To allow more students and faculty to view the display, Ritter Library plans to re-hang The Bach exhibit this semester.
The artifacts were hung, ready to be seen by students, faculty, and community members who wanted to learn more about The Riemenschneider Bach Institute when the unexpected happened.
Soon after the Spring semester, the Ritter exhibit opened, and students left for spring break not knowing the campus would be shut down due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Keith Peppers, one of the exhibit’s curators said, “it [the exhibit] might have been up for a week before everyone left so no one really got to see it.” The decision to re-hang the exhibit came to Ritter staff when curating
the next theme surrounding the 175th anniversary of Baldwin Wallace.
The exhibit was initially curated to educate viewers about The Riemenschneider Bach Institute (RBI), a research library located in the Conservatory of Music on campus with a deep history at Baldwin Wallace. Opening in 1969, The RBI contains artifacts such as letters, programs, and scores from composers like Bach, Mozart, and Brahms, along with The Bach Journal, a research
publication edited by scholars all around the world. 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the Bach Journal, another reason the Bach exhibit was curated last spring.
This exhibit was created in partnership between Ritter staff and The Riemenschneider Bach Institute staff who came together to create two exhibits, one on display in the Conservatory of Music, and one on display in Ritter Library, hoping to reach a large number of people. Bach Journal Editor Dr. Christina Fuhrmann, said, “It’s really nice that Ritter is such an open and public space where a lot of people are coming and going, I think that can definitely highlight the RBI.”
“It’s all part of our history,” Peppers said, explaining how The Riemenschneider Bach Institute has been a part of BW for years. The overall goal of the exhibit was to highlight the history between the RBI and show how it is intertwined with Baldwin Wallace: “I really hope that people get the incredibly rich history that the Riemenschneiders brought to BW,” Fuhrmann said. “I hope it also brings light to the fact that the RBI, Bach Festival, and Bach Journal are all really unique resources open to students and faculty.”
Re-hanging the exhibit allows students and faculty who did not view the exhibit last year a new chance to see it. In general, full exhibits are not typically re-hung when they are removed from the library. Some exhibits will reuse certain artifacts or have similar themes but reusing full exhibits becomes stale Peppers said. However due to the effects of the Coronavirus, exceptions are being made.
Students and Faculty can view the The Riemenschneider Bach Institute exhibit upstairs on the main floor of Ritter Library starting September 28 and the exhibit will remain there until the end of Spring semester. Peppers added that exhibits take a lot of time and effort to curate, so the staff wants them to be seen and appreciated by as many people as possible.