Since studying Spanish and Economics at Wellesley, Lorraine O’Grady ‘55 has worked as a government analyst, fiction writer, translator, rock critic, literature professor—and conceptual artist. Her multidisciplinary perspective continues to shape her incisive writing and artwork, and thinkers from many fields have learned from her explorations of Black female subjectivity, hybridity, and diaspora through the theoretical framework of Both/And. During this daylong symposium, participants will experience O’Grady’s oeuvre as a launching point for their own critical examinations of race, gender, history, and the present. The event celebrates the publication of an e-book of the same name, which includes writings by O’Grady, art critics, and members of the Wellesley community that reflect on how they teach and learn with Lorraine O'Grady's Both/And.

Schedule in Collins Cinema at The Davis Museum:

9-9:45 a.m.: Tour of Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And with Dr. Jessica Orzulak
Limited to 20 people
Sign up here.

Focus on O’Grady’s use of photography in this tour with Dr. Jessica Orzulak, the Linda Wyatt Gruber 66' Curatorial Fellow in Photography at the Davis.

10 a.m.-10:10 a.m.: Welcoming remarks

10:15 a.m -11:45 a.m.: Both/And in the Wellesley Classroom 
Chaired by Dr. Semente, the Curator of Education and Public Programs at the Davis, this panel presents faculty perspectives on teaching with O’Grady’s art in classrooms across campus.

Noon-2 p.m.: Lunch Break

Noon-12:45 p.m.: Tour of Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And with Dr. Amanda Gilvin
Limited to 20 people
Sign up here.

Learn how O’Grady’s papers, which she donated to the Wellesley College Archives in 2013, inform our understanding of her artwork by joining this tour with Dr. Amanda Gilvin, Sonja Novak Koerner '51 Senior Curator of Collections and Assistant Director of Curatorial Affairs

1:00 p.m.-1:45 p.m. Tour of Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And with Dr. Semente
Limited to 20 people
Sign up here.

Explore how O’Grady’s work dialogues with themes of identity, Black womanhood, and the African diaspora with Dr. Semente, Curator of Education and Public Programs at the Davis.

2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.: Curatorial Talk: Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And 
Hear from exhibition curators Catherine Morris, Sackler Senior Curator for the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum, and Aruna D’Souza, W.W. Corcoran Professor of Social Engagement at the Corcoran School of Art, George Washington University, as they discuss working together with O’Grady on the first retrospective of her work.

4 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Taking the White Gloves Off: A Performance Art Series in Honor of Lorraine O'Grady ‘55:  M. Lamar