Institute for Human Science and Culture

04/29/2022

Illuminance by Vee Morman features mixed medium and ceramic art intended as décor and inspired by thoughts and perceptions of sex and gender.

See their work in our galleries tonight from 4-7pm during the opening reception for the Myers School of Art 2022 senior exhibitions. https://uakron.edu/chp/whats-on/Myers-2022

[Image descriptions:
1: Headshot of Vee Morman.
2: A green ceramic form with patches and smudges of purple, yellow, and dark green. The base branches in two directions—one rounded off, one open at the end with a lightbulb protruding from it.]

04/28/2022

“Songs of Travel”: A Visual Journey by Zachary Tyler Gill explores traditional subjects through horizontal and vertical strokes, achieving mechanical sensations and viewing life through a mechanist philosophy.

Join us tomorrow from 4-7pm for the opening of the Myers School of Art 2022 senior exhibitions: https://uakron.edu/chp/whats-on/Myers-2022

[Image descriptions:
1: Headshot of Zachary Tyler Gill.
2: Painting of a knight brandishing a sword running across a natural landscape full of greens, browns, and blues. The knight and landscape are painted with straight vertical and horizontal lines, appearing blocky and pixel-like.]

04/28/2022

Emotional Creatures by James Edwards tackles topics of anxiety, depression, and inner demons through cast metal objects, from pendants working with organic forms to larger sculptural works.

See his work in our galleries this Friday at the Myers School of Art opening reception: https://uakron.edu/chp/whats-on/Myers-2022

[Image descriptions:
1: Headshot of James Edwards standing in front of a brick wall.
2: A cast metal sculpture on a white background. It appears to be a squinted eyeball with tentacles protruding from its side.]

04/26/2022

The Feminine Image by Gabrielle Zink examines the portrayal of women in media and society through self-portraiture and still photography.

See Gabrielle's work and more from the 2022 Myers School of Art graduates in our galleries, this Friday 4-7pm: https://uakron.edu/chp/whats-on/Myers-2022

[Image descriptions:
1: Gabrielle Zink standing in a gallery with white walls. She is hanging framed photography on the wall.
2: Portrait of Gabrielle Zink sitting by a pool. She is wearing a white swimsuit and holding a cigarette, looking off to the left side of the image.]

04/23/2022

It’s nearly National Postcard Week! Come help the Akron Postcard Club prepare the mailings for this annual event on Wednesday, April 27 from 6-7pm. All attendees will receive a copy of our newly created postcard designed exclusively for National Postcard Week 2022.

Details at https://uakron.edu/chp/institute/postcard-club

Image description: Collage of National Postcard Week postcards from years past. Center card features a person in a straw hat and sunglasses eating a cream puff beside a typed greeting: “Greetings from Iola!” Dated to National Postcard Week 1989, the card includes the caption: “Fond memories of Wisconsin. Computer portrait: Enjoying one of Wisconsin’s famous cream puffs, Wisconsin State Fair, Summer 1988.

04/22/2022

What curiosities wait to be discovered in The University of Akron's long-lost “Museum of Zoology”?

Explore the new UA student-designed exhibit, Cabinets of Curiosity: Natural History Mysteries, featuring century-old taxidermy bird specimens including the now-extinct Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. The new exhibit opens at the Institute on April 29th: https://uakron.edu/chp/whats-on/natural-history-mystery

Read more about the Museum of Zoology [Un]Class from the Akron Beacon Journal: https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/2022/03/20/ivory-billed-woodpecker-gets-top-billing-university-akron/7029429001/

[Image descriptions:
1: An exhibition display featuring a cabinet of shells and taxidermy birds with a large egg under a glass dome on top. A painting alongside this cabinet depicts mutated birds surrounded in foliage
2: A small taxidermy owl with bright yellow eyes perched in a display case.]

04/12/2022

The Document Academy - DOCAM is a global collective that celebrates documentation and documents of all kinds. We’re hosting DOCAM’s 2022 meeting at the CCHP from August 12 – 13th!

Learn more and submit a paper or creative work proposal today: https://documentacademy.org/?2022

[Image description:
Logo for DOCAM 2022 in Akron, Ohio. The logo is in dark blue and gold.]

04/08/2022

We're joining this month's US National Archives #ArchivesHashtagParty and exploring the theme of #ArchivesOnMyStreet (and there's a lot to share!)

Down the street from our building are a series of commemorative markers recognizing the city's history as the "Rubber Capital of the World." At its peak, the rubber industry employed 40,000 Akronites!

In 2021, a statue of a rubber worker was installed at the base of Mill Street. This 15-foot bronze statue created by artist Alan Cottrill.

The unique contributions of African Americans are specifically recognized nearby on a plaque that also acknowledges the discrimination and racism they faced within the factories.

Mill St. also recognizes the history of women's contributions to the rubber industry. Unlike other factories in Akron, rubber manufacturers employed women as early as 1870, however women made 60% less than men and married women earned less than single women.

And slightly further up the streets stands an historic plaque to the 1930s Rubber Strikes. In response to Depression-era layoffs and wage cuts, Akron rubber workers organized the United Rubber Workers. A series of strikes were held at different factories, building to a "sit-down" strike at Goodyear in 1936. A settlement was not reached for 37 days.

Image descriptions:
1. A bronze statue of a rubber worker holding a tire stands in the center of a roundabout in downtown Akron.
2. An outdoor text panel recognizing the contributions of African Americans to Akron's rubber industry history that features both text and a series of photos of African American rubber workers.
3. An outdoor text panel recognizing the contributions of women to Akron's rubber industry history that features both text and a series of photos of women rubber workers.
4. An Ohio Historical Marker recognizing the 1936 Akron Rubber Strike.

03/29/2022

Guest speaker alert! Tony Pankuch will be joining us tomorrow at Akron Postcard Club to talk about their research on “Feminist Leap Year” postcards. They’ll touch on gender roles, LGBTQ+ identity, and women’s suffrage in the early 20th century. Free event, 6-7pm.

Details at https://uakron.edu/chp/institute/postcard-club

Image descriptions:
1. Portrait of Tony Pankuch with short brown hair and glasses.
2. A postcard of a person with a butterfly net sneaking up behind another individual reading the newspaper. A third person in the foreground says “Be careful Clara, that’s a fine specimen.” The postcard is labelled “In 1908” and features a lemon logo of one figure chasing another surrounded by the words “Leap Year.”

03/17/2022

Joyous St. Patrick’s Day greetings from the Institute for Human Science and Culture and the David P. Campbell Postcard Collection. Visit today to browse our full collection of classic St. Patrick’s Day postcards!

[Image description:
An arrangement of St. Patrick’s Day themed postcards depicting clovers, Irish landscapes, and figures dressed in green. In the center is a glittery embossed pink and green postcard that reads “Best Wishes for St. Patrick’s Day”.]

03/11/2022

Today! Free film screening and guided tours of Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders. Screenings start every hour between 3-7pm, on the hour; tours on the half hours. Walk-ins welcome!

In partnership with Curated Storefront.

Image description: Ceramic jug in the shape of a face with a confused expression. Words around the jug read: Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders. Free film screening, tours. Today 3-7pm.

03/10/2022

Only a few more days left to see Pioneer Winter’s Birds of Paradise before it closes. This multimedia exhibit, developed in collaboration with The National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron, celebrates the enduring nature of queer & marginalized people through choreography.

Visit today through Saturday, 11am – 4pm: https://uakron.edu/chp/whats-on/birds-of-paradise

[Image descriptions:
1: A gallery space with white walls. Banners are hung each displaying a dancer in motion in front of a black background. A television near the banners displays a video of one dancer, with headphones hanging below the screen.
2: A banner hanging on a gallery wall, depicting a dancer wearing a yellow flowing dress. Their arms are outstretched downward to either side.]

03/09/2022

Time is running out to reserve your FREE tickets for this Friday's mockumentary film screening and guided tour of Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders! Get a sneak peek at the film below, then RSVP online for the Kaolithic extravaganza.

Brought to Akron by Curated Storefront. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/exhibit-reception-clayton-baileys-world-of-wonders-tickets-264452463437

03/08/2022

This International Women's Day we celebrate those who carved new paths, led the way, spoke up, and spoke out. Who has inspired you?

Image description: Collage of postcards featuring photographs of women.
1st Row: Dorothy Dandridge, Barbara Fritchie, Queen Elizabeth II, Carrie Fisher, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Temple, Annie Oakley, Michelle Obama, and Calamity Jane.
2nd Row: Bettie Davis, Amelia Earhart, Georgia O’Keeffe, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, Frida Kahlo, and Hillary Clinton.
3rd Row: Mama Hale, The Supremes, Audrey Hepburn, Dolly Parton, and Julia Morgan.
4th Row: Eleanor Roosevelt, Elizabeth Ryan, and Mildred “Babe” Didrikson.

#ArchivesHashtagParty #ArchivesTrailblazers #InternationalWomensDay

03/04/2022

What secrets lay buried in the sand?

Just one week until our mockumentary film screening and evening tour of Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders. RSVP now to explore the mysteries of Bigfoot on Friday, Mar. 11: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/exhibit-reception-clayton-baileys-world-of-wonders-tickets-264452463437

[Image description:
An exaggerated ribcage and skull in a pit of sand located in the center of a museum exhibit. On the surrounding walls are surreal ceramic artworks and signage, including a large banner that says “Breaks the Bone Barrier”]

Curated Storefront

03/03/2022

Only a few more days to see “The Art of Claire Heldman: Lakota Wiá” before it closes this weekend. The exhibit honors Claire’s mother through unique handcrafted pieces of cultural and artistic significance.

Claire Heldman was named Artist of the Year by the Ohio Arts Council in 2004, and her work is featured in the Governor’s Multicultural Gallery in Columbus. https://uakron.edu/chp/whats-on/lakota-wia

[Image descriptions:
1: Colorful beaded jewelry in a glass museum display case. Necklaces, charms, earrings, and other accessories are displayed on a red background.
2: A small silver statue of a Native American man seated on a horse, holding one hand up to his forehead. Black and white paintings of Native American people are displayed on the wall behind the statue.]

03/01/2022

What's Race Got to Do With It: A Native American Perspective

Dr. BlueEye's talk, "What's Race Got to Do With It: A Native American Perspective", is beginning now.

You can access the livestream of Dr. BlueEye's talk via our YouTube channel, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Pg9cXk64c

Join us on March 1 at 6:00pm ET for a conversation with Dr. LaDonna BlueEye of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Dr. BlueEye will discuss her family's history,...

02/23/2022

Looking for something fun to do tonight? Join our guided "dig" through the oldest postcards in the David P. Campbell Collection from 6-7pm.

Details and RSVP at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/guided-dig-into-postcard-history-tickets-272968685687

Image description: Collage of postcards. The two most prominently visible show a postmark from Norfolk, VA dated Feb 25, 1907 and a wooden pier with two people standing high above a beach.

02/22/2022

Rise of the Kaolithic Creatures! 😱

We’ve rescheduled our mockumentary screening & guided tour of Clayton Bailey’s World of Wonders. Register now to witness this shocking, unbelievable, inconceivable event on Friday, March 11th. Brought to Akron by Curated Storefront. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/exhibit-reception-clayton-baileys-world-of-wonders-tickets-264452463437

[Image description:
A display of ceramic creations, including a horned skull, a large, deformed jug with a skull and crossbones symbol, and a pink veiny creature with a wide gaping mouth.]