Museum Collecting 101 was a pilot project supported by funds from the Andrew W Mellon Foundation through the Elemental Arts Initiative. Thirteen Pomona students--first years through seniors, from 7 different majors—enrolled in the class. Their task was to evaluate and propose for acquisition an art work that reflected the themes of Elemental Arts and supported the academic mission of the College and Museum. And that met our budget. They kept in mind that the object they selected would be a permanent addition to the museum’s collection where it would be seen by generations of students and visitors. The class nominated and reviewed artists, met with those about whom they wished to learn more, and selected individual art works to investigate further. They debated each potential acquisition on aesthetic merit and relevance to the museum’s collection and to the teaching mission of the college. At the end of the semester, four teams presented four finalist works and the class voted to select the work you see here.

Kathleen Howe, Director


When we saw Rose Simpson’s work for the first time, at least half of us audibly gasped. We were midway through our semester-long Museum Collecting course in which we had been reviewing work by artists who engage the elements, or the environment more broadly. None of us had yet fallen in love with any one artist’s work. Despite being a late addition, Simpson skyrocketed to the top of our list and never left.

The artist visited near the end of the semester to talk about her work and specifically about Directed (North) which we were considering for acquisition. She demonstrated sculpting the figure with her trademark ‘slap-slab’ technique and explained the inspiration behind the Directed series (which also includes South, East, West, and Center) and its connection to the land where she grew up, north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her connection to that land and her culture, apparent in the found objects and symbols that adorn the figure, and her technique, which merges earth, water, fire, and air, met our charge from the Mellon Elemental Arts Initiative. At the end of the semester, in a dramatic vote, our class, acting as the collection committee, chose to acquire this work.

Once the sculpture arrived, we gathered again to see it unpacked. As it finally stood before us and we placed the collar around its neck, we found ourselves staring directly into its eyes. The human scale and physicality of Directed (North) immediately commanded our respect. We are proud of our part in bringing this work into the Pomona College Museum of Art collection.

Zoë Jameson, Miranda Starr, Rebecca Chen, Adam Starr (Team Rose)

Rose B. Simpson: Ground, eds. Don Pattison and Kathleen Howe (Claremont: Pomona College Museum of Art, 2016), 80 (illustrated/color).

This object has the following keywords:

• Abstract Classicism
• Figural Abstraction

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

• Rose B. Simpson: Ground Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College , 8/30/2016 - 12/17/2016

• Overall Dimensions: 70 x 18 x 19 in. (1778 x 457.2 x 482.6 mm)

This object has the following bibliographic references:

• Rose B. Simpson: Ground. Rose B. Simpson: Ground Pomona College Museum of Art. Claremont, CA, 2016
  Page Number: 80

This object is a member of the following portfolios: