A few of my favorite things: Leslie Ureña
Smithsonian staff and volunteers work countless hours in the halls of our museums and research centers, in the field, at the Zoo, in our gardens and facilities. We are privileged to spend time with some of the nation’s most cherished treasures as we go about our duties. Sometimes, these unique experiences find a special place in our own personal stories. Amy Kehs introduces Leslie Ureña and a few of her favorite Smithsonian things.
Leslie Urena (Smithsonian Institution photo)
Leslie Ureña joined the Smithsonian in January 2016 as the Associate Curator for Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery. Prior to arriving at the Smithsonian, she was a curatorial research associate and research assistant in the Department of Photographs at the National Gallery of Art, as well as a curatorial assistant in the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She also has worked at the Dallas Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, and has spent time consulting and working as an independent museum curator in Taiwan. Ureña received her bachelor’s degree from Yale University; and master’s and doctorate degrees in art history from Northwestern University.
It may not be a surprise that Ureña ‘s first Smithsonian favorite is the National Portrait Gallery’s photography collection, which includes more than 11,000 images ranging from daguerreotypes to contemporary photographs.
Elaine de Kooning, Frank O’Hara and Franz Kline by Arthur Swoger / Gelatin silver print, May 20, 1957 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / © Estate of Arthur Swoger
“The mission of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is to tell the multifaceted story of America through the individuals who have shaped its culture. I really like to take that one step further and look at the photography collection from a unique point of view, trying to make connections that may not be obvious on the surface to tell new stories,” Ureña says .
“My job is so much fun because of the depth and breadth of this amazing collection. The stories I can tell and the connections I can make are possible because of the Smithsonian’s unique and large collection of works that span many, many years.”
Leslie Urena in the exhibit “In Mid-Sentence” at the National Portrait Gallery. (Photo by Amy Kehs)
Nothing demonstrates this better than her current exhibition, “In Mid-Sentence.” In this exhibit, Ureña examines photographed moments of conversation. While many of these photographs are well-known or have been highlighted before, bringing them together in this new context gives visitors a chance to see them from a different point of view.
Lotte Jacobi and Barbara Morgan by Catharine Reeve / Gelatin silver print, 1982 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / © Catharine Reeve
With only visual cues to rely on, visitors must closely examine different aspects of each image, such as posturing, hand gestures and expressions, to figure out what kind of conversation each image captures. Is it a friendly conversation? Is there evidence of a conflict? Is the audience engaged with what the speaker is saying?
Althea Gibson by Genevieve Naylor / Gelatin silver print, 1957 (c. 1970 print from original negative) / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / © Estate of Genevieve Naylor
Ureña’s second Smithsonian favorite is the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship. This program began in 2007 and provides visual artists from all over the world the opportunity to work with the Smithsonian to create new art. Artists can choose a museum, research site, or a specific collection for their self-directed research to inspire their artistic creation. Ureña serves on the selection committee for the program. Once selected, SARF fellows spend one to two months in residence at the Smithsonian with its collections at their fingertips.
Brooklyn-based artist Michael Joo (b. 1966)
Among the artists who have created work inspired by their SARF research are former fellow Trevor Paglen, whose work explores surveillance, state secrecy, data collection, and the ways in which technology is altering humans’ relationship with the land around us and Michael Joo, who created a monumental installation for the Freer/Sackler based on the migration patterns of Korean red-crowned cranes..
Trevor Paglen, STSS-1 and Two Unidentified Spacecraft over Carson City (Space Tracking and Surveillance System, USA 205), 2010, Smithsonian American Art Museum, © 2010, Trevor Paglen, Gift of Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan, 2012.24.1
Ureña’s final Smithsonian favorite is the “One Life” series at the National Portrait Gallery, which dedicates a gallery to the biography of a single individual and their impact on our broader history. Katharine Graham, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Sandra Day O’Connor, Thomas Paine, Elvis Presley, Ronald Reagan, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Dolores Huerta, Babe Ruth and Sylvia Plath are a few of the icons featured in “One Life.”
Ureña is the curator of the currently on-view “One Life: Marian Anderson,” an exploration of the life of the famous singer and how she, perhaps unwillingly, became a symbol of the civil rights movement.
Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial / Robert S. Scurlock / 1939, Gelatin silver print / Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Anderson is recognized as one of the greatest American singers of the 20th century. She endured the segregationist policies that barred her from singing on most Washington, D.C., stages gave her most famous performance in 1939 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after being turned away by D.A.R Constitution Hall.
“Marian Anderson” by Beauford Delaney, oil on canvas, 1965. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, J. Harwood and Louise B. Cochrane Fund for American Art; Photo by Travis Fullerton ©Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Estate of Beauford Delaney, by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, Court Appointed Administrator
The NPG exhibit highlights Anderson’s decades-long career as a celebrated singer, diplomat, and art inspiration and is on view through May 17. It also coincides with two Smithsonian-wide initiatives, the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, “Because of Her Story,” and the 2019 celebration of the Smithsonian’s Year of Music. Ureña was an executive committee member for the Smithsonian Year of Music.
Marian Anderson, Clef Club, Academy of Music / Fowler Photography (active c. 1890-unknown) / 1918, Gelatin silver print / Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Libraries
Ureña’s appreciation for the Smithsonian collections and her willingness to examine them from new and inspiring points of view demonstrates how the “increase and diffusion of knowledge” can be multi-faceted present countless possibilities for interpretation.
Related posts:
Posted: 31 January 2020
- Categories:
