Decor ative Arts

Regionalism to Ethnicity: Explorations in Backcountry Material Culture

July 6 - July 31

The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts

Winston-Salem, NC

MESDA's 2009 Summer Institute explores the material culture of the early
Southern backcountry through the lens of the ethnic groups that defined
its regional styles. Focusing on the piedmont and western regions of
Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia, as well as
Tennessee and Kentucky, the program's month-long curriculum includes
lectures, discussions, workshops, artifact studies, research projects,
and study trips to private and public collections. This year's visiting
scholar is Dr. Susan Kern, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Lion G.
Tyler Department of History, the College of William and Mary.

In addition to Dr. Kern, guest lecturers include: Barbara G. Carson, an
independent scholar in American material culture; Warren R. Hofstra, the
Stewart Bell Professor of History, Shenandoah University; Ann Smart
Martin, the Stanley and Polly Stone Professor, Department of Art
History, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Louis Nelson, Associate
Professor, Architectural History, the University of Virginia; Sumpter
Priddy, proprietor of Sumpter Priddy, III, Inc., Fine Arts and American
Antiques, Alexandria, Virginia; Kathleen Staples, independent textile
Scholar; and many others.

MESDA Summer Institute is a partnership between the Museum of Early
Southern Decorative Arts and the University of Virginia's Graduate
Program in the History of Art and Architecture. Students receive three
hours of graduate credit through the University of Virginia

For more information - and an application - visit the 2009 Summer Institute
website: http://www.oldsalem.org/index.php?id=282

Or contact Sally Gant at SGantoldsalem.org / 336-721-7361