From th
e mid-1960s through the late 1970s\, Alma W. Thomas created a remarkable b
ody of work &ndash\; abstract paintings that changed our understanding of
art. But her contributions to art and arts education and the Washington\,
D.C. community went far beyond the paintings for which she is best known.<
/p>\n
In this panel\, three curators will discuss the different approach es they have pursued in their exhibitions featuring Alma Thomas\, which ra nge from an expansive view of Thomas&rsquo\; life and varied contributions \; to a focused deep dive into her nature-inspired abstract compositions\; to her enduring legacy in arts education and D.C.&rsquo\;s strong traditi on of Black art educators over the past century. Attendees will gain a nua nced understanding of this iconic artist&rsquo\;s varied contributions and approaches.
\nThe panel will be moderated by Jonathan P. Binstock\, Vradenburg Director and CEO of The Phillips Collection&mdash\;which hoste d the nationally touring exhibition &ldquo\;Alma W. Thomas: Everything is Beautiful&rdquo\; in 2021-2022. Joining Binstock will be Melissa Ho from t he Smithsonian American Art Museum\, Samir Meghelli from the Smithsonian I nstitution's Anacostia Community Museum\, and Jonathan Frederick Walz from The Columbus Museum in Columbus\, Georgia and curator of the DC Public Li brary Exhibit "Let This World Be Beautiful: Celebrating the Life and Art o f Alma Thomas."
\nThis discussion is part of the DC Public Library Exhibit Let This World Be Beautiful: Celebrating the Life and Art of Alma Thomas.
\ nPresenter Biographies: \;
Dr. Jonathan P. Binst
ock (moderator) \;is currently the Vradenburg Director and CE
O of The Phillips Collection following eight years as the Mary W. and Dona
ld R. Clark Director of the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) of the University o
f Rochester in New York. During his tenure in Rochester\, Binstock led an
expansion and diversification of the museum&rsquo\;s permanent collection\
, special exhibition program\, public engagement and outreach efforts\, an
d audience\, as well as a significant increase in the museum&rsquo\;s annu
al budget. Prior to Memorial Art Gallery\, Binstock served as the Senior V
ice President for Modern and Contemporary Art in the Art Advisory &\; F
inance group of Citi Private Bank. He was Curator of Contemporary Art at t
he Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington\, DC\, from 2000-07\, and Assista
nt Curator at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia fr
om 1998-2000.
Melissa Ho is the curator of twe
ntieth-century art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She joined the
museum's staff in September 2016. Ho&rsquo\;s research\, acquisitions\, an
d exhibitions focus on art made since 1945. She is particularly interested
in studying the connections between artistic practice and social and hist
orical conditions\, as well as debates surrounding abstraction\, conceptua
lism and experimental art. Ho organized the exhibition Artists Respond: Am
erican Art and the Vietnam War\, 1965-1975 (2019) and most recently curate
d Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas\, an exhibition drawn
from the Smithsonian American Art Museum&rsquo\;s collection\, on view th
rough June 2\, 2024.
Samir Meghelli is a hi
storian\, writer\, educator\, and serves as Senior Curator at the Smithson
ian Institution's Anacostia Community Museum in Washington\, D.C. He is al
so a Visiting Scholar-in-Residence at American University&rsquo\;s Metropo
litan Policy Center in the School of Public Affairs. Dr. Meghelli has two
decades of experience in the fields of public history and the public human
ities. His research\, teaching\, and curatorial work have focused on socia
l movements\, urban history\, and cultural history. His recent exhibitions
include A Right to the City (2018-2020) which explored the histo
ry (and contemporary dynamics) of neighborhood change and activism in Wash
ington\, D.C. He also led the research and curation of a recent outdoor an
d indoor exhibition about food justice issues\, Food for the People: E
ating and Activism in Greater Washington (on view 2021-2022)\, which
received the Smithsonian Award for Excellence in Exhibitions. His new exhi
bition\, A Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Educatio
n in Washington D.C.\, 1900-2000\, opens March 23\, 2024.
Jonathan Frederick Walz was appointed in 2016 as the D
irector of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of American Art at The Columbus
Museum in Columbus\, Georgia\, Alma Thomas&rsquo\;s hometown. He received
an MA and a PhD from the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the
University of Maryland\, College Park. He spent the academic year 2009&nda
sh\;2010 at the David C. Driskell Center as one of six graduate student cu
rators for the exhibition Embodied: Black Identities in American Art from
the Yale University Art Gallery\, which appeared at the Driskell Center an
d Yale University Art Gallery and was reviewed in the New York Times. As a
proponent of object-based study and public history\, Walz has over 25 yea
rs of experience in art museums\, including more than a decade of service
at the National Gallery of Art\, Washington. He co-curated the award-winni
ng nationally traveling exhibition Alma W. Thomas: Everything Is Beaut
iful\, which appeared at The Phillips Collection in 2021&ndash\;2022
and most recently served as guest curator for Let This World Be Beauti
ful at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.