The Big Picture: Stewarding Artists’ Legacies (FWT Course) (VA4406.01)

Elizabeth White

What forces and individuals contribute to shaping an artist’s legacy? What happens to all of the objects, materials, and correspondence that artists create during their lifetime? What is a catalogue raisonné?

This one-credit module will introduce students to the nascent field of artist-endowed foundations, and invite the consideration of philosophical and creative questions, while simultaneously offering practical knowledge applicable to future professional opportunities.

Readings will include selections from the recent publications Artist, Authorship, and Legacy and Creative Legacies: Artist’s Estates and Foundations, and guest speakers from the field will address such themes as

  • Authorship and authority
  • Value and valuation, markets and collecting
  • The development, maintenance, and use of archives
  • Bringing historical art into dialogue with contemporary culture
  • The artist and their work in relationship to assistants, curators, historians, archivists, gallerists, and collectors
  • The roles that exhibitions, sales, institutional placements, research, writing, publication, and philanthropy play in shaping an artist’s legacy

This course will be conducted remotely over Field Work Term, using both synchronous and asynchronous methods. Synchronous meeting times will be determined in consultation with the enrolled students.

This course will appear on your spring schedule and your spring tuition will cover the cost of the course. Students who complete the course but do not, for whatever reason, enroll in the spring 2022 term will be billed for the course based on the per credit tuition fee ($2300)Students must be enrolled in at least 13 credits (inclusive of this course) for the spring term. This is a credit bearing course and therefore cannot count towards the hourly requirements for Field Work Term. FWT requirements are the priority and any conflicts with the synchronous portions of this course will mean that one is not eligible to take the course.


Learning Outcomes:
In this course, students will:
-Inquire into the forces and individuals that contribute to shaping an artist’s legacy
-Research their own questions in relation to the themes of the course
-Engage with their peers and with professionals in the field of artist-endowed foundations
-Communicate effectively through speaking, listening, and writing




Delivery Method: Remotely accessible
Prerequisites: Interested students should email Liz White at ewhite@bennington.edu. Determination will be given based on a statement of interest and evidence of prior academic preparation.
Course Level: 4000-level
Credits: 1
TBA ()
Maximum Enrollment: 12
Course Frequency: One time only

Categories: All courses , Remotely Accessible , Visual Arts (VA)
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