About Not a Foot of Land
In 1910, The College of New Jersey comissioned a mural by Philadelphia artist Richard Farley depicting a treaty between the Governor of New Jersey and the Native Americans in the area. It now resides in a vacant building on TCNJ's campus. Due to our modern knowledge of the colonization of North America, we can recognize that the mural perpetuates racist stereotypes and inaccurate beliefs about this history. In Fall of 2019, I took an Art History seminar called Decolonizing and Diversifying the Museum. In this course, we learned about the influences that colonialism has had on museum practices and Art History as a discipline. It was in this seminar that I learned of the mural and began a plan for a podcast that would research the mural's intrinsic history along with American history, Indigenous Studies, and the influence of colonization in art and art history. My research has taken place over the course of two semesters, through said class in Fall 2019 and through an independent study with Dr. Deborah Hutton in Spring 2020.
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In the podcast, through in-depth research and interviews with professionals, I provide a summation of the contextual information needed to understand the mural and formulate opinions about its future. The series does not demand or even promote a specific solution. It instead functions as a tool to utilize as decisions are made regarding the mural in the future. I am passionate about this project because, as a student at TCNJ, I feel a connection and responsibility to the ways big social justice issues intersect with our campus. I feel that facilitating campus discussion about these intersections is not only important but critical for our community to foster intuitive, passionate, and educated students who think critically about global concerns and are prepared to respond.
The field of Art History is deeply rooted in Eurocentrism, and is going to take ages to untangle, if we ever can. The problems surpass museum walls, cross disciplines, and affect the ways we respond to the world more generally. It is one of those “big social justice issues” that just so happens to have an intersection with our campus. My goal is to provide people, particularly students, with an intimate example of the effects of colonization, so that they will be inspired to see their own influence in what happens next.
Acknowledgements
It brings me such pride to finally share Not a Foot of Land. I am extremely grateful for the experiences I have had, the people I have met, and the things I have learned throughout this process. It absolutely would not have been possible without several people from my school and personal life who have helped this project reach fruition. Firstly, Dr. Norwood, Dr. McGreevey, Dr. Tucker and her students, Chris, and Dr. Foster for bringing their wisdom to the show. Margaret Pezzala-Granlund, the director of the art gallery at TCNJ, who introduced me to the mural and provided an excellent foundation for my research in its very initial stages. David Murray, the fantastic Arts and Humanities Librarian at TCNJ who absolutely does not receive enough recognition for all he does. Kara Pothier, the Associate Editor of the TCNJ magazine, who has supported this project since the beginning. Dr. LaJevic, my advisor and Associate Professor of the Art Education department for her support of unconventional projects and her patience as I navigated how to balance research and student teaching plus another one of her classes this semester! And of course, my brilliant Dr. Hutton, who I am somehow lucky enough to have crossed lives with. You're a treasure.
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I would also like to thank my incredible support system: my parents and the rest of my family, my Oxx girl gang (Kelly, Bryanna, Issy, Ámbar, and Elena {plus Suchir}), Meghan and the rest of my Bonner family for teaching me everything I know, and Roz, Ryan, Anna, and Sawyer for being my rocks. It's an understatement when I say this wouldn't have been possible without you all.