Shahzia Sikander’s The Perennial Gaze Takes Pride of Place in the Axinn Winter Garden

In 2019, the Committee on Art in Public Places, at the behest of Cynthia Packert, Christian A. Johnson Professor of History of Art, enthusiastically pursued the acquisition of The Perennial Gaze by renowned contemporary artist Shahzia Sikander. This stunning mosaic,

Steel Yourselves, Here Comes Youbie Obie

It’s been exactly twenty years since the Committee on Art in Public Places (CAPP) accepted Jules Olitski’s King Kong—a beautifully abstract, almost minimalist work in cor-ten steel, gifted to the College by Sophia Healy, daughter of former professor Arthur Healy—and sited it in front of the Johnson Building. This summer, as a serendipitous, unwitting tribute to the acquisition of King Kong, CAPP has accepted another gift in cor-ten steel, a monumental work by Middlebury alumnus J. Pindyck Miller ’60 titled Youbie Obie.

Lovely Filth

It’s not often that I get to make direct connections between an exhibition in the galleries and the collection of public art that we have on permanent display around the campus. The opportunity is probably there more often than I’m aware, but during my tenure anyway, the times when the similarities have been palpable have been rare. This spring, with Environment and Object • Recent African Art on view in several of our galleries there’s a theme that’s begging to be explored both inside and out. And it’s totally rubbish.