This exhibition is about how and why people collect objects.
NOTE TO ADULTS: CONTENT WARNING
Souvenir contains stories about the harmful impact of certain collecting practices, including racial violence and objectification. Please note the gallery signage that advises where those specific stories are featured in the exhibition.
This Gallery Guide includes artwork and activities that caregivers may use to explore and discuss this theme in a way that is appropriate for children.
What's New? Recent Acquisitions
This exhibition highlights artwork that is new to the museum collection.
Portrait of a Movement: A New Approach to the Bloomsbury
Group
This exhibition is about a group of artists who experimented with new styles of artmaking.
Art Encounters: Technology, Innovation, and Obsolescence
This exhibition shows how art and technology impact each other.
Did you know that there are more than 6,000 objects in the museum collection? Wow!
It takes a lot of work to keep all those objects clean and to help them last a long time.
BE AN ART PROTECTOR!
An Art Protector...
Looks but never touches the art
Leaves food and drinks outside the museum
Uses only pencils to draw and take notes
Takes photos without the flash Talks quietly and walks in the galleries
Big words you will see along the way:
Exhibition: A grouping of artwork or objects that is about a special topic.
Acquisition: An artwork or object that a museum adds to its collection.
Obsolescence: To be old or no longer useful.
Souvenir: An object or image that is a reminder of a place, person, or event.
Conceptual: Something that represents an idea.
Title:
WE THE PEOPLE (DETAIL)
Artist: Danh Vo
Year: 2011-2016
What words would you use to describe this sculpture?
This is a conceptual sculpture in our Souvenir exhibition. It is a big object about big ideas!
The artist created this sculpture as part of a series of 250 pieces. If put together like a puzzle, all of those pieces would look like a life-size version of the Statue of Liberty. However, the artist has a special rule for this art. He wants all 250 pieces to stay separate.
Why do you think the artist made that rule?
A ‘PIECE’ OF ART
Find and circle the separate pieces of the Statue of Liberty below!
Title:
SUNSET
Artist: Brooks Dierdorff
Year: 2014
What do you see and hear when you stand in front of this video?
In this video, a photo of a sunset is being printed. We don’t see the real sunset, but a copy of one being made.
Real sunsets happen in just a few moments. After being printed, the photo of this sunset will last a long time, similar to a souvenir.
How would you make a souvenir of a sunset?
SOUVENIR IN THE SKY
Think about the colors, the place, and the feelings you had the last time you saw a sunset. How would you explain it to someone else?
Title:
763 COLLINS AVENUE, 2:41:42 PM, 15
SEPTEMBER, 2012, MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA
Artist: Gideon Barnett
Year: 2012
What do you notice about the person in this photograph?
The title of this photo tells us where it was taken. Imagine there was no title. What visual clues would help you know where the person is?
Notice the clothes they are wearing and the objects they are carrying. One of the objects may be a souvenir. Some souvenirs can be worn and they remind us of where we have visited!
Why do we keep souvenirs?
SOUVENIR STOP
Draw a wearable souvenir from a place you have been!
Where did you get this souvenir?
Title:
THE FIDDLER
Artist: Walter Richard Sickert
Year: 1925
How would you describe the setting of this scene?
The blended colors and soft lines behind the figure are a little fuzzy. However, they still give us an impression of his surroundings.
This painting is set on a street in London, England just over 100 years ago.
What is the person in the painting doing?
TELL A MUSICAL STORY
Create a short song about the Fiddler. What does his music sound like? Who is he playing for?
Title:
CROCODILE BENCH
Artist: Judy Kensley McKie
Year: 2018
Have you ever seen a work of art like this before?
Judy Kensley McKie is an artist who often creates pieces of furniture. She is inspired by the ways PreColumbian, African, Inuit, and Native American cultures depict animals.
This artwork has the shape of a crocodile cast into its sides. It is made of bronze, a type of metal often used to create strong sculptures.
Where would you display this piece of furniture?
FURNITURE ZOO
Draw a piece of furniture that looks like another animal and name it.
Title:
PLATE NO. 602 FROM ANIMAL LOCOMOTION
Artist: Eadweard Muybridge
Year: 1887
What is happening in this work of art?
There are many small photographs here that show a man on a horse. If you look closely, you will see that each one is a little different. When placed right next to each other, the photos create the illusion that the horse is moving.
The artist invented a new form of technology to produce this effect. His style of photography even influenced early movie making.
Can you think of other types of art that show motion?
ART IN ACTION
Use the boxes to draw something or someone in motion!
Tell us what you think!
Tear along the dotted line. Return completed card to the front desk. Receive a prize!
Share your creations with RMA by tagging us on Instagram or Facebook @rollinsmuseum
For more information on family programs at RMA, email rmaeducation@rollins.edu or scan the QR code to visit our website:
This guide was developed as part of the Romano and Mariolina Salvatori Education Fellowship. The 2025-2026 Fellow is Hannah Sheppard ‘26.
| Page 4: Danh Vo (Danish, b. 1975), We The People (Detail), 2011-16, Copper, The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art, Rollins Museum of Art. Gift of Barbara ’68 and Theodore ’68 Alfond. 2018.1.19. Studio Danh Vo. | Page 6: Brooks Dierdorff (American, b. 1982), Sunset, 2014, Video, Lent by Brooks Dierdorff. | Page 8: Gideon Barnett (American, b. 1982), 763 Collins Avenue, 2:41:42 PM, 15 September 2012, Miami Beach, FL, 2012, Pigment ink print on cotton rag paper, cold mounted to dibond in artist’s frame, The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art, Rollins Museum of Art. Gift of Barbara ’68 and Theodore ’68 Alfond. 2013.34.49. Image courtesy of the artist. | Page 10: Walter Richard Sickert (British, 1860-1942), The Fiddler, ca. 1925, Oil on canvas, Bequest of Kenneth Curry, Ph.D. ’32. 2000.1.24. | Page 12: Judy Kensley McKie (American, b. 1944), Crocodile Bench, 2018, Cast bronze, The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art, Rollins Museum of Art. Gift of Barbara ’68 and Theodore ’68 Alfond. 2024.1.5. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery NAGA, Boston. | Page 14: Eadweard Muybridge (American, 1830-1904), Plate No. 602, from Animal Locomotion, Collotype photographic print, Museum purchase from the Michel Roux Acquisition Fund. 2013.11.
