By Kara Jefts
A new exhibition, “Object Lessons: Lines, Place, Persuasion,” makes public the often-hidden work of classes that use the Plattsburgh State Art Museum, PSAM, collection in their course work. This display, installed in the Slatkin Gallery on the second floor of the Myers Fine Arts Building, is operating as a working laboratory for courses in Environmental Science, Anthropology and Visual Arts.
As part of an invested effort to ensure students have access to the PSAM collection for study across academic disciplines, museum staff have been working to offer the opportunity for collections class visits to faculty. Through several informational events held for faculty and through curatorial opportunities open to the campus community such as Gather and Curate, held at the end of the fall semester, the campus community is starting to catch on.
Collections class visits, commonly held in the Fishbowl, the conference room in the Myers Fine Arts building, have increased by 200% from fall of 2024 to fall of 2025. PSAM hosted 31 collections class visits last fall semester, resulting in 550 student visits to view approximately 150 artworks that were brought out of storage for individual class sessions.
Though community interest in teaching with the museum is marked by significant growth, the visibility of how the museum collection circulates for teaching is not easily noticed since it is behind classroom doors. The exhibition in the Slatkin Gallery helps make the process visible to the public, bringing together objects used in classes on mapping, Tibetan culture and graphic design.
Altogether there are 15 works on display. Some highlights include Tibetan thangkas that demonstrate a Buddhist painting tradition that originated in the 11th century; 18th century maps of Lake Champlain and North America; and propaganda posters from the mid-20th century that highlight topics from immigration rights to the spread of fascism.
A lunchtime reception will be held Friday February 27th from 12:00-2:00. The Slatkin Gallery is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The exhibition, “Object Lessons: Lines, Place, Persuasion,” will run through May 15th. More information can be found on the Plattsburgh State Art Museum web page.
