Articles tagged with: History of Art and Visual Culture

  • Students step back in time through new Brock Library exhibit

    Image caption: Second-year Visual Arts student Madeline Corbier recently helped with the installation of a new Brock University Library exhibit, “Made of the Mist: Life in Niagara During the Long 19th Century,” which will run until Wednesday, March 26.

    Tuesday, March 11, 2025 | by 

    In the hustle and bustle of present-day campus life, the Brock community is being invited to pause and explore Niagara’s past.

    Presented by Visual Arts students in partnership with the Brock University Library’s Archives and Special Collections team, “Made of the Mist: Life in Niagara During the Long 19th Century” explores life in the region from the late 1700s to the early decades of the 1900s.

    “The historical term ‘the long 19th century’ reflects the idea that styles, trends, artistic approaches, technologies and politics don’t abruptly change when the calendars change,” said Keri Cronin, Professor of Art and Visual Culture.

    The exhibit’s title, “Made of the Mist,” also highlights the influence of geographical location to culture, social life and economics.

    Led by Cronin, VISA 2P90: 19th Century Visual Culture students visited Brock’s archival collections where they learned about how to work with the resources and each selected one item to feature.

    A range of materials are on display, including a sketch commemorating an 1880s curling match in Niagara, a tintype studio portrait photograph from the Rick Bell Family Fonds and an advertisement for a Niagara-on-the-Lake hotel.

    Second-year Visual Arts student Madeline Corbier chose a glass stereograph —a set of two images can be viewed in 3D using a stereoscope — that shows four Indigenous people looking at the American Falls from Luna Island, N.Y.

    “It caught my attention because it was an image of Indigenous people that was not stereotyped. Through my research of photography during that time, photos of Indigenous people were largely staged with sets and props; but this image was a candid image of tourists at the falls — a rare and important image to showcase,” she said.

    Second-year Studio Art student Aaron Rose and third-year Concurrent Education student Brooke Nolan both worked on the same object, a friendship album.

    Rose and Nolan each took a very different approach. While Rose chose to focus on three pencil drawings of birds found within the album, Nolan selected a floral textile piece and an accompanying letter.

    As the album was so delicate, they had to carefully think about how to present their selections and worked with David Sharron, Head of Archives and Special Collections, to determine the best plan.

    Nolan said she stumbled upon Ann Eliza Hepburne Rooth’s friendship album in the Brock Archives digital collection before going to see it in person.

    “The poems and textiles stood out to me, and I selected pages that included both. I looked into the archives in the St. Catharine’s library to find out more about Anne Eliza Hepburne Rooth and her family who lived in the Niagara region in the 19th century,” she said.

    For Nolan, the project provided a hands-on curatorial approach to learning about history that she found very rewarding.

    “Many of our students go on to careers in places like museums and galleries, and having this kind of experience working with an archival collection and planning an exhibit is an inspiring — and often eye-opening — opportunity,” Cronin said.

    Sharron said the excitement and respect the students brought working with historical records over 100 years old was palpable.

    “The care in which they handled the materials was very professional, but they were never intimidated by them, which is how we and Professor Cronin hoped they would approach the project,” he said.

    “Made of the Mist: Life in Niagara During the Long 19th Century” is on display at the Brock University Library until Wednesday, March 26.

    Tags: , , , , , , , ,
    Categories: Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Second-year student Erin Grayley shares her experience as History of Art and Visual Culture (HAVC) student

    (From: Learning to Look at Visual Culture; The Brock University Humanities Blog | Written by: Erin Grayley. Published by:Alison Innes)


    Erin Grayley is a second year student in the History of Art and Visual Culture (HAVC) and a volunteer with the Faculty of Humanities’ Social Media Ambassador program. In this blog post, she demystifies what History of Art and Visual Culture is all about and answers some of your questions.

    As a second year History of Art and Visual Culture major, I find people are often confused about what I do or what my program even is.

    I don’t actually create physical art in class nor do I have any studio-based work but I am considered an art student.

    The way I like to describe it is, in the history of art and visual culture program (or as we lovingly refer to it, HAVC) we study the theory behind the art. Just as musicians study musical theory, we study artistic theory.

    In HAVC, we focus on many different aspects of images and their effects. Aside from the art history side of things, which dives into art through the ages and work/artists that changed the face of art, visual culture focuses on skills and tools to help understand images and think critically about how we process information though images and art in everyday life.

    The question of “what is visual culture” is not easily answered. Visual culture looks at the different ways we can think about visual imagery and how that imagery affects things like society, politics, life today and history, as well as how we interact with the world and the people around us.

    In visual culture, we focus on a concept of “the viewer makes meaning” in relation to images and art. The importance of the viewer and how a viewer visually and contextually analyzes an image are important tools. We learn very early in the program how to visually and contextually analyze images and artwork. These skills are the foundation of HAVC and will help students during their program and in many different careers.

    HAVC is not strictly related to art, either. It crosses many disciplines and is used by everyone, everyday (sometimes without even realizing it). We are exposed to visual culture everywhere we look. Having the skills to properly articulate ideas about images and critically think about what we are seeing is an important skill for students in any discipline.

    I wanted to know what people outside of the HAVC community had to say so I took to Instagram and asked my friends and followers to send me questions about my program and visual culture in general. I’ve picked some of the most asked questions and answered them for you here! The response was amazing and I was so glad so many people took interest in learning more about HAVC.

    woman standing in front of a wall of printed artwork

     

    What’s your favourite class?

    It’s hard to pin point which is my favourite, as so many of my classes are interesting and innovative in different ways! However, Visual Culture and the Human Body (VISA 3P52) and Introduction to Contemporary Art (VISA 2P88) are among the most fascinating for me this semester.

    What classes are you looking forward to in your program?

    As a third year student next year, I will be able to take an independent study course (VISA 3F99) where I will be able to advance my studies in an area of mutual interest with a professor in the Department of Visual Arts. This course allows me to further my research in a specific context that interests me!

    How can a student get into studying History of Art and Visual Culture?

    The first courses that start you in this major would be VISA 1Q98 (Introduction to Visual Culture) and VISA 1Q99 (Introduction to History of Art). These will give you the resources and prerequisites to take your studies in many different directions within the History of Art and Visual Culture program.

    Are there opportunities for abroad studying?

    YES! there are many different opportunities to study abroad in this program! Depending on the year, there are different destinations for study, such as Italy and the Mediterranean! Learn more about exchange opportunities on the Brock International website.

    What is your favourite part of History of Art and Visual Culture?

    My favourite part of the program is definitely the visual culture side. From starting first year not really understanding what visual culture was, to now critically thinking about imagery and how visual images and art can shape the ways we think about the world and others is inspiring! I love what I am able to learn and accomplish in this program. I am inspired to research and create in new ways every day and the endless opportunities I am presented with motivate me to continue studying HAVC!

    What possible careers can you pursue with this major?

    There are many possibilities with a major in History of Art and Visual Culture. Since this area of study can cross through many disciplines, it can manifest into anything you want it to be. Professions include curatorial work in galleries, arts administration, law, teaching, and writing and publication.

    You can find more information about HAVC at Brock on the Department of Visual Arts website.

    If you have any further questions or want to speak to a faculty member in HAVC, you can contact Keri Cronin, an Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Arts, at 905 688 5550 x5306 or [email protected].

    << Read the full post by Erin Grayley and other posts by Alison Innes on the Humanities blog. >>

    Tags: , , , , , , , ,
    Categories: Current Students, News

  • New book explores the art of animal advocacy

    Associate Professor of Visual Arts Keri Cronin examines the role of visual images, such as Edward Landseer’s A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society (exhibited 1838), in animal activism in her new book,  Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914.

    (Source: The Brock NewsTuesday, May 22, 2018 | by )

    It was while searching for a set of lantern slides many years ago that Keri Cronin inadvertently found inspiration for her latest book.

    The slides never materialized but what Cronin, an associate professor in Brock’s Department of Visual Arts, did find was an abundance of material on animal advocacy.

    That material has helped to form her latest publication, Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914, which explores the use of visual art material in campaigns for animal advocacy.

    Art for Animals cover

    Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914 is the latest book by by Associate Professor Keri Cronin.

    Influenced in part by authors who looked at visual culture in other social justice movements, such as suffrage and civil rights, Cronin’s book explores how animal advocacy images were created, circulated and consumed, and the impact that had on ideas about the humane treatment of animals.

    “Visual culture played an important role in defining campaign goals, recruiting membership, raising funds, and, ultimately, sustaining and challenging dominant ideas about nonhuman animals,” writes Cronin.

    Her biggest challenge has been locating archival material to piece together the stories of animal advocacy.

    “For so long, the history of human-animal relationships was not a particularly valued area of research, and archival collections often reflect this,” says Cronin, who hopes the book will lead people to recognize relevant print material they might have in their own collections.

    The cheap, mass-produced pamphlets created and distributed by animal advocacy groups in the late 19th and early 20th century often weren’t considered valuable enough to save.

    The field of animal-human relations, however, has recently seen an explosion of interest both within the University and the broader public. Cronin notes that although her book deals with historical material, many of the key points have relevance for how images are used in animal advocacy today.

    “It is high time we turn our attention to how animals have always been part of our stories, histories, labour and societies,” she says.

    Art for Animals asks us to think about the ways in which visual images can both shape and challenge dominant narratives about non-human animals.”

    A public book launch will be held for Art for Animals on Wednesday, May 23 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Mahtay Café, 241 St. Paul St. in St. Catharines.

    Tags: , , ,
    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Media Releases, News