A panel consisting of prominent alumni in the art field took place at the Rose Art Museum yesterday in an effort to reflect on the rich heritage of the Rose and the influence the museum has had on the students who have studied there, Prof. Nancy Scott (FA), who introduced the panelists, explained at the event.Gary Tinterow '76, Kim Rorschach '78, Reva Wolf '78, Andrea Aronson Morgan '80 and Karen Chernick '06 discussed the impact of the Rose on their educational experiences and careers at the panel discussion titled "Education Matters in the Museum," which took place yesterday and was held at the Rose.

The event was co-sponsored by the Rose and the Fine Arts department; it was organized by a student committee consisting of Andrea Fineman '10, Nera Lerner '12, Stella Liberman '09, Maarit Ostrow '11, Julia Sferlazzo '09 and Aly Young '09.

Michael Rush, the director of the Rose, said in his opening remarks preceding the panel that this event showed "that the Rose is still very much alive." He encouraged the audience members to hold out hope that the museum will remain open. "It's not over until it's over," he said.

Rush condemned the administration for its lack of communication with the museum staff. "I've learned a lot about what leadership is and what it isn't," he said, adding that "[University President Jehuda Reinharz] has not been to the museum since Jan. 26. That is not leadership. That is hiding."

Tinterow, now the Engelhard chairman of the department of the 19th Century, Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum, said during the panel discussion that it breaks his heart to think the museum might close, and that working at the museum while he attended Brandeis played a formative role in his career choice.

"It was the very nature of the Rose's collection that attracted me as a student and inspired me to study art," he said.

Rorschach, the Mary D.B.T and James H. Semans director of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, said, "the Rose Art Museum made me who I am today. I would not have had the career I have without the Rose." She emphasized that the Rose is vital to Brandeis' reputation, explaining that "the Rose Art Museum is core to the brand of Brandeis University in the broader world in the sense that many people associate the University with the museum," and called on the University for greater transparency in regards to the University's financial state.

Wolf, now a professor of art history at State University of New York at New Paltz, spoke about how her teaching style today is rooted in her hands-on experience at the Rose, explaining that she ensures her students have extensive interactions with museum exhibits.

Wolf also said that she began to cry when she read the headline in The New York Times Jan. 27 that Brandeis was planning to close the Rose. "The Rose was at the center of my undergraduate education. I took for granted how special the museum is until Jan. 26," she said.

Morgan, the associate director of Institutional Giving at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, said she was attracted to Brandeis both because of the University's emphasis on social justice and its valuable art collection. She said that she believes art ensures civic engagement and that she sincerely hopes the museum can remain open to the public.

Like Wolf, Morgan said that she also became very emotional after the University's announcement to close the museum, explaining that "the idea that a student would come to Brandeis without experiencing the Rose was a chilling thought."

The final panelist to present, Chernick spoke about her experiences working at the Rose as a student at Brandeis. Chernick was a recipient of the STARR internship, an endowed internship at the Rose that is currently underwater like many endowments.

Chernick is currently a Ph.D. student at the insititute of Fine Arts at New York University. Scott said prior to Chernick's presentation that she wanted her to be a member of the panel because she "most closely represents the oppurtunities our students have enjoyed over the years and the possibilities of future students." Chernick said in an interview with the Justice after the panel that she encouraged students to take advantage of the Rose's collection.

-Hannah Kirsch contributed

reporting



Editor's Note: Andrea Fineman is the managing editor for the Justice.