Honors students had the opportunity to collaborate on a museum exhibition of artistic and cultural objects from the Carlson Fable Collection in a course this past fall entitled “Special Topics for Honors Students: Researching and Exhibiting Aesop.” The course was co-taught by the Rev. Greg Carlson, S.J. and Erin Walcek Averett associate professor of Archaeology The class’s work was presented in contribution with a simultaneous Aesop exhibition “I See That Fable Differently,” at the Joslyn Art Museum and will be on display Jan. 27 through April 29.
The exhibit currently on display at Creighton’s Lied Art Gallery is entitled “Thundering Tortoises and Horrified Hares: Aesop in Popular Culture.”
The exhibits found in the Lied Art Gallery range from board games, newspaper advertisements, a record player, plates, tapestries and other artifacts that all reflect images and themes from Aesop’s fables. According to a description at the exhibit, Carlson began collecting fable books and objects about 35 years ago. Then after, attending a public lecture at the Joslyn Art Museum seven years ago, Carlson was motivated to submit proposals for exhibitions involving both the Joslyn and the Lied Art Gallery at Creighton.
The resulting project includes collaborations between curators, faculty and students from both institutions. Jess Benjamin, director of the Lied Art Gallery, also worked with Carlson, Averett and twenty students in the honors course. The class developed the theme for the exhibit and was divided into groups to analyze individual topics represented in Carlson’s collection such as the use of Aesop’s fables in newspaper advertisements and children’s games. Students learned about the process of museum exhibit curation by assembling items and writing descriptions for each feature.
“This class was so interesting and unlike anything else I’ve experienced at Creighton,” said College of Arts and Sciences junior Maddie Fung. “It has really grown my appreciation for all the time and hard work that goes into perfecting what you actually see in a museum.”
According to the description, the purpose of the exhibit in the Lied Art Gallery is to invite people to “ponder what happens when Aesopic stories enter popular culture.” Upon walking into the gallery, visitors find a board game based on the “Tortoise and the Hare” fable from 1978 by Louis Marx Co.
In addition to the game, there are other interactive exhibits including a view-master and reels toy from 1959 with images from fables. The record “Aesop’s Fables” by The Smothers Brothers Way plays on a sound system throughout the gallery to appropriately accompany visitors’ experiences.
Bronze Chinese teapots, English porcelain tea cups and French juice glasses add a domestic aspect to the collection with some items dating back to 1920. A pair of Sterling Silver grape scissors made in England in 1900 are also on display. Two silk ties depict images of the fables “The Fox and the Crow” as well as “The Tortoise and the Hare.”
The Lied Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 5-6 p.m. Carlson will deliver a lecture entitled “Why Artists Love Aesop” on Feb. 11 at the Joslyn’s Abbott Lecture Hall.