Dr. Pat Villeneuve Meets Chinese Visitors at The Ringling Opening

Photo Credit: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

Located in Sarasota, Florida, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the state art museum of Florida. Florida State University (FSU) assumed governance of the Museum in 2ooo. Today, the Ringling is home to the most distinguished art and cultural collections in the United States.

The Ringling organized an exhibition entitled Royal Taste: The Art of Princely Courts in Fifteenth-Century China that will be showcased until January 10, 2016. Royal Taste offers a unique glimpse into the luxurious lifestyles and religious practices of princely courts in early- and mid-Ming China (1368-1644). The exhibition also has more than 140 works of pictorial, sculptural, and decorative arts that reveal exceptional aspects of palatial lives, religious patronage, and afterlife beliefs of Ming princes, whose world has long been a mystery.

FSU’s Pat Villeneuve attended the opening of the exhibition in Sarasota, Florida, along with Panpan Wang, visiting scholar from the University of Shanghai in China. During her stay at FSU, PanPan will study under Dr. Pat Villeneuve to conduct research related to art and museum education.

A delegation from Hubei Provincial Museum visited in conjunction with the exhibition opening. Dr. Pat Villeneuve met with Luo YunBing, Deputy Director of the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, Hubei Provincial Museum, and Wang Jichao, Exhibitions, Hubei Provincial Museum.

After the Ringling board meeting, Dr. Pat Villeneuve and Panpan Wang attended a reception. In addition, Dr. Pat Villeneuve had the opportunity to observe the current Visitor Studies class, taught by Dr. Ann Rowson Love, conduct exit interviews at the exhibition.