Making and Meaning

Reveals the stories behind Vassar’s art museum and the depth of its collection.

Making and Meaning features select works from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center of Vassar College, located in Poughkeepsie, New York. Through illustrated essays and entries, as well as poetry and a timeline, this book reveals the profound richness of a collection that spans from antiquity to the present day.

Showcasing a wide variety of artistic works and contributions, the volume explores paintings, prints, photographs, decorative arts, and sculptures from this stunning collection. Written by Vassar curators, faculty, community partners, students, and art historians, the texts demonstrate how the art museum at Vassar originated in 1864 and now stands, like many American academic museums, at the forefront of the rapidly evolving museum field.