Contact: 

James Van Dyke                                                                                                                                         
Associate Professor, SVS                                                                                                                            
vandykej@missouri.edu                                                                                                                            573.882.7547                                                                                                                                              

Madeleine LeMieux
Director, The Bingham Gallery 
mmlemieux@missouri.edu
573.303.7195

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

New Exhibition at OPEN/WORK 
Mind the Gap. Piecing Together Provenance: Student Showcase for Museum Studies 
Opening Reception November 21, 2024 

Columbia, MO: Mind the Gap. Piecing Together Provenance is the 2024 Student Showcase for Museum Studies at the University of Missouri. This group exhibition shares the recent work of students enrolled in Museum Studies 4130 and 7130. The research looks at six different art works and artifacts from the Museum of Art and Archaeology and features pieces by: di Matteo, Neeffs, van Goyen, Joli, Racquet, as well as the Mummy Shroud of Taathyr. As the title suggests, the work is organized to physically piece together an artwork’s provenance, discover the hands of ownership, and define its value and authenticity. The exhibition is on view beginning November 21 with a reception on November 21 from 5:30-7:30 pm. Refreshments will be served.  

Provenance research is a field that has been rapidly growing within the museum industry, and there is a growing interest in the history of ownership that follows the objects on display. Far from existing solely for viewers’ interests, provenance has also played a role in many cases of repatriation and attribution, from cases of colonial looting to modern-day forgeries. In this class, students built upon the provenance research provided through the Museum of Art and Archaeology curatorial files. Despite making great strides beyond this available information, there are still many unanswered questions. Students faced lost archives, misattributed works, destroyed records, and paywalls - overall, a frustrating trend of inaccessible information. The research displayed in this exhibition will be turned over to the Museum of Art and Archaeology to serve as resources for future researchers in the vast field of provenance research. 

OPEN/WORK is an exhibition space devoted to student research in museal display, engagement, and interpretation. Recognizing the gallery as a medium in itself, students think creatively and critically about sites of representation as well as their cultural roles and responsibilities. Open Work presents student-led collaborations that experiment with design strategies, cultural presentations, audience engagement, and educational programming. 

The Bingham Gallery is an exhibition space and living laboratory for contemporary art practice and interpretation. Central to the interdisciplinary curriculum of the School of Visual Studies, the gallery provides a platform for critical thinking across media, disciplines, cultures, and contexts. Through the exhibition of a diverse array of artwork created by student, emerging, established, and visiting artists, the gallery provides the SVS, university, and local communities with opportunities for direct involvement and exchange with the visual arts; informs and deepens the curriculum taught in the School of Visual Studies; serves as a training ground for students as emerging arts professionals in the arts economy.  

Established in 2017, the MU School of Visual Studies merges four disciplines: art, art history, film studies, and digital storytelling. This dynamic program aims to graduate future generations of outstanding critical thinkers, inventive problem solvers, and makers of conscientious, well-crafted art while preparing them for professional careers in the contemporary art world.