15 For detailed information about the exhibition and related programs visit the Leisure & Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis Near Pompeii website: smith.edu/artmuseum/On-View/Past-Exhibitions Night at Your Museum attendance 1,401 Number of exhibition programs 24 Number of college classes 27 “First Look” exhibition previews 101 Total program attendance 4,998 Free Fun Friday/Second Friday attendance 1,126 Total number of museum visitors 24,294 Leisure & Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis Near Pompeii was organized and circulated by The University of Michigan Kelsey Museum of Archaeology in cooperation with the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo and the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Pompei, Ercolano e Stabia. The exhibition, presented in memory of Isabel Brown Wilson ’53, was made possible by generous gifts from Jane Chace Carroll ’53, Louisa Stude Sarofim ’58, Jane M. Timken ’64 and Wallace S. Wilson. partnerships with Five College faculty and community organizations, including Northampton’s Forbes Library, Enchanted Circle Theater (based in Holyoke, MA) and the Western Massachusetts branch of the Archaeological Institute of America. Lectures and gallery talks provided access to expert insights that expanded on the themes and ideas in the exhibition. The gallery talks put the spotlight on specific objects in the exhibition, including marble portraits and fresco wall fragments. We were joined on March 25 by the co-director of the archaeological project at Oplontis—John Clarke, Regents Professor at the University of Texas at Austin—for an overview of the latest discoveries at the site. This lecture was followed in the afternoon by a panel discussion, organized and moderated by Professor Barbara Kellum, which brought together three key members of the team that assembled and presented this exhibition to provide some behind- the-scenes perspectives. Later in the semester, Lauren Hackworth Peterson, professor of art history, University of Delaware, offered her important perspective on the material evidence that informs our understanding of the lives of enslaved people in the ancient Roman world. Two film screenings were also presented during the exhibition’s run. A beautifully produced BBC docu- mentary featuring the well-known Roman scholar Mary Beard highlighted how the archaeological discoveries at Oplontis have revealed important evidence about daily life on the Bay of Naples at the time of the Vesuvius eruption. We were also joined by local filmmaker Kevin Taylor Anderson, who premiered his short film on the complex relationship between the modern-day city of Pompeii and its archaeological resources. The exhibition also inspired some creative explorations. Students from the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts worked with a teaching artist from Enchanted Circle Theater to develop a theatrical presentation about ancient life in a Roman villa. This was performed for a public audience during the museum’s Community Day (see page 46). Additionally, a group of Smith classics and theatre students developed their own dramatic response to the exhibition, which they titled Oplontis: A Roman Tragedy. They wrote a script that imagined the backstories and experiences of individuals known to have perished at the Oplontis site. Throughout the exhibition’s run, we invited our visitors to join us in a range of hands-on art making activities during our monthly Second Friday program. The course Art History 291: Leisure and Luxury in the Age of Nero focused on this exhibition specifically, delving into the historical and museological life of the objects. Other classes that utilized the exhibition for deep learning opportunities include Classics 237: Arti- facts of Daily Life in the Ancient Mediterranean, Classics 233: Gender and Sexuality in Greco-Roman Culture and Anthropology 221: Archaeological Method, Theory and Practice, as well as Latin classes. This slate of programs was intended to offer visitors a range of entry points for exploring the world of Oplontis and its ancient residents, while also providing opportunities to build an expanded sense of connection and community at the museum.