3RD ANNUAL EMERGING SCHOLARS COLLOQUIUM
Thursday, May 13, 12:30 p.m. • Virtual Zoom Webinar
Advance registration required
In conjunction with The Decorative Arts Trust, we are pleased to
offer our third annual Colloquium featuring students and young
professionals in the fields of decorative arts and historic
preservation. Join us virtually for this speaker series featuring new
research by young scholars. For more information, contact programrsvp@newportmansions.org.
Schedule
12:30 PM
Welcome from Trudy Coxe, CEO and Executive Director, The Preservation Society of Newport County
12:35 PM
Remarks from Matthew Thurlow, Executive Director, Decorative Arts Trust
12:40-1:10 PM: SESSION 1
Interpreting Hunter House and its Occupants
MaryKate Smolenski, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 Research Fellow;
Moderator: Ken Turino, Manager of Community Partnerships and Resource Development, Historic New England
Q/A: MaryKate Smolenski and Ken Turino, 1:10-1:20 PM
1:20-1:50 PM: SESSION 2
Beyond Rhode Island: Newport Craft in the Circum-Atlantic World
Catherine Doucette, 2020-2021 Research Fellow;
Moderator: Elizabeth St. George, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts, Brooklyn Museum of Art
Q/A: Catherine Doucette and Elizabeth St. George, 1:50-2:00 PM
2:00-2:30 PM: SESSION 3
An Ogden Codman Original: Exploring and Interpreting the Third Floor at The Breakers
Sébastien Dutton, 2020 PSNC Research Fellow;
Moderator: Leslie B. Jones, Director of Museum Affairs and Chief Curator, The Preservation Society of Newport County
Q/A: Sébastien Dutton and Leslie B. Jones, 2:30-2:40 PM
Brief Closing Remarks
Abstracts & Bios
MaryKate Smolenski, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 Research Fellow, The Preservation Society of Newport County
Interpreting Hunter House and its Occupants
Abstract:
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Hunter House, built c. 1748, has long served as a symbolic landmark of Newport’s so-called golden age; commemorating aspects of American refinement, architecture, and artistic splendor enjoyed by white, male, property-owners. This presentation will examine past interpretations but dig deeper into the history behind the house, its occupants, and its objects. New research sheds light on who lived at Hunter House and the site’s entanglement in trans-Atlantic slavery, but this talk will also explore how we interpret these histories moving forward.
Bio:
MaryKate Smolenski earned her MA in History and Museum Studies from Tufts University and studies the British Atlantic World with a particular interest in female Loyalists. In the past, she has worked with the GWU Museum and the Textile Museum, the Cambridge Historical Society, and the Newport Historical Society. In 2020, she co-founded the Coalition of Master’s Scholars on Material Culture, an online platform that shares the work of emerging material culture scholars. MaryKate began working for the Preservation Society of Newport County over seven years ago as a seasonal tour guide and now serves as a research fellow working on the re-interpretation of eighteenth-century Hunter House.
Moderator: Ken Turino, Manager of Community Partnerships and Resource Development, Historic New England
Catherine Doucette, 2020-2021 Research Fellow, The Preservation Society of Newport County
Beyond Rhode Island: Newport Craft in the Circum-Atlantic World
Abstract:
During the eighteenth century, Newport, RI played a prominent role in the circum-Atlantic trade of enslaved peoples, raw materials, and consumer goods. Overseas trade networks enabled the swift exchange of raw materials such as pewter, timber, and silver from colonial ports across the Atlantic basin. These dynamic networks – by no means a linear trans-Atlantic movement of materials, ideas, and peoples – also supported the trade of objects made locally in Newport to colonies such as Jamaica and Antigua. This talk will situate Newport craft within the circum-Atlantic world, examining the interchange of materials and objects between Rhode Island, Britain, and the circum-Caribbean during the eighteenth century.
Bio:
Catherine Doucette earned her Master’s degree in the History of Art from The Courtauld Institute of Art. Her research explores the material cultures that developed between the Americas, West Africa, and Britain during the eighteenth century, with a particular interest in the craft of colonial Jamaica. Previously, Catherine interned in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she provided supporting research for the new installation of the British Decorative Arts and Sculpture galleries. Catherine has also held internships at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Catherine is currently a Research Fellow at The Preservation Society of Newport County, working on the reinterpretation of Hunter House.
Moderator: Elizabeth St. George, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts, Brooklyn Museum of Art
Sébastien Dutton, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 Research Fellow, The Preservation Society of Newport County
An Ogden Codman Original: Exploring and Interpreting the Third Floor at The Breakers
Abstract:
Using documents, drawings, and paintings found in various institutional archives, an understanding of Ogden Codman’s design work on the third-floor of The Breakers is finally being realized. Largely untouched since its completion in 1895 and used exclusively by Vanderbilt family descendants until 2018, this unique space is soon to be open to the public for the first time by way of a specialty tour. Sébastien will share how the nine bedroom spaces – plus bathrooms, dressing rooms and closets – were originally designed by Codman versus as-built, as well as how they appear today. Sébastien and Leslie will share the tour-design process and how the original Ogden Codman drawings and watercolors have helped inform decisions along the way.
Bio:
Sébastien Dutton earned his Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Oklahoma Baptist University. His studies focused on Business Administration and French language. In May 2019, he received his Master of Arts in Historic Preservation from Boston Architectural College, where he focused his studies on Gilded Age America. He has interned with the Curator of Collections at Shelburne Farms and has received three consecutive scholarships to attend the Newport Symposium. He’s previously spoken at The Decorative Arts Trust Emerging Scholars Colloquium in 2020 and during the Preservation Society’s Spring Lecture Series about the use of decorative door hardware at The Breakers. He is currently working on digitally mapping the interiors of the Preservation Society’s historic properties and researching the third floor of The Breakers.
Moderator: Leslie B. Jones, Director of Museum Affairs and Chief Curator, The Preservation Society of Newport County