Latent Emissions, Chakaia Booker
Friends Forum
This series of biographies of members of the Friends of the Snite Museum of Art is presented as an introduction to the Friends membership. Every few weeks, a different Friend will be featured. Get acquainted with:
Sarah Martin is the driving force behind our Community Education Programs.
Watch the reactions of visitors stepping into the atrium of the Snite Museum of Art, and you will witness a range of emotions—the delight of seasoned museum-goers on encountering a new venue to explore, the focused attention of students intent on finding artworks for their assignments, and the barely-contained excitement of school children on entering a new creative environment. It’s that last group that most fully engages Sarah Martin’s attention and energy in her role as the Curator of Education, Public Programs, at the Museum.
Martin’s journey toward becoming a professional museum educator began with an art history major at Saint Mary’s College. While working as an assistant at the Moreau Gallery, Sarah knew she wanted a career in the museum world; as a museum educator, she realized she could combine her art-historical interests with her desire to regularly engage with the public. She earned a master’s degree in Contemporary Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and then headed to the education department at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, where for seven years she worked with a variety of audiences. Martin credits that experience—especially her engagement with K-12 educators, both pre-service and active teachers—with preparing her well for her role at the Snite Museum, where she describes her audiences as “everyone not on campus, from pre-K to adults.”
Meet Mary Kay Welle, member, Friends Board of Directors
Mary Kay Welle has always had a dual fondness for the arts and sciences. She was drawn to the arts in her early college years, especially studio ceramics and fiber arts. Later in life, she obtained a second degree in nursing to follow her love of science. Shortly after marrying in their 20s, she and her husband John took off for Europe and lived in Italy for three glorious years. During that period and with additional travel, this small-town Minnesota girl saw some of the most beautiful art, architecture, and design in the world while living in Verona, Florence, Rome, and Brindisi, Italy, and exploring Greece and Turkey.
...her dedicated service, and her joy. We will miss our friend, Juliane Morris!
Tucked away in baby books collected by Juliane Morris’s parents are notes from her elementary school teachers, calling Juliane “resourceful,” “creative,” and “rebellious.” Did she know then that those adjectives would ring true throughout her life and career involving photography, graphic design, and marketing? Possibly she did, since art and art appreciation have been part of her life in many ways, from her time at age 21 contemplating Thomas Cole’s The Voyage of Life at the National Gallery of Art on her lunch breaks to the present. For Juliane, it is through art that storytelling, language, context, and interpretation intersect to find common ground and spark the imagination.
Check back regularly and get to know some new Friends!