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Josef Zimmerman

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Josef Zimmerman has worked as an artist, curator, and installer across the globe for the past decade. As the curator of the Schneider Museum of Art’s exhibition Pushing the Press, Zimmerman was responsible for choosing the art pieces that made it on display. Without his artistic eye and careful selection of the art, the energetic and compelling presentation of the exhibition would not have been possible. Learn more about Josef Zimmerman and his work with the link below, and come see the fruits of his loving labor in the Schneider Museum of Art’s Main, Treehaven, and Heiter galleries.

What is a Preparator?

While often confused with the role of a curator, a Preparator plays an equally vital role to a museum’s functioning. Our Preparator, Maureen Williams, works to ensure the safety and documentation of art as it is transported from one place to another. A Preparator is there to make sure all art is handled and installed with precision and care. In the interview linked below, Getty Museum Art Preparator Rita Gomez explains her work and the steps it took to get her there. Learn more about this vital career, and see all the hard work Maureen Williams has put into installing art throughout the museum.

https://www.getty.edu/news/art-preparator-museum-job-getty/

Motifs in Art

A motif is defined as a repeated pattern, image, sound, or symbol throughout a work. Most commonly discussed within the literary arts, motifs can also be found in the world of visual art. For example, the idea of a holy trinity can be found in many historical artworks of various religions. From the Christian Father/Son/Holy Spirit to Buddhist Buddha/Dharma/Sangha, the imagery of three as a sacred number appears frequently. While the link below focuses on historical textile motifs, artist Kathryn Polk uses motifs in her work as symbols of femininity, father figures, and gender roles. Learn more about the role of motifs in art history, and see Polk’s work in Pushing the Press at the Schneider Museum of Art in the Heiter Gallery.

https://blog.marasim.co/historic-design-motifs-the-history-culture-and-anthropology-and-relevance-to-craft/

The Schneider Museum of Art is located within the ancestral homelands of the Shasta, Takelma, and Latgawa peoples who lived here since time immemorial. These Tribes were displaced during rapid Euro-American colonization, the Gold Rush, and armed conflict between 1851 and 1856. In the 1850s, discovery of gold and settlement brought thousands of Euro-Americans to their lands, leading to warfare, epidemics, starvation, and villages being burned. In 1853 the first of several treaties were signed, confederating these Tribes and others together – who would then be referred to as the Rogue River Tribe. These treaties ceded most of their homelands to the United States, and in return they were guaranteed a permanent homeland reserved for them. At the end of the Rogue River Wars in 1856, these Tribes and many other Tribes from western Oregon were removed to the Siletz Reservation and the Grand Ronde Reservation. Today, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (https://www.grandronde.org) and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (http://www.ctsi.nsn.us/) are living descendants of the Takelma, Shasta, and Latgawa peoples of this area. We encourage you to learn about the land you reside on, and to join us in advocating for the inherent sovereignty of Indigenous people.

Josef Zimmerman

What is a Preparator?

Motifs in Art

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