Inside the Benton: The podcast of the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College

Hello and welcome to another episode of Inside the Benton. I am Hannah Avalos, your host, and in this episode we will be discussing Sadie Barnette: Legacy & Legend, an exhibition currently on view at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College. This exhibition is centered on a 500-page surveillance dossier created by the FBI on Rodney Barnette, the artist's father and the founder of the Compton chapter of the Black Panther party in 1968. The dossier chronicles the tactics of harassment and intimidation experienced by Barnette's father and in the exhibition, Sadie Barnette uses her own visual language to assert resilience in the face of a history characterized by oppression. In this episode, I interview both Sadie Barnette and the Benton's senior curator, Rebecca McGrew, and we discuss the origins and content of the exhibition as well as the steps they took to make it happen. Transcript

Hi and welcome to this episode of Inside the Benton. I'm your host, Hannah Avalos, and in this episode, we will explore Art Object Specimen, an exhibition that is closing in just about two weeks at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College. So listen to this episode and then make sure to get to the museum to see the show. Art Object, Specimen tests and explores the expectations that art museum spaces implicitly place on the objects that they display. The exhibition calls into question the categories we use to talk about objects in the world. Which objects are art? Which are specimens? Does your coffee mug become art if it goes from your kitchen table into a museum? What does it mean to be an object? Much like how the geological specimens in the show index moments in earth's history, this episode serves as a record of what this exhibition captured. In this episode you'll hear me talk first with Noor Tamari ‘22 about the snuff bottles in the collection. And from the geology department, you will hear both from D'maia Curry, ‘19 who was also the Benton's Post Baccalaureate fellow, and Geology Professor Jade Star Lackey. They will both talk about the intersections of art and geology and what this exhibition meant to them. Let's get into it.

In this episode of Inside the Benton, Hannah Avalos '21 and assistant curator of collections Salim Moore chat about all things Peonies by Charles Ethan Porter. Included in this discussion are explanations about painting techniques, the biography of the artist, and how we understand his legacy now. Listeners will also hear Hannah and Salim give take a deep dive into the painting. Transcript.

Season 3: Welcome Back! Episode 4 | In this episode of Inside the Benton Hannah Avalos '21 interviews photographer and artist Ian Byers-Gamber '14 not only about his personal art practice but also art documentation and its importance to artists, art historians, and museums. In this episode, Byers-Gamber also discusses the intersection between his work and activism. Transcript You can follow Ian Byers-Gamber on Instagram @bamblerdander You can find his book If They Can Do It, Why Can't We? at https://www.smingsming.com/collections/sming-sming-books/products/ian-byers-gamber-if-they-can-do-it-why-can-t-we. You can find information about his exhibition at CSU Dominguez Hills's University Art Gallery at https://www.socloserightnow.com/.

Learn about land acknowledgements in this second episode of Season 3 of Inside the Benton! Hannah Avalos and Dr. Meranda Roberts discuss the whys and hows of land acknowledgements, including what makes one good and effective. The Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College's land acknowledgment: The Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College acknowledges the Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Tongva world, including the Los Angeles Basin, South Channel Islands, San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, and portions of Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties) and are grateful to have the opportunity to work for the Taraaxatom (Indigenous peoples) in this place. As an institution located on unceded Indigenous land, we pay our respects to Honuukvetam (ancestors), 'Ahiihirom (elders), and 'Evoohiinkem (our relatives / relations) past, present, and emerging. Transcript: https://pomona.box.com/s/4qz4rfora2km5zvq620861oh7izkmz3h Dr. Meranda Roberts's blog: https://merandawriteshistory.com/

Season 3: Welcome Back! Episode 1—For this premiere episode of “Inside the Benton,” join producer Hannah Avalos ‘21, as she sits down with Architect Jeffry Burchard and asks him about how the Benton Museum of Art's physical space came to be. Burchard is a Partner and Principal at Machado Silvetti and an Assistant Professor in Practice of Architecture at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. To make a reservation to visit the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, please visit www.pomona.edu/benton. Transcript: https://pomona.box.com/s/ctdoimn00338pzd1yofzj0px1rub8roo

Season 3 officially Premieres Thursday, September 9th, and a new episode will be released weekly! And if you want a little more ‘Inside the Benton' feel free to check out our backlog of episodes from seasons 1 and 2! Transcript https://pomona.box.com/s/2vcaev9lxwwtiu0spl7asenmh3ecn80r.

Season 2: Within and Beyond Our Gallery Walls | Episode 7—Join Inside the Benton host Hannah Avalos as she explores the making of the current exhibition Alison Saar: Of Aether and Earthe with both the artist and Benton curator Rebecca McGrew. Transcript https://app.box.com/s/tz57mqqnuqi8vga4631ugxccyck22ba6

Season 2: Within and Beyond Our Gallery Walls | Episode 6—Benton intern Mei Ge interviews the artist Alia Ali on the occasion of Ali’s Project Series exhibition. The two talk about the artist’s goals and intentions as well as the process of putting together the multimedia installation. Transcript https://app.box.com/s/apwr8k6t08v44ig6yc3r12kjf3w8wd37.

Season 2: Within and Beyond Our Gallery Walls | Episode 5—Join host Hannah Avalos as she discusses the Benton’s holdings of Cahuilla basketry with Pomona College student Kali Tindell-Griffin and Indigenous scholar Dr. Meranda Roberts. Learn about the importance of listening to Indigenous voices as we reckon with the past and imagine a more just and inclusive future. Original music provided by Jake Turner, Class of 2021. Transcript https://bit.ly/37PhGrR.

Season 2: Within and Beyond Our Gallery Walls | Episode 4—Listen in as podcast host Hannah Avalos chats with the Pomona College team who brought about CrossBorderPhotography: Images of the US and Mexico from the Permanent Collection: students Madeleine Mount-Cors, Maelvi Nuñez, and Grace Sartin, and Professor Rosalía Romero. They all discuss the underlying goals and urgency of this exhibition in addition to reflecting on the curatorial process. Original music provided by Jake Turner. Transcript https://bit.ly/3pBwi46

Season 2: Within and Beyond Our Gallery Walls | Episode 3—To accompany the exhibition CrossBorder Photography: Images of the US and Mexico from the Permanent Collection, student co-curator Madeleine Mount-Cors sits down with photographer Susan Harbage Page to discuss the evolution of the artist’s practice as it relates to her personal experience and to her commitment to humanizing the narratives of cross-border migrants. Original music provided by Jake Turner, Class of 2021. Transcript https://bit.ly/374DCyV Content Warning: this episode makes reference to sexual violence.

Season 2: Within and Beyond Our Gallery Walls | Episode 2—Join host Hannah Avalos as she talks to current Pomona College student Sam Chan and former Pomona art history professor Frances K. Pohl about the Italian artist and visual poet Mirella Bentivoglio. Chan and Pohl describe their different encounters with the artist: Chan recently discovered her work through independent research, while Pohl had a long-standing personal relationship with the artist. The two reveal how Bentivolgio, featured in the exhibition In Our Care, created works that capture lived experience and critique issues like capitalism and feminism, all with wit and subtle humor. Original music composed by Jake Turner. Transcript https://bit.ly/3ts32jG

Season 2: Within and Beyond Our Gallery Walls | Episode 1—Discover how the Benton Museum of Art evolved into the institution it is today. In this episode, listeners will first hear from former museum director Kathleen Stewart Howe to learn about the museum’s previous incarnation and the planning of the new Benton Museum of Art. Then the museum’s current director, Victoria Sancho Lobis, reflects on her first year at the Benton and her vision for the future. Original music composed by Jake Turner. Transcript: https://bit.ly/3prlRAT

Season 2: Within and Beyond Our Gallery Walls | Trailer—Join the team at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College for the second season of Inside the Benton, where we’ll be exploring what’s on the walls of the museum. New episodes will be posted every Thursday for seven weeks, from January 28 to March 11. Transcript: https://bit.ly/39o3ozw

Season 1: Ready, Set, Wait | Episode 4—The final episode in a three-part series, "The Scream" reveals the works in the Benton's collection that museum staff and interns find particularly relevant at this time, whether they were created recently or 200 years ago. In this episode listeners will hear how these works of art speak to individual experiences of 2020, from the isolation brought about by the pandemic to a renewed sense of urgency related to social justice and systemic racism. Discussed in this episode are works on paper by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch and the Guerrilla Girls collective as well as a photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson and James Turrell’s Skyspace Dividing the Light. Image checklist: https://pomona.box.com/s/rno0huxf14s4zuh7v70xirlykls005vv Transcript: https://pomona.box.com/s/wrk3xlq4amibb9mzhnx5tgb11noot5dv

Season 1: Ready, Set, Wait | Episode 3—Part two of a three-part series, this episode takes a close look at how the Benton Museum changed its methods for engaging with students, faculty, and potential visitors due to health policy restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Listeners will hear the museum’s interns and fellows—Sam Chan, Mei Ge, Noor Tamari, and Kali Tindell-Griffin, all members of the Pomona College graduating class of 2022—discuss their experiences both as students and as museum professionals in training. The episode also features communication and engagement manager Justine Bae Bias and director Victoria Sancho Lobis reflecting on how they can and should adjust their strategies for collaboration and effective community engagement. Transcript: https://pomona.box.com/s/nlx0gt5sm5zbtd1i2hk29913gbdbndf8

Season 1: Ready, Set, Wait | Episode 2—Part one of a three-part series, this episode reveals how the day-to-day operations of the museum have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Listeners will hear several members of the Benton’s staff reflect on how museum work immediately changed with the onset of the pandemic. Interviewed in this episode are Director Victoria Sancho Lobis; Academic Curator Claire Nettleton; Associate Director/Registrar Steve Comba; Assistant Registrar Victoria Hernandez; Senior Curator Rebecca McGrew; Communication and Engagement Coordinator Justine Bae Bias; and Collections and Exhibitions Assistant Gillian Holzer. Transcript: https://pomona.box.com/s/7iwcfybxobu5ehrin8c5h6ytz6mwzfem

Season 1: Ready, Set, Wait | Episode 1—Learn about the people who make everything possible at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College! You will hear from the museum’s director, Victoria Sancho Lobis; Academic Coordinator, Claire Nettleton; Associate Director/Registrar Steve Comba; Assistant Registrar Victoria Hernandez; Senior Curator Rebecca McGrew; and Communication and Engagement Coordinator Justine Bae Bias. Their stories reveal how they originally gravitated to museum work and how they came to be part of the museum’s team. As they prepare to begin operating in their new purpose-built museum space, we will learn what they hope to achieve in the short term and in the years ahead. Transcript: https://pomona.box.com/s/bci0p4i25ala7pzrot4t3l0ftvsbxnsj.

Season 1: Ready, Set, Wait | Trailer—Hosted and created by the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, we invite you to meet the staff, explore our exhibitions and collections, and learn more about what happens behind the scenes. Produced by Hannah Avalos PO ' 21 together with museum director, Victoria Sancho Lobis Ph.D. Transcript: https://pomona.box.com/s/nemzixvlnf8kkht6d3wmcqmvf04x9lx0