadia Collects” highlights important moments in the cultural history of Beaver College / Arcadia University through photographs, artifacts, and video while also offering a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of an active, living archive.
Included are audio recordings from Song Contest, the most popular social event at Beaver in the mid-20th century, photographs of the first European Field Trip in 1948, and rare color footage of the 1948 May Day celebration, digitized for this exhibition. Many of the displays are supplemented with QR codes where viewers can view additional images and more in-depth information.
Items from the Pati Hill Collection are also on display in the exhibition. Rousseau has selected a number of xerographs found through the process of cataloging the collection – some being shown publicly for the first time – that reveal a variety of Hill’s visual experimentations centered around the photocopier.
Student Government Association President Merle Arbogast capping a freshman in the Rose Room, Grey Towers Castle, 1961. Photo courtesy University Archives.
Frame from 16mm footage of the 1948 May Day Celebration. Courtesy University Archives.
First Beaver College European Field Trip, 1948. Photo courtesy Phyllis Jane (Greenberg) Weiner '51.
An event to celebrate the openings of “Arcadia Collects: Art, Objects + Ephemera from the University Archives” and “Samantha Mitchell: Land Forms” will be held in the Great Room of the University Commons on Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 6:30 PM. The evening will begin with a lecture by Rousseau about the University Archives and the Pati Hill Collection.
Immediately following the talk, a reception will be held in both the Rosedale and Harrison Galleries where artist Samantha Mitchell will be available to discuss her works on paper. Both events are free and open to the public.
