Reflections on the SAB 2017 Gala: Back in Time in Black and White

Last month, we ended our year together as the 2017 Student Advisory Board with our annual gala at the Princeton University Art Museum. Themed as “Back in Time in Black and White”, the gala was centered around the Museum’s special exhibition Clarence H. White and His World: The Art and Craft of Photography, 1895-1925.

The SAB worked with Museum staff to develop an interactive scavenger hunt in conjunction with the Museum’s Princeton Artbot. Launched in Fall 2017, the Princeton Artbot is a Facebook Messenger hosted application that connects users to the Museum’s online collection database. The scavenger hunt took visitors on a journey through Clarence H. White and His World and rewarded close looking with a festive black and white t-shirt!

Clarence H. White, American, 1871–1925 What Shall I Say?, 1896, printed after 1917

Clarence White was an American Pictorialist and Photo-Secessionist. He, amongst other artists, wanted to elevate photography into the history and realm of art. The camera he used is a Premo view camera. It has a built in tripod and long bellows (the accordion-like expandable part of the camera). We chose this camera as the logo for our gala because we wanted to celebrate the history of photography and Clarence White’s (and friends’) work.

The Gala also offered a polaroid photo booth, free buttons and tattoos, digital photographs courtesy of Vincent Po ‘18, and live performances from Tigressions, Solene Le Van, Katzenjammers, Lachlan Kermode, Jazz Vocal Collective, Songling Slam Poetry and the Nassoons. It was a busy night and the event successfully gathered 520 students who enjoyed the Clarence H. White exhibition, giveaways, student performances, and delicious food from Chez Alice Catering Company of Pennington, New Jersey.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Po

It was so much fun and we are excited to share the photographs from the evening with you! We hope to see you again at the Art Museum very soon.

Check out the photos from the Gala here.