“I've always had an interest in museum studies and material culture, but I'd never gotten to work in a collection like this one, or been able to see what a curator really does.” Princeton undergraduate Carly Pope summarized the sense of accomplishment felt by the student-curators of From the Ground Up - an exhibit of archaeological artifacts that opened December 10.
The Academy’s Norton–Van Buren Archaeological Study Collection is comprised of a wide range of artifacts of various styles, materials, and functions from ancient Etruscan, Greek, and Roman civilizations and is currently open by appointment to all interested scholars. Showcasing the early history of the collection by highlighting selected contributions from its principal donors, From the Ground Up was a collaborative exhibition developed by students of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies and the Fondazione IES Abroad Rome Center under the supervision of Norton–Van Buren Archaeological Study Collection Curator Valentina Follo.
The show underscored the original function of the Archaeological Study Collection as a teaching tool. “Working with the study collection was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and one I will never forget,” stated Pope, an undergraduate in archaeology at Princeton who spent last semester at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies. “It was also a very rewarding experience since we created a final product that we were all proud of and were able to share with our friends and peers.”
Over the past year, Follo has focused on making the study collection available to the public: “We hope to make it once again a fundamental teaching tool for learning about antiquities, not solely for the fellows at the Academy, but for the larger scholarly and student community in Rome.” To heighten awareness of the collection and its potential for meaningful study visits, joint exhibitions and other collaborative projects, she has fostered communication with academies, schools, study abroad programs, and museums. The 2015 academic year will see cooperative engagements with the Paideia Institute and the Swedish Academy in Rome.
From the Ground Up constituted one of a series of initiatives intended to publicize the Norton–Van Buren Archaeological Study Collection as a remarkable resource for hands-on access to ancient material culture and forms part of a broader effort on the part of the Academy to reach out to the wider community. A published volume of highlights from the collection, edited by Ili Nagy, FAAR’86, RAAR’09, and Larissa Bonfante, is also due out shortly through the University of Michigan Press.