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| March 2004
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| CAMPUS
NEWS |
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| Celebrated Arts Critic Joins Katzen Arts Center
“I think it can be an unbelievable cultural asset to Washington itself as well as to the university,” Rose said of the Katzen Center as she settles into her new office at the Battelle-Tompkins building. Rose, who arrived on campus in mid-March, will be busy planning for the opening of the gallery and the first exhibits. The highly regarded art historian and critic first came to attention as an observer of the kaleidoscopic New York art scene of the 1960s, where the funky irreverence of pop art vied for attention with the austere abstractions of minimalism. Rose has long split her time between New York City and Europe, but links with her hometown of Washington led her to AU in the 1990s. She was instrumental in founding the Art in Italy program, now part of AU Abroad, and over the past decade has taught art history seminars here and in Corciano, Italy. She has curated numerous major exhibitions, such as the 2002 Larry Rivers retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery of Art; taught and lectured throughout the United States and Europe; and authored more than 20 books, including American Art Since 1900, a standard text on many art history syllabi. Washington, she said, is coming into its own in the arts, and the Katzen Center is both a demonstration of that maturity and an opportunity for AU to take a leading role. “I like the idea that I can contribute to Washington growing up,” she said. “As someone who was born here, grew up here and fled—fled, literally—the idea that it can be a livable city with its own institutions and not just a transient way station to somewhere else is very exciting.” She’s also enthusiastic about AU’s art program. “The kids who’ve come out of there are simply amazing,” said Rose, who compares the program’s philosophy to the rigorous tradition of Hans Hoffman’s New York Studio School. “There’s so much variety. There’s no cookie cutter ideology, like, ‘Go out there and be a conceptual artist.’ The [AU] MFA is an alternative to what art schools have turned into, which is careerism.” Above all, she said, “I’m convinced President Ladner has a vision, and this university is going somewhere. I’m interested in places that are changing and growing and have a positive point of view. I think it’s an exciting moment, for Washington and AU.” -Sally
Acharya |
Barbara
Rose describes herself as a “hometown girl, coming home.”
One of the world’s foremost authorities on contemporary art, she
has now been named the founding director of the American University Art
Museum in the