This is the project description that I sent to members of the Academy community, attached to an email inviting them to schedule an interview time with me:

3 October, 2009
Member of the Academy Community:

My name is Linda Duke and I am an Affiliate Fellow in residence at the Academy for four weeks, Sept. 28-Oct. 26, 2009. Back home, I serve as Director of Education at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. While in residence in Rome, I hope to collect from members of the Academy community descriptions of and reflections on their recent aesthetic experiences – with works of art, architecture and other design arts, gardens and thoughtfully-prepared food.

View from AAR balcony

Volunteers will be invited to speak or write about whichever experiences they choose and may participate as many times as they wish. There are precedents for using language as a window into the types of thinking that are engaged (see below). In this project, it will be important to capture participants’ actual words, via audio recording or in written form. My interest is in examining what commonalities of critical and aesthetic thought might be found across the domains of art, design and culinary art.

If such commonalities can be documented, the implications for educators in any of the three areas would be significant. They would indicate that experiences with the tastes, textures, aromas and appearances of food – experiences that are commonly enjoyed – could be used as an entry point for expanding young people’s capacities for noticing, describing and other activities and mental habits that are fundamental to appreciating art and design. Noticing, wondering, savoring – these mental activities slow us down and put our full attention in the present moment, connect our senses and emotions, and often prompt us to make links to related knowledge from past experiences. Engagement with the arts both fosters and requires these activities. So does the enjoyment of real food, the kind of food that nourishes body and spirit with its sensual beauty. Rich or poor, urban or rural, people, including school children, enjoy food. I hope the data I collect might provide an argument for educators to more often exploit the use of language – in discussion and writing  – related to direct, personal experiences with art, design and food to enhance aesthetic development and awareness. I anticipate writing one or more articles describing what I learn in this project.

AAR Pranza

A well-known model for using discussion and writing to support aesthetic growth and development related to viewing works of art is Visual Thinking Strategies, or VTS, a discussion-based approach to teaching in museum galleries, a professional development program for classroom teachers, and an image curriculum based on the research of psychologist Abigail Housen. VTS is the basis of the IMA’s highly regarded Viewfinders program in several Central Indiana school districts. In her basic research, Housen has demonstrated that language can be used as a kind of window into thinking and, therefore, into the changes in thinking that occur with aesthetic growth. Housen and others have shown that VTS supports aesthetic development in controlled studies. She has also demonstrated that aesthetic thought can be shown to overlap with what is more generally called critical and creative thought. This makes the implications of a program such as VTS, as well as the promotion of aesthetic development itself, important for educators very broadly, beyond the disciplines of art or art history. If aesthetic development is very similar – if not identical – to the development of critical and agile thinking in any field or arena, then the term “aesthetic” is due for a make-over. Instead of referring to something effete and impractical, it may be understood to be an essential aspect of human consciousness and creativity.

For my Academy project, I imagine applying some of the same techniques for gathering language that Housen has developed, expanding them to elicit language describing experiences in the three arenas. With nearly 20 years of professional experience in facilitating discussions about art, I look forward to exploring the potential for fostering discussions of the three arenas (art, design, food) with the Academy residents. I hope that the raw data I collect – the recorded interviews and discussions – might be of interest to others who have the scientific training to analyze them through the lenses of linguistic anthropology and developmental psychology. I am currently seeking collaborators who might play this role. Developmental psychologist Karin DeSantis has agreed to review the material. I hope to engage the assistance of a linguistic anthropologist as well. I imagine these specialists might look at language from several points of view. When and why do people pull terms from other domains? For example, when is it helpful or even necessary to describe a painting’s colors as luscious, a building’s roofline as inspiring, or a pastry crust as heartbreakingly flaky? Do these kinds of appropriations occur more often when people have more or different kinds of experience with art, design or food?

Chefs in AAR

A few words about the usefulness of initiating this project at the American Academy are in order. A quick scan of the impressive list of scholars and artists who are in residence shows that this is a gathering of gifted and uniquely experienced people. So this project is not about collecting samples that would be considered “average” in any way. However, it is an opportunity to learn how much variation there might be between the kind of noticing, reflecting, and wondering an individual directs to an experience with a painting and a building, or a garden, or a seasonal dish. The Academy may afford the opportunity to gather data from individuals who have highly developed critical thinking skills in at least one arena, and to examine whether and how those show up in a non-specialty arena.

The fact that internationally renowned chef and food educator Alice Waters has recently helped the Academy overhaul its dining program is a plus (In Rome, the Academy Learns to Cook, by Elisabeth Rosenthal, NY Times, 3/15/09). That fact ensures that some of the residents will have noticed the quality of the produce and other foodstuffs brought in for meals, as well as the nuances of preparation and flavor juxtapositions. Back at the IMA, educators have been considering opportunities to partner with that organization’s new food provider, Nourish Café.  They’d like to experiment with educational programs that might link thoughtful sensory experiences with food to thoughtful experiences with works of visual art. For me, the opportunity to learn first hand about how a fellow arts organization, the American Academy in Rome, is pursuing this idea will be very useful and timely.

Thank you for your consideration.

Linda Duke
Director of Education, Indianapolis Museum of Art

A few days after sending this, I decided that some interviewees would feel more comfortable if I asked them to choose a picture to discuss. I paid a visit to the wonderful photo archive and was able to get digital images of Academy gardens, the historic Villa, works of art made by artist Fellows, and the nearby Tempietto of Bramante.

Bass and Kitchen Gardens at the Academy

I grateful to say that I have been able to record some wonderfully thoughtful interviews. One of the first was with Alexandra Vinciguerra, the master gardener who has restored all of the Academy’s gardens – the Bass Garden and kitchen gardens at the main building as well as the historic gardens of the Villa Aurelia just down the street. I’ve interviewed the master chefs and interns in the kitchen as they chopped and stirred. I’ve captured the thoughts of scholars about their work here. They talk about the buildings, paintings, music and ruins that have captivated them and sometimes drawn them into relationships lasting decades. The artists and musicians have also given me some astonishing and thought-provoking interviews – fueling my growing sense that our culture needs to better understand that range of aesthetic thinking and the role of the senses in understanding our world and lives. I started with a simple idea: collect samples of language people use to describe aesthetic experiences and see what similarities are found across domains of experience from the arts to design to food. I now feel I have material that begs to be looked from other angles as well.

September 30, 2009

This morning I went on an orientation tour of the library at the American Academy in Rome. It is a beautiful library, both conceptually and physically. Imagine sitting in small reading rooms next to wide open windows (no screens) that open onto idyllic Italian gardens. Imagine several floors of stacks that go down into a kind of crypt, and also those small, ladder-like circular stairways that lead to upper-level shelving. Imagine an aesthetic of contemporary simplicity and book preservation science in harmony with warm, traditional wooden desks and chairs. The cataloguing system is unique to the Academy, neither Dewey nor Library of Congress. The fellows and residents here have wonderfully generous access after they’ve taken the orientation tour.

Over lunch I listened in as experts in Classical, Medieval and Renaissance studies earnestly debated the reasonableness of the term Dark Ages. Is it useful to say that ancient Classical knowledge – about architecture, for example – was forgotten and then revived in the Renaissance? Later, after I had made as much progress as possible on my project, I set out on a long hike from the Academy’s perch on the Gianicolo hill – with a stop at Bramante’s Tempieto – down the stone steps and across the River Tiber to the Pantheon. If you never took a survey of art history course, you might not know that the Tempieto is a miniature Renaissance “classical” style building of elegant proportions designed by the architect Donato Bramante in 1499. The Pantheon, by contrast, is a large Roman temple originally built in 27 BC, then rebuilt around 120 AD. After the lunchtime conversation, it seemed fitting to visit one of the most famous examples of Renaissance architecture and the nearly 1,900-year-old domed structure that inspired its maker.

This evening (Wednesday) most of the Academy community attended a lecture by the organization’s President and CEO, Adele Chatfield-Taylor. It presented the “story” of the American Academy since its founding in 1894, through wars and many other challenges. Several parts of this story were especially affecting: the commitment to cross-disciplinary conversation, the struggles to quell objections from scholars to the inclusion of artists, and the decision to develop the Rome Sustainable Food Program. The last mentioned is a commitment to local, organic and seasonal food inspired by chef and food educator Alice Waters. In so many ways it is helping the Academy achieve it mission to enable creative communication and collaboration. Meals are now a complete delight! That means people want to “eat in” and to linger in long, enjoyable conversations. I’m tempted to start including detailed descriptions of meals in my blog posts! Let me cite the post-lecture dinner as an example. It began with a delicious and aromatic pasta dish with porcini mushrooms. A couple of us had special servings, made with rice-pasta – the kitchen happily accommodates all special diet needs! The pasta was followed by a delicious radicchio salad, then a course of fantastic broiled cheese. The dessert looked delicious, but I had to let it go. Tonight I’ll try to snap some photos!

October 1, 2009

Today offered an immersion in classical studies. After working with Marty on next steps for my project in the morning, I enjoyed an amazing slow-food lunch of tomato risotto and assorted vegetables before hurrying to a walking tour of Roman imperial sites led by antiquities scholar Corey Brennan. We jumped onto crowded city buses and rode down to the Palazzo Venezia. From there we walked to the Column of Marcus Aurelius. Corey had arranged permission for us to climb to the top (194 steps on a circular staircase just wide enough for human shoulders, only 5 people at a time). For anyone bothered by heights, the view from the top was overwhelming. From there we visited various ruins that articulated the Colosseum of Domitian, including the Piazza Navona, which retains the form of the giant track used for athletic events. Then on to the Pantheon, which I had visited the day before. In the crowd our group became separated. I eventually located 2 fellow tour members and we made our way back up to the Academy as night fell.

I had just enough time to clean up and join the Academy group in hosting a number of fellows from Harvard’s Villa I Tatti outside of Firenze (Florence) for dinner. The I Tatti folks deliberately spread out among the tables so that many of us could meet and talk. The dinner conversation was, as is usual here, fantastically enjoyable: A Hungarian scholar of NeoPlatonism, the director of the American School in Athens (not part of the I Tatti visit), and a filmmaker from the US were my conversation partners. At the end, to my surprise, I met a colleague from a museum at which I used to work. He and three others from I Tatti lingered to talk after the dinner. We enjoyed stories of the great art historian, Bernard Berenson, who gifted Villa I Tatti and his wonderful collections to Harvard. They urged me to visit the Villa during my stay – a train ride of less than three hours from Roma. What a day! I am ready for bed. PS this is a photo of the group converging in the dining room for lunch.

Sept. 26, 2009
Tomorrow I fly to Philadelphia; later that evening, I leave Philadelphia for Rome, Italy. The plan is for me to work on an interview project (more about that later) at the American Academy. This incredible opportunity is possible because the IMA is an institutional member of the Academy. That means the IMA is entitled to send a staff member for an Affiliate Residency of four weeks each year.

Tonight, after some fairly frantic days of preparation and with one whole suitcase full of voice recorders, cameras and various recharging and power adapting devices, the whole plan feels pretty fantastic and abstract. Someone just asked me where I’ll be at this time tomorrow night. I guess the answer is, “somewhere over the Atlantic.” Yikes! I’ll write again when I get to Rome.

from flickr user hum2000_8a

First week in Roma!
I am fascinated to observe the effects that linger here at the Academy from Alice Waters’ project. They call it the Rome Sustainable Food Project and it’s local, organic and seasonal. The dishes are simple and healthy – not rich. People who came to the Academy earlier in September describe an amazing phase of creations made from peppers and tomatoes as local gardens peaked. We seem to be in a radicchio and fennel stage now. Besides these I’ve already seen dishes with beets, onions, all sorts of peppers and tomatoes, those flat Italian green beans, carrots, potatoes, squashes of various types, and romaine. There’s always very good bread. Polenta, deliciously prepared, is a frequent vegetarian alternative when chicken or pork is served. Organic yogurt and honey with fruit is consistent for dessert at lunch, whereas dinner often concludes with an amazing baked confection or granite with cream.  One of Alice’s own from Chez Panisse, Mona Talbott, is the executive chef here and the creative force behind all of this, assisted by a talented staff and interns from several prestigious culinary schools. Mona seems to thoroughly enjoy the work. She stands nearby or sits with various diners to get their reactions during meals.

The communal lunches and dinners are amazing for conversation as well as for the food. It’s an unusual and talented group! I really find the people part very exciting. The subjects of mealtime conversations range wildly, from Eero Sarinen (including the IMA’s Miller House!) and modernist architecture, to water issues in a city that still runs its fountains from ancient aqueducts, to a provocative poem by Lucretius on the nature of reality.

My project is starting slowly. I’m revising some of the materials and waiting for approval from the staff here. I’ve been advised to hold off on starting until I get a sense for the unique culture and rhythms of the Academy. That makes sense to me. The Fellows and other artists and scholars here are rightly protective of their time. I hope to conduct interviews with members of the community on their experiences with art, design (architecture, gardens, etc.) and meals. I’d like these to be enjoyable.

Sept. 30, 2009
This morning I went on an orientation tour of the library at the American Academy in Rome. It is a beautiful library, both conceptually and physically. Imagine sitting in small reading rooms next to wide open windows (no screens) that open onto idyllic Italian gardens. Imagine several floors of stacks that go down into a kind of crypt, and also those small, ladder-like circular stairways that lead to upper-level shelving. Imagine an aesthetic of contemporary simplicity and book preservation science in harmony with warm, traditional wooden desks and chairs. The cataloging system is unique to the Academy, neither Dewey nor Library of Congress. The fellows and residents here have wonderfully generous access after they’ve taken the orientation tour.

Over lunch I listened in as experts in Classical, Medieval and Renaissance studies earnestly debated the reasonableness of the term Dark Ages. Is it useful to say that ancient Classical knowledge – about architecture, for example – was forgotten and then revived in the Renaissance? Later, after I had made as much progress as possible on my project, I set out on a long hike from the Academy’s perch on the Gianicolo hill – with a stop at Bramante’s Tempieto – down the stone steps and across the River Tiber to the Pantheon. If you never took a survey of art history course, you might not know that the Tempieto is a miniature Renaissance “classical” style building of elegant proportions designed by the architect Donato Bramante in 1499. The Pantheon, by contrast, is a large Roman temple originally built in 27 BC, then rebuilt around 120 AD. After the lunchtime conversation, it seemed fitting to visit one of the most famous examples of Renaissance architecture and the nearly 1,900-year-old domed structure that inspired its maker.

This evening (Wednesday) most of the Academy community attended a lecture by the organization’s President and CEO, Adele Chatfield-Taylor. It presented the “story” of the American Academy since its founding in 1894, through wars and many other challenges. Several parts of this story were especially affecting: the commitment to cross-disciplinary conversation, the struggles to quell objections from scholars to the inclusion of artists, and the decision to develop the Rome Sustainable Food Project. The last mentioned is a commitment to local, organic and seasonal food inspired by chef and food educator Alice Waters. In so many ways it is helping the Academy achieve it mission to enable creative communication and collaboration. Meals are now a complete delight! That means people want to “eat in” and to linger in long, enjoyable conversations. I’m tempted to start including detailed descriptions of meals in my blog posts! Let me cite the post-lecture dinner as an example. It began with a delicious and aromatic pasta dish with Porcini mushrooms. A couple of us had special servings, made with rice-pasta – the kitchen happily accommodates all special diet needs! The pasta was followed by a delicious radicchio salad, then a course of fantastic broiled cheese. The dessert looked delicious, but I had to let it go.

Now, Dear Reader, you can by a mere flick of the clicking finger discover what we’ve discovered at the IMA, which, I think, is pretty rad in the stealthy world of museum administration.  Most recently, what we’ve unearthed is not from Jaipur or Nimrud, but from an apparently long-forgotten box on a shelf.  But sometimes it happens that real life discoveries are just as romantic as those of Dr. Jones’s folklore.

The “what” is actually a “who”- a Roman terracotta portrait bust of a young woman, probably from the first century C.E.  For now, she remains mysterious.  I discovered her by chance (luck, fate?) while foraging the museum’s endless object storage cabinets, recognizing first the elaborate hairstyle worn by the women of ancient Rome.  There she was, gleaming out from an old box, still perfectly coiffed after two thousand years.  And there too I was, smudgy and not so well-coiffed.

She was a gift of Hoosier author Booth Tarkington, notorious loather of modern art.  To unearth such a piece is thrilling, but at the same time a little saddening, because there is very little chance of learning its origins prior to its donation in 1951.  So far we have a few promising leads, which point to some prominent New York auction houses.

Of course every museum has a cavernous storeroom full of more than 90% of its objects, many as yet unseen by the public eye, or at least unremembered.  Rarely, though, do we discover something of significance, something as skillfully-wrought and captivating as this portrait, and terracotta statues are fragile, so they do not often survive in good condition.  The reemergence of works like this one elucidates two separate histories: one which tells a story about the object’s own cultural past, but also another about the history of the museum itself.  If you ask me, the romance is in the union of those two stories, in how a private Roman woman, who was not famous in her lifetime, came to be art in Indianapolis, Indiana.

So, you ask, what’s on the agenda for this bi-millennial beauty?  We’re interested in dating her as accurately as possible, for which she will visit the conservation department of the museum.  Roman portraits are interesting because they can help us understand how the Romans thought of themselves and what values or “trends,” if you will, existed at the time.  I am looking forward to sharing our research, and, hopefully, to setting her up for others to admire.

And so as we delve into the mystery of our bella donna Romana, I invite you to stay tuned for more details.