The Making of Objects of Ceremony

This exhibition explores ceremony as a vital creative impulse expressed in remarkably diverse ways that reflect the emotional power of objects. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “ceremony” as “an outward rite or observance, religious or held sacred; the performance of some solemn act according to prescribed form.” Drawing upon collections at the Muscarelle Museum of Art, Swem Library, and elsewhere around William & Mary, the exhibition is organized in four nonsequential sections: Endings as Beginnings, Rituals in Repetition, Elevating the Everyday, and Considering Color. It includes paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and three-dimensional artifacts produced during the past two centuries.