East to West

Opened May 7, 2024. On display now.

Lynn Rodeman Metzger Galleries, 4th Floor


The Institute for Human Science and Culture recently accepted the Charles and Lucy Voris Baird Collection. Originally donated to The University of Akron in 1939 by Betsy Baird Neville, the collection spent time at the Akron Art Museum, Hower House Museum, and Myers School of Art before being transferred to the Institute for educational, hands-on use by students and community members. The collection contains pieces from China, Japan, and modern-day Thailand, including 13th - 15th century Thai pottery, Japanese prints by the masters Hiroshige and Hokusai, Javanese leather shadow puppets, and blue and white Chinese porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Through Spring 2024, University of Akron students in the Museums and Archives Studies and Public Humanities Certificate Programs have worked to develop East to West, an exhibit centered on this collection. Students conducted research, curated the exhibit, and installed objects within the Institute's Lynn Rodeman Metzger Galleries. East to West marks the first time this collection has been publicly exhibited since 1984.


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