The lecture series, Making and Meaning, is a public engagement opportunity in which patrons can learn about the history of art through topical virtual lectures. Each session will be 90 minutes in length, with approximately 60 minutes of lecture/slide presentation/video and 30 minutes of Q&A. The content of each session will be geared to excite participants about art history in a way that moves past traditional Western-centered surveys and invites viewers to consider the context of the works discussed.

Session 3: Family Ties: artists exploring kinship, bloodlines, and chosen families

In this session, we will look at the work of artists who have explored familial bonds, traditions, and ancestral narratives.  From family portraits to family albums, our fascination with these intimate and often complex relationships has proven a steadfast topic to artists for millennia. 

Image: Carrie Mae Weems – Kitchen Table Series, 1990

Margaret LeJeune is an image-maker, educator, and independent curator originally from Rochester, NY. She holds an MFA from Visual Studies Workshop. Her creative practice examines art, science, and place-based research. In 2023, LeJeune was named the Woman Science Photographer of the Year by the Royal Photographic Society (UK).  She currently serves as the Barstow Artist-in-Residence at Central Michigan University and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Society for Photographic Education.

Making and Meaning Series dates:

Wed Jan 10 6:30PM 

Session 1: Ecological and Environmental Art: creativity for the planet

Wed Feb 7 6:30PM

Session 2: Beyond Sunsets: poetry and metaphor in the landscape

Wed March 6 6:30PM 

Session 3: Family Ties: artists exploring kinship, bloodlines, and chosen families

Wed April 10 6:30PM 

Session 4: Fallout and Downwinders: visual examinations of the nuclear age

Wed May 8 6:30PM 

Session 5: Weather as Muse: art that embraces, images, and collaborates with the weather