16 ON VIEW: LEISURE & LUXURY IN THE AGE OF NERO ON VIEW/LEISURE & LUXURY IN THE AGE OF NERO: THE VILLAS OF OPLONTIS NEAR POMPEII A CONVERSATION WITH BARBARA KELLUM, PROFESSOR OF ART YOU WERE A STRONG VOICE AND ADVOCATE FOR BRINGING THIS EXHIBITION TO THE SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART. WHY WAS IT PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT TO YOU FOR THIS EXHIBITION TO COME TO OUR CAMPUS? I was convinced that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring some of the great treasures of the ancient Mediterranean to Smith. Since the exhibition was curated by University of Michigan Professor Elaine Gazda, my first mentor in Roman art, I also knew that the sculpture, frescoes, jewelry and objects of daily life were selected to tell multiple stories across many disci- plines and that it would make the exhibition memorable for all. At the same time, I was very much aware that the cost of mounting this exhibition was great and I am profoundly grateful to SCMA director Jessica Nicoll ‘83 for her commitment to make this happen and to the amazing Smith alumnae and friends whose generosity made this exhibition a reality. YOU TAUGHT COURSES REGULARLY IN THE GALLERY OVER THE SPRING SEMESTER. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE WAYS THAT YOUR STUDENTS ENGAGED WITH THE OBJECTS AND IDEAS IN THE EXHIBITION? I did indeed have the good fortune to teach a Leisure & Luxury colloquium last spring, in which we spent a portion of nearly every session in the exhibition. As a group we were amazed at how, time after time, we would return to literally see the objects on display with new eyes as we considered different readings each week. While in the exhibition, students usually worked in small groups or pairs, pinpointing examples to bring back to the meeting of the whole at the end of each class session. Students also selected topics for papers and projects on themes that ranged from centaurs in art to slave life in an ancient villa. These took many forms, from research papers to a graphic novel and expert jew- elry-making. Several students in the course were also museum educators, so they shared their expertise with K–12 audiences. Other Romanists from the Five Colleges also offered courses and my colloquium students had two group meetings in the gallery with Bettina Bergmann’s Mount Holyoke class so all could garner a fuller under- standing of the behind-the-scenes installation of the exhibition provided by the SCMA staff who facilitated it. YOU TALKED WITH MANY DIFFERENT AUDIENCES IN THE EXHIBITION—FROM STUDENTS, TO ALUMNAE, TO LOCAL ADULT VISITORS. ARE THERE ANY PARTIC- ULARLY MEMORABLE MOMENTS THAT STAND OUT ACROSS THOSE CONVERSATIONS?