Past Exhibitions

Alumni Gallery | Sara Hume, Curator  The Kent State University Museum’s collection of costumes is already one of the finest in the country, and it continues to grow and improve thanks to the generosity of our donors. The objects on display in the Alumni Gallery through October 2011 have all been given to the Museum since 2002 and have been selected because they attest to the great diversity and exceptional quality of the objects that are accepted into the collection.

Broadbent Gallery | Jean L. Druesedow, Director    Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003)

Tarter/Miller, Palmer, and Mull Galleries | Sara Hume, Curator What drives an individual to acquire ever more objects of a certain type? Some people collect out of a specific interest – Chinese art or first edition books. Others collect to fill their homes with beautiful things, things that demonstrate their taste and refinement. Once these collections find their way to museums, often their original coherence is lost.

Stager and Blum Galleries | Sara Hume, Curator  The Kent State University Museum is proud to present this exhibition drawing from its extensive collection of clothing and textiles from India in order to highlight the dynamism, flexibility and variation of the nation's culture. Beyond the impressive assortment of historic garments, which are remarkable examples of "traditional" Indian dress, a sizable portion of the collection was produced in India for the western market.

Higbee Gallery | Jean L. Druesedow, Director   

Broadbent Gallery | Kasey Bland, Guest Curator and Sara Hume, Museum Curator His self-titled label produced eveningwear and daytime styles for the wholesale, ready-to-wear market, from 1961 to 1991. While he was known for his use of chiffon, Stavropoulos also created notable designs in lace, lamé, suede, and taffeta. Stavropoulos, born in Greece, believed in classic design and found inspiration in the simplicity of ancient Greek sculpture.

Alumni Gallery | Elizabeth Morgan, Guest Curator and Jean L. Druesedow, Director Savanna Vaughn Clark has been wearing, collecting and enjoying hats all her life. She has said that she “never leaves the house without a hat.” For Mrs. Clark, hats create a total look and she selects each one to compliment a specific outfit. A generous donor to the Kent State University Museum, Mrs. Clark has given the museum more than one hundred hats. Those selected for this exhibition date from the 1950s to the present day.

Palmer and Mull Galleries | Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Curator Between November 1912 and December 1925, with a hiatus during World War I between summer 1915 and January 1920, the Gazette du Bon Ton sought to be "the place where couturiers and painters collaborate to compose the silhouette of their time." It was the brain child of Lucien Vogel, a dynamic Frenchman who had studied at the École Alsacienne and had become a force in the fine art edition and printing world.

Blum and Stager Galleries | Dr. Shirley Teresa Wajda, Guest Curator The Kokoon Arts Club of Cleveland, Ohio, was founded in 1911 by a small group of commercial artists employed at the Otis Lithograph Company. Meeting first at night in a vacant tailor's shop, the Club's founding members pledged themselves to explore the "New Art." This they did, with gusto and paint.