Today I encountered my dissertation, or at least a part of it, in the wild, so to speak. I was on a tour @TheWadsworth of the traveling exhibition Frederic Church: A Painter's Pilgrimage, which begins with the museum's own Church painting, [Thomas] Hooker & Company Journeying... through the Wilderness from Plymouth to Hartford, in 1636 (1846). The tour was a decent size; spouse, mother-in-law, and me were by far the youngest people; I think most people were local; the group was overwhelmingly white. Perhaps none of this matters, but I'm noting it.

The primary impetus for today’s trip, this exhibition on collecting Native American art @mfaboston Here’s some of the context before you enter the show, which is in the second floor temporary gallery space in the American wing. Intro. text and the first object. I already have so many thoughts, questions, concerns, etc. Kudos to the museum for this kind of reflection and putting itself out there. That said, let me offer a few quick, initial reactions.