Virginia "Ginny" Soenksen: Director of the Madison Art Collection & Lisanby Museum

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.

• 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?”