Curiosity and Wonder

Kunstkammer, Kunstkabinett, or Wunderkammer -- cabinets of curiosities or wonder-rooms, arose in the 1500s, particularly among the higher or governing classes, especially in Italy, who enjoyed collecting natural or manmade objects, relics, art, and antiquities in their castles or manors. As early scientists, scholars, or merchants also began collecting things that mattered to them, their treasures intended to inspire and marvel, if not to educate. Curiosity cabinets are considered the precursor to museums, buildings in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited, inherently in a learning environment -- and they could be eclectically, functionally, or aesthetically arranged. Even as they decreased in popularity by the early 1700s, much was left to the influence of their owners; imagination of their viewers; and their potential for informal learning in new contexts.

In 1899 James Earl Russell, Dean of Teachers College, established an "Educational Museum" located at the eastern end of the main corridor of Bryson Library (9 University Place) in the former New York College for the Training of Teachers. Described as "a kind of adjunct library," the Educational Museum widely circulated lantern slides, photographs, pictures, and other objects to its members. Teachers College appropriated funding for its museum until 1912/1913, and during its heyday showcased many different and interesting collections of material, usually relating to the work of leading faculty, including Arthur Wesley Dow, David Eugene Smith, and George Drayton Strayer.  At times the Educational Museum displayed materials in anticipation of new academic departments, like Religious Education, for which there were early regular courses in Bible study.  Japanese art prints, mathematics' materials, photographs of New York City school structures, and books on religion are examples.

Japanese Prints                                                                                  Mathematical Exhibit

  New York City Schools                                                                Religious Education

In Spring 2024 the Gottesman Libraries created a display cabinet in the third floor reading room to showcase materials from the collections in support of art exhibitions in the adjoining Offit Gallery. Made possible through the continuing generosity of The Myers Foundations, which support art-related initiatives of the Library and College, the new display space comprises several secure glassed in sections with adjustable shelving -- with special lighting soon to be added.

Cabinet Work, January 2024 (before display)

Showcasing material from the special collections,  Printmaking at Teachers College offers insight into the work of our students and faculty, among them Albert Heckman and Federico Castellon who became notable artist teachers, much like Arthur Wesley Dow and successive generations of TC faculty. The cabinet features select books, documents, photographs, and artwork from the archival, research, curriculum, and children’s literature collections of the Gottesman Libraries to highlight printmaking at the College,  as well as philosophy and practice in the field.

Reading Room Cabinets, Printmaking at Teachers College

Currently on display in the Offit Gallery is Selections from the Federico Castellon Memorial Print Collection, with a focus on fantasy, mystery and the human condition, which precedes The Work of Albert Heckman in late March, featuring the artist-teacher's etchings, lithographs, and oils, from the 1920s through the 1930s.

Also be sure to reserve a spot at complimentary studio workshop, Digital Explorations in Leaving a Print, hosted by the Digital Futures Institute (511 Russell) on Friday, March 29th, 2-4pm.

Still curious about cabinets? Read more below.

• Bauer, Dominique, and Camilla Murgia, eds. Ephemeral Spectacles, Exhibition Spaces and Museums : 1750-1918. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021. e-book
• Bell, Whitfield J. A Cabinet of Curiosities : Five Episodes in the Evolution of American Museums. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1967. Stacks AM11 .C3
• Dion, Mark, and Colleen J. (Colleen Josephine) Sheehy. Cabinet of Curiosities: Mark Dion and the University as Installation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006.  e-book
• Impey, O. R. (Oliver R.), and Arthur MacGregor. The Origins of Museums : The Cabinet of Curiosities in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century Europe. Oxford [Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, 1985.  Oversize Stacks; AM40.A2 O75 1985
• Miller, Steven. The Anatomy of a Museum: An Insider’s Text. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2017. e-book
• Diane R. Murray. A Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities at Teachers College : David Eugene Smith’s Collection. 2012. Docent Press,  2013. Stacks; QA21 .M877 2013
• Van Den Akker, Chiel, and Susan Legêne. Museums in a Digital Culture : How Art and Heritage Become Meaningful. 1st ed. Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press, 2016. e-book
• Weschler, Lawrence. Mr Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder.  New York : Pantheon Books, [1995]. Butler Library AM101.L725 W47 1995

Additional References

• Andrews, B. R. (1904). Possible Values of a School Museum. Teachers College Record, 5(3), 1-6.
• Andrews, B. R. (1908). Museums of Education: Their History and Use. Teachers College Record, 9(4), 1-12.
• Cremin, Lawrence A. (Lawrence Arthur). A History of Teachers College, Columbia University. New York: Columbia University Press, 1954.  Stacks ; LB2193.C62 C7 1954
• Dill, Homer Ray. Building an Educational Museum as a Function of the University. No place, unknown, or undetermined, 1915.  e-book
• Teachers College Administration. Educational Museum, 427AD. Card Index, Academic and Administrative.

Images:

• Cabinet of Curiosities, 1690s, painting by Domenico Remps, Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
• Educational Museum.  Exhibit Of Japanese Prints.  Teachers College. (December 1903), 1903. Historical Photographs of Teachers College, Courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University
• Educational Museum.  Mathematical Exhibit.  Teachers College.  (Ca. 1903), 1903. Historical Photographs of Teachers College, Courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University
• Educational Museum.  The Museum At Time Of Exhibit Of Photographs Of New York City School Structures.  Teachers College.  (1901), 1901.  Historical Photographs of Teachers College, Courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University
• Educational Museum. Exhibit On Religious Education.  Teachers College.  (Ca. 1904), 1904. Historical Photographs of Teachers College, Courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University
• Photos of the Third Floor Display Cabinet, Russell Hall, Courtesy of the Gottesman Libraries