THE CURATORIAL LENS: CONVERSATIONS IN THE GALLERY

Next date: Friday, August 15, 2025 | 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Join us for a 30-minute pre-lunchtime tour of the original exhibition POOL PARTY: THE POOL IN AMERICAN ART led by the Mennello Museum staff and special guest scholars, select Fridays 11:00am to 11:30am!

The Curatorial Lens: Conversations in the Gallery | 11:00 – 11:30 A.M. | Free with Admission
June 20 with Shannon Fitzgerald, Mennello Museum Executive Director
July 18 with Keidra Navaroli, McKnight Doctoral Fellow in the Texts and Technology PhD Program at the University of Central Florida
August 15 with Katherine Page, Mennello Museum Curator, Art and Education 

Keidra Daniels Navaroli will be our guest voice at July's Curatorial Lens program where she will highlight her exhibition favorites in conversation with Katherine Page.

Keidra Daniels Navaroli is an independent curator, thought leader, and McKnight Doctoral Fellow in the Texts and Technology PhD Program at the University of Central Florida (UCF). For over sixteen years, her work in arts management, scholarship, and curation, has focused on addressing how museums broadly (and the medium of textiles specifically) can be utilized to question cultural divisions, foster intergenerational dialogue, and enhance the understanding of traditionally-underrepresented communities of practice. These experiences inform her current research interests, which are focused on the intersection of data science and art historical systems.

About POOL PARTY: THE POOL IN AMERICAN ART

The pool symbolizes luxury and leisure in America, and it has been captivating artists since the 1950s with bright sunlight, vibrant colors, and modernist architecture. The exhibition features artists who emerged in the mid-20th century, yet their themes of pool culture, class, and leisure remain strikingly contemporary. This is further emphasized by the younger generation of artists reclaiming the narrative of the pool in relationship to family, like Amy Bennett and Isca Greenfield-Sanders, and within more social, environmental, and civic contexts, such as Derrick Adams, Anastasia Samoylova, and Jay Lynn Gomez. These themes, so relevant to our lives today, will engage and connect with our visitors.

Pool Party: The Pool in American Art features artists:
Slim Aarons | Derrick Adams | Amy Bennett | Maritza Caneca | Bruce Davidson | Jay Lynn Gomez | David Hockney | Ridley Howard | Isca Greenfield-Sanders | Alex Katz | Joel Meyerowitz | Ed Ruscha | Anastasia Samoylova | Peter Schreyer | Ericka Sobrack | Andy Sweet | Andy Warhol


POOL PARTY: THE POOL IN AMERICAN ART is organized by the Mennello Museum of American Art and curated by Shannon Fitzgerald, Executive Director with Katherine Page, Curator Art and Education.

Mennello Museum of American Art and its exhibitions are generously supported by the City of Orlando and Friends of the Mennello Museum of American Art. Additional funding is provided by Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program and United Arts of Central Florida.

When

Location

Mennello Museum of American Art, 900 E. Princeton St., 32803, View Map