About the Project

This website is based on multi-year research into the early exhibitions of Pop Art held at the University of Michigan. The bulk of the site draws upon work carried out by students in the University of Michigan class History of Art/American Culture 244, “Art of the ‘American Century’”, in 2014 and 2016, under the direction of Professor Rebecca Zurier. Student writing was completed and edited by graduate students Esther Ladkau and Zachary Kopin, and Mr. Kopin produced the site.

As part of the investigation, a symposium “Pop Art Comes to Michigan” was held at the University in March 2017. Featuring lectures by the scholars Michael Lobel and David McCarthy, it also included conversation with alumnae about art and life at the University in the 1960s. Professor Alex Potts collaborated closely on the symposium. A recording is available here.

Professor Zurier’s article about the early exhibitions, published in the academic journal Kunst Und Politik, Band 18 (2017), is linked on this website.

We welcome your comments and would be especially grateful for leads about the works of art that remain at large. Feel free to reach out to rzurier@umich.edu.