HWS News
26 July 2024 Vargas García ’24 Curates Davis Gallery Exhibit
Román Vargas García ’24 gains practical experience by curating an exhibit for the HWS community.
As part of a capstone project for their critical museum studies minor, Román Vargas García ’24 curated an exhibit at the Davis Gallery at Houghton House titled, “Ixim Ulew: From Creation to Heritage.”
“The goal of the exhibition was to educate audiences about pre-colonial artifacts in the HWS Art Collection. This period often gets overlooked. I hope that my efforts educated people about this period and showed them that it is still very much alive today,” Vargas García says.
Out of 17 objects in total housed in the HWS Art Collection that are from the pre-colonial period and based in the Mesoamerican region, Vargas García selected 7 for the final exhibit.
The exhibition’s title, Ixim Ulew, means "hard earth," and references the clay cutural objects comprising the exhibit.
“Only one of these objects were previously shown to the public,” Vargas García discovered while researching the history of the HWS Art Collection.
As for why Vargas García selected the final pieces, they said, “I wanted them to be known together for telling a great story. I wanted to display examples of different types of polychrome pottery, cultural practices and traditions, such as the Mesoamerican Ballgame and its iterations, ancestor worship through the making of small figurines that emulate their spirit, and their belief systems that show to be part of a greater continuum by means of such practices still being done today by indigenous people of Mesoamerica.”
Vargas García’s collaborators during the exhibition process included Associate Professor of Art and Architecture Angelique Szymanek, Clarence A. Davis ’48 Visual Arts Curator Meghan Jordan and photographer Kevin Colton.
“The opportunity to work closely with Román on this project was a privilege," Szymanek says. "His proactive approach to learning about these objects and their historical contexts displayed a level of skill that will serve Román very well in his future endeavors. It has been inspiring to witness a student work so hard on a project about which they clearly cared deeply.”
Guided by his mentors, Vargas García learned how to use HWS PastPerfect management website, procedures for handling and transporting artifacts, various skills related to designing the exhibition space – including painting and leveling pedestals, mounting objects, labels and posters – and how to photograph the exhibition.
Vargas García earned a B.A. in art history with a double minor in history and critical museum studies. On campus, they served as an exhibition coordinator for the Provenzano Student Art Gallery. Located in the Scandling Campus Center, the space showcases student artwork in the heart of campus.
