THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES
RURIC AND MARY ROARK DISTINGUISHED LECTURE
("THE ROARK LECTURE")
The Roark Lecture is an annual recognition and presentation that showcases excellence in scholarship by a faculty member in the College of Arts & Sciences at Eastern Kentucky University. As such, the Lecture offers both support and reward for distinguished work.
The Roark Lecture, established through the generosity of an anonymous donor, honors a significant contribution, whether in the scholarship of discovery (including creative works), integration, application, or teaching. In addition, The Lecture provides an opportunity each spring for a faculty member to present that scholarship to the University community in a self-selected format.
The award consists of $1000 to support both the presentation and continued scholarly/creative endeavor by the recipient. No portion of the award may be applied to salary.
The Roark Lecture is named after the University's first president (1906-1909) and his wife, who later served as Acting President (1909-1910).
Congratulations to the 2008 recipient of the Roark Lecture Series,
Professor Marianne Ramsey,
Department of Art & Design
The Lecture, entitled:
"Early Kentucky Furniture & the Artistry of Inlaid Decoration"
will be presented on:
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Walnut Hall, Keen Johnson Building
Reception begins at 6:30 p.m.
Lecture begins at 7:15 p.m. followed by a question and answer session
Abstract
In 1949, at the prestigious Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum, a prominent scholar claimed: “little of artistic merit was made south of Baltimore.” A Kentuckian in the audience that day inquired of the speaker, then curator for the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whether he had spoken from “prejudice or ignorance.” Their exchange challenged widely held notions that Southern decorative arts lacked the aesthetic qualities of objects produced elsewhere in the country. This lecture will dispute inaccurate perceptions regarding the artistry of Kentucky furniture by presenting a visual survey of stunningly beautiful, inlaid furniture produced during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early Kentuckians desired furniture that was not only functional, but that also displayed their social status and economic power. This presentation highlights recently discovered examples, as well as rare and fine, inlaid furniture. The talk will also introduce the investigative methods required to attribute furniture to particular craftsmen and regions.
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