Over one hundred enthusiastic guests attended “Islamic Art and Museums,” a symposium organized to honor University Distinguished Professor of Islamic, Museum Studies, and Orientalism, Walter Denny on his recent retirement. They gathered in the Old Chapel of the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Saturday afternoon, October 21, to appreciate “Walter,” as he is known to all. Guests ranged from current students and faculty to alumni of several decades. One attendee said he took one of the first classes offered by Walter in the early 1970s and had returned last year to take one of his last ones.
The event celebrated Walter Denny’s scholarship in Islamic art and his 53 years of teaching at the university. Art History Department Chair Professor Timothy M. Rohan organized the symposium fulfilling a plan made by Professor Monika Schmitter, his predecessor as chair. Professor Laetitia LaFollette provided an illustrated overview of Professor Denny’s career enlivened by anecdotes from his former students. Walter provided some final remarks and thanked all. The symposium featured a lineup of speakers drawn from his former students and museum-world colleagues who spoke on these subjects:
- Yael Rice, associate professor, Islamic Art, Amherst College, "The Museum that Once Was: Mughal Art in the Age of Hindu Nationalism"
- Laura Weinstein, curator of South Asian and Islamic Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, “All Songs Alike Refer to God: Islamic Art at the MFA, Boston under Ananda K. Coomaraswamy"
- Aimée Froom, curator of Arts of the Islamic World, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, “New Beginnings: The Hossein Afshar Galleries for Art of the Islamic Worlds at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston”
- Amanda Phillips, associate professor, Islamic Art and Material Culture, University of Virginia, “Silk and Wool in the Ottoman Empire and Republican Turkey: Memory Palaces and Museums”
- Margaret Squires, PhD candidate, The Courtauld Institute of Art, "Frayed Edges: Approaching the Carpet Fragment in the Museum"
- Sumru Krody, senior curator, The Textile Museum, Washington D.C., "Fiber of Being: Discovering the World of Textiles"
The symposium concluded with a reception where attendees wrote of their appreciation for Walter in an album presented to him by the Department of the History of Art & Architecture. If you would like to share your appreciation for Walter, donate to the Walter Denny Fund to support Art History students, and sign the petition to sustain his legacy by hiring a new faculty member to teach Islamic art and architecture, please visit the Denny Fund & Acknowledgements page.
Walter Denny is the best colleague we could possibly ask for and we will miss his presence in the department dearly!
–Professor Karen Kurczynski, UMass Amherst
Walter's energy and enthusiasm made the biggest impression on me as a student and they are the qualities I still remember most about him. He was a tireless cheerleader for the art and cultures he loved and knew deeply and because of that converted countless others to his cause. His style was always open, always relentlessly positive, and I believe that is what drew others to him and made him such a force at UMASS. Thank you, Walter!
– Erin Sullivan Maynes, Assistant Curator, Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Professor Denny, you changed my life forever and led me to the direction I never thought I would be going. The sheer amount of enthusiasm you have for your career has been inspiring me since the first day I met you. I will never forget sitting in the class and listening to you sharing your knowledge and experience spiced up with your unique humor. Thank you so much for giving me one of the best experiences of my life.
– Roya Peighambarzadeh, Graduate Art History student (MA ’24), UMass Amherst
View photos from the event via our Flickr below. All photos for this event were taken by Yarra Berger (MA '25).
