Every few years the Museum mounts a “curators’ choice” exhibition that showcases items from the vault; many of these items have not been on view for some time. This format allows the staff to conduct research that provides new context to collection objects. Resonance and Wonder is comprised of seven vignette exhibitions developed by members of our Curatorial Committee: Caroline Brooks, Andrew John Cecil, Ellen Moore, Stacie Petersen, Laurie Rufe, Candace Jordan Russell, and Mike Van Raes.

Each member of the team was challenged to develop a unique thematic approach based on an aspect of the collection. This is the first time that the Research Library has been included in a “curators’ choice” exhibition and Candace Jordan Russell has developed her vignette based on the archives of three creative couples: Howard Cook and Barbara Latham, Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth, and Robert and Esther Goddard. Mike Van Raes pays homage to artist Richard Thompson and a body of work that relates to the immigrant-pilgrim experience. Andrew John Cecil presents an analysis of selected artists that utilize the landscape “as a vehicle for their own iconoclastic interpretation of the natural and historical environment . . . .” Caroline Brooks tackles the “Poetics of Space,” using the house as a metaphor for the complexities of being human. Stacie Petersen has selected the medium of block printing to investigate the drama of landscapes and cityscapes. Ellen Moore’s vignette examines texture and surface—real and implied. Laurie Rufe concentrates on historic and contemporary portrayals of the horse—an icon in art history and a vital force in the evolution of mankind.

This exhibition contains works by Stuart Arends, Richard Artschwager, Gustave Baumann, Harrison Begay, Bessie Blackwater, Howard Cook, Daisy Craddock, Randall Davey, Jorge Fick, Laura Gilpin, Joe Grant, James Havard, Robert Jessup, Luis Jimenez, Barbara Latham, Eli Levin, Diane Marsh, Willard Midgette, Peter Moran, B.J.O. Nordfeldt, Louis Ribak, Richard Thompson, and others.