{"id":115221,"date":"2018-05-02T21:04:50","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T01:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=115221"},"modified":"2021-02-10T09:05:23","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T14:05:23","slug":"look-what-we-found-ann-marie-russells-embrace-of-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2018\/05\/02\/look-what-we-found-ann-marie-russells-embrace-of-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Look What We Found: Ann Marie Russell’s art evokes spreadsheets and connections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every day as she walks to her desk, Ann Marie Russell passes a Haitian-made artwork on the wall. And nearly every time, it makes her think of something different.<\/p>\n

Russell, who directs the college\u2019s Office of Institutional Research, Analysis, and Planning<\/a>, purchased the work online a few years ago while redecorating the office in Lane Hall. She wanted pieces that would symbolize both the work of the office and the spirit of the college.<\/p>\n

And how, exactly, does this work evoke the world of institutional research with its swirl of numbers, facts, and data? \u201cMy intellectual eyes see a spreadsheet, which ties in well with our data work,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut through another lens, I see interconnection. Maybe it\u2019s a web, or a net, or a basket; maybe it\u2019s meant to hold something precious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Anne Marie Russell poses with “White Branches,” an abstract work of art made in Haiti. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Importantly, all its parts connect, and that\u2019s Bates. \u201cWe believe that the Bates community connects to the world as a single human family,\u201d she says. The piece was handmade by Haitian artisans from locally sourced, organic materials. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t get more Bates than that!\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell\u2019s heritage is Jamaican. Having a piece of Haitian art in her office makes Russell also think about the African diaspora and Afro-Caribbean self-identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cJamaicans and Haitians were once together as Africans until we were separated by the slave trade and Middle Passage,\u201d she explains. \u201cIn that sense, the artwork is hopeful: It\u2019s about breaking down the human boundaries that were created between us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every day as she walks to her desk, Ann Marie Russell passes a piece of Haitian-made art.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":115222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[130,133,14,224],"tags":[647,11321],"class_list":["post-115221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collaboration","category-creativity","category-faculty-staff","category-society-culture","tag-african-diaspora","tag-look-what-we-found"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115221"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115372,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115221\/revisions\/115372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}