News, Events, Exhibits

IN THE MSPAL GALLERY

Image of woman lifted by man in a dance pose. Text reads: Photography by Max Waldman. An exhibition at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library.

Max Waldman photographed some of the greatest theatre & dance artists during the 1960s & 70s in New York City. Instead of capturing the artists onstage, however, he invited them to his studio where he often created new arrangements, which proved intimate & profound. Over 50 photos were selected to display from the nearly 400 that Special Collections in the Performing Arts (SCPA) has in the Waldman Collection. (Image above of Revelations choreographed by Alvin Ailey.)

Curated by Drew Barker, Performing Arts Librarian

SUPPLEMENTARY LINKS:

IN THE LOWENS ROOM

Performing Arts Library, Room 1517

Current exhibition

Gladys Stone Wright: Promoting Women on the Band Podium

Gladys Stone Wright (b. 1925), a prominent conductor and music educator, is a founding member of Women Band Directors International, and the first woman inducted into the American Bandmasters Association (ABA) membership. After completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon, she became the first woman high school director in the state as director of bands at Elmira Union High School from 1948-1953. Wright continued working as a high school band director in Otterbein, Indiana and West Lafayette, Indiana from 1954 through 1984. Throughout her teaching career, Wright’s bands were known for performing at conferences, including the Midwest Clinic and the International Band and Orchestra Conference.

Gladys Stone Wright: Promoting Women on on the Band Podium was curated by Dr. Christian Folk and Dr. Jessica Grimmer, who have each worked as project archivists at MSPAL's Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA) for the ABA Research Center there. The exhibit surveys Wright’s career and numerous contributions to wind band music and advocacy for women band directors, and features archival artifacts from the Gladys Stone Wright papers at UMD's Special Collections in Performing Arts, such as photographs, concert programs, newspaper articles, awards, recordings, and musical compositions.

This exhibit runs through summer 2025.