The opening of two spring exhibitions and the closing of a third highlight student research at the Wright Museum.

Strange Light is curated by Jennifer Putman’18, an anthropology major and museum studies minor. Following a year of research and proposing several new museum acquisitions, Jennifer built a show that highlights the beginnings and current trends in floral radiography. The exhibition engages a cross-disciplinary conversation by juxtaposing the works from those who self-identify as artists with others who identify with the medical field. At the opening reception on Feb.12, Jennifer and featured artist Bryan Whitney of New York talked about the history and the art. The show is on view in the Neese Gallery until March 11.

In celebration of Chinese New Year, the Wright is hosting Traveling Gods of Wealth. This exhibition features a collection of Chinese New Year’s prints held in the State Museum of the History of Religion, St. Petersburg. The collection was curated by Professor Yu-chun Yang of National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan. This semester students from Chinese Language and Literature Professor Daniel Youd’s “Translation as Writing” class have produced English translations of the Chinese exhibition text and have been challenged to explain Chinese language puns and cultural references. There will a reception for the show on Friday, Feb. 23, 12:30 p.m.Traveling Gods is on view until March 23.

Finally, Preparing for the “Bright Future”: Soviet Youth Culture, 1917-1991, remains on view until Feb. 28. This show was curated by students from Donna Oliver’s Russian Studies 260 class. Through propaganda posters, photos, and postcards, Preparing for the “Bright Future” traces the history of Soviet youth culture by presenting an idealized picture of the young people who would be the standard bearers of the Soviet state’s “bright future.” The exhibition includes a number of new acquisitions made by Oliver, the 2017 Parker Faculty Curator.

To learn how you can use the Wright’s collection in your class, please contact Christa Story, collections manager and exhibitions coordinator.