C H I P S T O N E
Research is at the core of Chipstone’s exhibitions, publications, outreach,
teaching initiatives.
teaching initiatives.
Ongoing Research Projects
The Dave Project: Exploring African-American Material Culture
For more than a decade the Chipstone Foundation has pursued topics
related to African-American material culture, a topic often left out of
American art museum exhibitions and decorative arts galleries. The Dave
Project: Exploring African-American Material Culture reflects this
institutional commitment. The title refers to the Foundation’s ongoing work
on David Drake, an enslaved potter who inscribed his monumental jars with
couplets. Research and exhibitions on Dave the Potter, Thomas Day, John
Hemings, the enslaved makers of Southern face vessels, and other African-
American artists and craftspeople reveal compelling American stories that
belong in museums, schools, and in art historical and historical scholarship.
Many of the African-American artisans who created items in museum
collections are anonymous. The Chipstone Foundation studies and shares
the objects they created, from face jugs to fine furniture, to tell their
stories.
related to African-American material culture, a topic often left out of
American art museum exhibitions and decorative arts galleries. The Dave
Project: Exploring African-American Material Culture reflects this
institutional commitment. The title refers to the Foundation’s ongoing work
on David Drake, an enslaved potter who inscribed his monumental jars with
couplets. Research and exhibitions on Dave the Potter, Thomas Day, John
Hemings, the enslaved makers of Southern face vessels, and other African-
American artists and craftspeople reveal compelling American stories that
belong in museums, schools, and in art historical and historical scholarship.
Many of the African-American artisans who created items in museum
collections are anonymous. The Chipstone Foundation studies and shares
the objects they created, from face jugs to fine furniture, to tell their
stories.
Project Chip-Lit: Material Culture and Literature
Project Chip-Lit: Material Culture and Literature explores intersections
between the object-based fields of material culture and the decorative arts
and a wide range of American and British literary texts. It asks two key
questions. How can literary references to material things transform the
meanings of objects in museum collections? A literary approach to object
study explains how objects were used, exchanged, remembered, and
interpreted over time. Literary portrayals of the material enrich our
understanding of historical design and object aesthetics and may suggest
new approaches to museum curation. How can a deeper understanding of
the material things described in literary texts enhance one’s understanding
of those texts? An anthropological approach to historical objects and their
materiality can help us better understand their literary role as sociocultural
and political symbols. Object study may uncover the ritual or metaphorical
mechanisms of object functions in texts, as students have the chance to
study the objects mentioned. An expanding series of Project Chip-Lit lesson
plans, short essays, and videos model the interpretative potential of the
relationship between things and texts. The collaborative team includes
Sarah Carter at Chipstone, Jamie Jones at Michigan and MengRuo Yang an
independent scholar.
between the object-based fields of material culture and the decorative arts
and a wide range of American and British literary texts. It asks two key
questions. How can literary references to material things transform the
meanings of objects in museum collections? A literary approach to object
study explains how objects were used, exchanged, remembered, and
interpreted over time. Literary portrayals of the material enrich our
understanding of historical design and object aesthetics and may suggest
new approaches to museum curation. How can a deeper understanding of
the material things described in literary texts enhance one’s understanding
of those texts? An anthropological approach to historical objects and their
materiality can help us better understand their literary role as sociocultural
and political symbols. Object study may uncover the ritual or metaphorical
mechanisms of object functions in texts, as students have the chance to
study the objects mentioned. An expanding series of Project Chip-Lit lesson
plans, short essays, and videos model the interpretative potential of the
relationship between things and texts. The collaborative team includes
Sarah Carter at Chipstone, Jamie Jones at Michigan and MengRuo Yang an
independent scholar.
Object Lessons: Finding Information in Things
Material culture and the study of decorative arts are predicated on the
notion that information may be drawn from the close examination of
material things. Object Lessons: Finding Information in Things is a
historical and pedagogical project that developed out of Sarah Carter’s
book project on the history of object lessons. The project encompasses the
development of a methodology that helps students advance interpretations
of material things rooted in physical evidence and encompassing both
metaphor and historical context. These videos suggest how a Chipstone
Object Lesson may unfold.
notion that information may be drawn from the close examination of
material things. Object Lessons: Finding Information in Things is a
historical and pedagogical project that developed out of Sarah Carter’s
book project on the history of object lessons. The project encompasses the
development of a methodology that helps students advance interpretations
of material things rooted in physical evidence and encompassing both
metaphor and historical context. These videos suggest how a Chipstone
Object Lesson may unfold.
The Dave Project
The Dave Publication
The Dave Publication
Dave Videos on Artbabble
Object Lessons: Finding
Information in Things videos
Information in Things videos