ANNAPOLIS, MD. [September 10, 2024] – The Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum (/m) at St. John’s College welcomes visitors to its latest exhibition, “Theatre of Turmoil,” on view from September 14 to December 8, 2024. The museum will also host events that are free and open to the public, including lectures and tours.

“‘Theatre of Turmoil’ asks questions about our current moment,” notes Peter Nesbett, the museum’s director. “Two of those questions are, ‘What do we want from art in times like these?’, and ‘What do we need?’”

About “Theatre of Turmoil”

The history of art is filled with images of chaos and turmoil. Some—of famous battles or revolutions—commemorate transformative, if violent, events. Others depict mythic stories by Homer and others handed down through the centuries. Still others visualize the more troubling aspects of daily life, such as fatal accidents, riots, and domestic violence.

This exhibition of reproductions from the Baroque to the present—featuring Gentileschi, Géricault, Goya, and many others—is intended to stimulate conversation on the role of such images in art, how these artworks reflect the anxieties of life, and the psycho-emotional impacts both have on us. A newly commissioned sound composition by Zachary Konick accompanies the works.

New Publication

The Mitchell Art Museum is pleased to announce the release of Does Beauty Exist?, a 36-page booklet with text by noted philosopher Graham Harman and color images of Polly Apfelbaum’s installation Sampling a Sampler Sampling (January 20 to April 21, 2024). Beautifully designed by Maca Olsen/Poesis Creative, Annapolis, on a toothy, off-white paper. Copies are available for $10 at the museum.

For more information on Mitchell Art Museum exhibits and programming, visit sjc.edu/mitchell or follow @sjcmitchell on Facebook and Instagram.

Visiting the Mitchell Art Museum

The museum’s fall hours are Wednesday and Thursday, 12:30–6:30 p.m., Friday, 2–7:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 12:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Exhibitions are always free and wheelchair accessible. Parking is available on weekends in the Mellon Parking Lot (off St. John’s Street, north of Calvert Street) or in the Calvert Street Garage (one block away) at 19 St. John’s Street, and during the week at the Gott’s Court Garage (two-and-a-half blocks away) at 25 Calvert Street. The museum is located at the heart of campus in Mellon Hall.

About the Mitchell Art Museum

The only nationally accredited art museum in Anne Arundel County, the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum at St. John’s College presents changing art exhibitions to the ever-curious. Our mission is to pose persistent and timely questions about the human experience through art and with extraordinary artists.

ABOUT ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE

St. John’s College is the most distinctive liberal arts college in the country due to our interdisciplinary program, in which 200 of the most revolutionary great books from across 3,000 years of human thought are explored in student-driven, discussion-based classes. By probing world-changing ideas in literature, philosophy, mathematics, science, music, history, and more, students leave St. John’s with a foundation for success in such fields as law, government, research, STEM, media, and education. Located on two campuses in two historic state capitals—Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico—St. John’s is the third-oldest college in the United States and has been hailed as the “most forward-thinking, future-proof college in America” by Quartz and as a “high-achieving angel hovering over the landscape of American higher education” by the Los Angeles Times. Learn more at sjc.edu.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sara Luell, Senior Director of Communications and Operations, sara.luell(at)sjc.edu.