Exhibition curator Jennifer Farrell will give a Saturday Special Tour of the The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia’s exhibition of work by Suzanne McClelland, “STrAY: Found Poems from a Lost Time” on March 23, from 2 to 3 p.m. 

The museum’s Saturday Special Tours are usually held on the third or fourth Saturday of each month, and offer the opportunity to join curators and faculty as they explore topics related to museum collections and exhibitions. The tours are free and open to the public.

“STrAY: Found Poems from a Lost Time” is an installation by contemporary artist Suzanne McClelland in which she responds to “Found Poems from a Lost Time” (2006), 12 epistolary poems written by the late creative writing professor George Garrett.

The poems are constructed from passages lifted from letters written by two soldiers who fought on opposite sides during the Civil War.

For this installation, McClelland created visual “portfolios” comprising drawings, printed matter and photographs in which she lifts text from Garrett's work as well as the shapes of the poems themselves.

Together with videos and works on paper, the portfolios create a visually compelling installation that inspires fresh consideration of the role of language, perception, conflict and both one’s own history and history more broadly considered.

The “STrAY” installation also includes a diverse group of works drawn from the museum’s collection by artists such as Käthe Kollwitz, Francisco de Goya, Larry Clark and Sally Mann. Selected by McClelland, these pieces provide an opportunity for visitors to make connections between art from the collection and the work of this important artist.

McClelland is based in New York City and has exhibited internationally since the early 1990s. She has produced paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and videos, in each case experimenting with the process and possibilities of each medium.

Since 2011, Farrell has been curator of exhibitions and contemporary art at The Fralin Museum of Art. Her record of scholarship and curatorial experience includes work with the City University of New York, the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and the Yale University Art Gallery.

Her publications include a forthcoming book, “Get There and Decide Promptly: The Richard Brown Baker Collection of Postwar Art,” which received a National Endowment for the Arts Award.

For information about the tour, call 434-243-2050 or e-mail museumoutreach@virginia.edu. The Fralin Museum of Art is located at 155 Rugby Road, one block from the Rotunda.