Virginia "Ginny" Soenksen: Director of the Madison Art Collection & Lisanby Museum
Director of the Madison Art Collection and Lisanby Museum
soenksvm@jmu.edu
Contact Info
EDUCATION
M.A. Tufts University
Art History
B.S. University of Mary Washington
Psychology
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Museum Education and Interpretation
Japanese Art History
Textiles
Exhibition Curation
Interactives in the Museum
Arts-Related Public Programing
COURSES TAUGHT
Museum internships with the Lisanby Museum
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
Textiles of Japan: The Thomas Murray Collection. Munich and New York: Prestel, 2018.
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Also released as Textiles du Japon (Citadelles - Mazenod, 2019)
“Cultural Threads: The Didactic Nature of Okinawan Textiles,” Textiles Asia, Volume 7, Issue 1, May 2015
“Ainu Textiles: Weaving Religious Belief,” Textiles Asia, Volume 4, Issue 1, May 2012
Woven Identities of Japan: Kimono and Costume, Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, November 2011
Woven Identities of Japan: Ainu and Okinawan Textiles, Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, September 2011
RECENT GUEST LECTURES
2016 “Bingata: When Art and Culture Collide," at the Textile Museum at George Washington University
2015 “Ever-Changing: Designing Educational Programming for the Non-Collecting Museum” presentation with Janine Okmin, Megan Robertson, and Jaime Thompson at the annual conference of the National Education Association.
SERVICE
Friends of Nashville Ballet Board, 2015 – 2017
- Young Professional Liaison Chair, 2015
Membership Engagement Chair, 2016
Sister Cities of Nashville, Kamakura Committee, 2015 – 2017
Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival, Planning Committee, 2015 – 2017
Nashville Symphony Associate Board, 2016
- Social Committee Chair
Junior League, 2015 – 2017
- Project Chair, Nashville Children’s Theatre
HONORS AND AWARDS
2018 Tennessee Association of Museums Award of Excellence for Best Audio Visual Exhibition Component - “Power and Propaganda: A World War I Interactive”
2018 Tennessee Association of Museums Award of Excellence for Best Special Event - “Ritual in Action: Making a Mandala”
2017 Tennessee Association of Museums Award of Excellence for Audio-Visual Component for “Samurai: Fact or Fiction?”