John Ng

Scattered through the corridor surrounding Low Library’s rotunda, busts depicting past University presidents and deans, as well as Homer, Zeus, and Apollo reside.

Any first-time curator would be thrilled to see his or her exhibition take shape—unpacking the works of art and mounting them in place is akin to unwrapping presents under the tree on Christmas Day. But Laurel Ptak’s curatorial debut must have been doubly exciting as photographs she had once only seen through the computer screen acquired physical form.

We know Vincent van Gogh’s signature from the lower right-hand corner of his colorful and emotive oil paintings. It is thrilling to see the large underlined “Vincent” once again, but this time in a different context: at the bottom of a letter to a fellow painter.