MFA students are "Inspired by Inquiry" into IU Libraries' Wylie House Museum

The authentic collections and contents of the 1835 Wylie House Museum are the inspiration for three spring exhibitions at Indiana University Bloomington.  

• Sebastian Escobedo [who is pursuing his Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) at IU's Eskenazi School in graphic design] designed a mixed media installation reflecting his reaction to intimate letters between a descendant of IU’s first president Andrew Wylie, and a famous poet.
• A handcrafted brass and braided-cotton brooch made by Sydney Thompson [pursuing her M.F.A. at IU's Eskenazi School in metalsmithing and jewelry] was motivated by architectural design and hardware in the historic IU house.
• And, IU curatorship student Maddie Guy’s exhibit of seven china-head dolls, including two from Wylie House, artfully shows these distinctive and popular 19th-century toys.

These exhibitions are intended to inspire students to use IU’s collections to imagine artwork, exhibits, and other creative expressions of learning.  “Wylie House Museum has a long history of inspiring both visual and performing arts,” said Carey Champion, director of Wylie House, located at 307 E. Second Street. "Over the years, the museum itself has hosted numberous works created in response to the 1835 home and its object and archival collections.  

Along with hosting professional artists, she said, Wylie House and its archival collections are regularly integrated into IU’s fine arts and curatorial studies programs. “We deeply value the power of art to communicate meaningfully, illuminate lesser-known stories, and foster emotional connections between past and present,” said Champion.

Wylie House Museum makes IU special by being a place dedicated to IU’s earliest history, student Maddie Guy said. “There are so many different ways to approach historical display and learning, and a house museum like Wylie House really lets the guests step back into the past in a way traditional museums aren’t able to.” 

These exhibitions, along with those from other first-year [Master of Fine Arts] students in the IU Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, [in the College of Arts and Sciences] were presented this spring at University Collections at McCalla. Open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday at 525 East 9th Street, McCalla offered two galleries with works created by students: "Inspired by Inquiry” (closing April 24) and “Images of [Blank] (closing March 26).

Sebastian Escobedo

Escobedo’s installation, “I’ll Run Away With You,” reflects the affection expressed in early twentieth-century letters between poet Elizabeth Bishop and Louise Bradley, great-granddaughter of Professor  Theophilus Wylie, cousin of Andrew Wylie, and IU’s first librarian. Bradley befriended Bishop in 1924, when they were teenagers at a Cape Cod camp. They corresponded for many years.

“The installation is a homage to honor their memories and relationship,” said Escobedo. “It is like a thank you for inspiring me and giving me a voice. I wouldn’t have written as much as I did if I wasn’t inspired by their writing and the way they talked to each other.” 

Escobedo said he took considerable time researching different collections and studying Wylie House documents. His interest piqued after reading an article about Bishop and Bradley, an IU student in the mid-1920s. Bishop’s career as a world- renowned poet also drew him to telling their story.  

“I am really obsessed with poetry,” he said. 

His installation centers around a white book stand he made, adorned with colorful flowers like those the women described in their letters. He designed several books on the stand with collages, images, and quotes from the letters written from 1925 to 1950. He included his poem describing his reactions to the women. The installation has headphones for visitors to hear similar music that the women enjoyed. 

Champion commented, “He demonstrates a sensitive awareness of the intimacy and vulnerability conveyed in the women’s writings, and his work thoughtfully honors that emotional depth.”

Sydney Thompson

Contents in the Wylie House sparked a different inspiration for Thompson, 24, of Grand Haven, Michigan. She toured IU collections at several sites and went to Wylie House with her M.F.A. seminar, led by senior lecturer Carissa Carman and Grunwald Gallery Director Linda Tien.

“I was hoping something would catch my eye there and it did,” said Thompson. “It’s really interesting going into the house as a metalsmith. I was specifically drawn to metal. I wanted to reinterpret an old object and share an intimate connection that was sparked between history, space and people.” 

Thompson was drawn to the 18th century curtain pullback knobs. “I really loved how they were all different on each window. They had their own unique pattern specific to different time periods. I was also interested in the curtains and designs in different fabrics.”  

She modeled a set of brass brooches, connected by a hand-braided cotton rope, after the home’s pullback knobs and call it, “Held Together.” She said the brooches, hand-formed and powder coated, “reinterpret this overlooked object through a contemporary lens.”  

Thompson, who plans to earn a master’s of fine arts degree in spring of 2028 in metalsmithing and jewelry, said the piece explores themes of connection and adornment of the body. 

“By reimagining the tieback’s simple ‘holding’ function,” said Champion, “she transforms it into a deeply evocative symbol of human connection and being held —emotionally, physically, and metaphorically.”

Maddie Guy

Guy’s display of seven china-head dolls is part of “Images of [Blank],” [a separate exhibition at University Collections at McCalla that] presents exhibitions curated by students in the Curatorship Practicum. Exhibits culminate research, design, and presentation work in curatorial projects. China-head dolls, predominantly produced in Germany between the 1840s and 1900s, feature shoulders and heads made of glazed, white porcelain with painted, molded hair and facial features. 

Her display includes two dolls borrowed from Wylie House Museum, four from the Monroe County History Center, and one of her own. They are displayed, standing and clad in dresses, in a glass-enclosed case. She has personally collected 10 china-head dolls, the oldest made in 1870. Guy started collecting them two years ago while working at Wylie House.  

Guy, focusing her degree on textiles and clothing, said the china-head dolls intrigued her. “I’ve always loved dolls, but I had never encountered a doll that looked like them. I was inspired to make a display of these dolls because I started collecting (them) in the past few years,” said Guy, 24, of Bloomington, who plans to earn a Master of Arts in Museum Curatorship this December. 

To Guy, china-head dolls are “very sweet dolls” that stand out among many dolls from the past that some may consider “creepier.” She hopes her exhibit gives visitors a better opportunity to appreciate these 19th-century dolls and recognize their stark difference from today’s dolls. She wants to give these dolls “a chance to see the light of day rather than being hidden in cabinets.”