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1st Floor Mardigian Library

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Stamelos Gallery

The Art of the Everyday: Objects from Ancient Daily Life

April 26 - July 5

Exhibition opening reception: Friday, April 26, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Featured Speaker: Elaine K. Gazda, Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology, Curator of Hellenistic and Roman Collections, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, 6:00 p.m.

This exhibition explores the society, culture, religion, and technology of the ancient Mediterranean by examining the things used by ordinary people in their daily lives such as coins, ceramics, figurines, and glass vessels.

Exhibition lenders:

Don Miller, Lecturer IV of Biological Sciences, UM-Dearborn

logo of Toledo Museum of Art    logo of Kelsey Museum

  • Small, round earthenware pot with a wide mouth and a visible crack on the rim, shown against a plain gray background.
    Cooking pot; Roman, Late Imperial to Late Antique period (3rd to 5th century CE); Clay, palm fiber, slip; Karanis, Egypt (University of Michigan Excavations); Kelsey Museum of Archaeology 7329, University of Michigan
  • Glossy black ceramic vase with a narrow neck and rounded body, decorated with flowing blue-and-white swirl patterns, on a white background.
    Black Vase, by Richard Ritter; American (ca. 1975); Glass, free blown with applied details. Gift of Dr. and Ms. Patrick Daoust. UM-Dearborn Collection 1991.523. Photography by Sarah Nesbitt.
  • Weathered terracotta jug with a short neck and a small loop handle near the rim, decorated with raised bands and textured detailing, photographed against a plain gray background.
    Juglet; Roman, Late Republican or Early Imperial (1st century BCE); Clay, slip. Gift of Peter Ruthven. Kelsey Museum of Archaeology 6542, University of Michigan

VIEW THE EXHIBITION WEBSITE

Reception is free to the public. Complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres provided.
This exhibition will be the first one presented in the new Stamelos Gallery Center located on the first floor of the Mardigian Library. This exciting new exhibition space was made possible by the immense generosity of the Stamelos family.

The Stamelos Gallery Center is located on the first floor of the Mardigian Library at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. For further information, see below for contact information. Anyone requiring accommodations under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact (313)-593-5087.

Bill and Electra Stamelos


Electra was a remarkably gifted painter and Bill was an avid photographer. The couple loved to travel, and they acquired artwork from all over the world for their collection. Bill and Electra contributed greatly to the university's art collection for decades including donating the majority of Electra's body of work and many other art pieces that they collected throughout their years together. The couple also contributed a sizeable, and very generous, gift which, along with the support of other donors, will allow for the creation of the new Stamelos Gallery.

Bill and Electra Stamelos

Featured University Art Collection Piece

A dynamic construction scene, a recurring theme in his celebrated
Builders No. 3,

Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), Serigraph print, 1974
Gift of Gilbert M. Frimet,
Collection of UM-Dearborn (1980.065)
Photographed by Tim Thayer

This powerful serigraph print from the permanent collection was created by Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), one of this century's most widely acclaimed artists.

Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but moved to Harlem, New York, at 13. He is among the few painters of his generation who grew up in a Black community, received instruction primarily from Black artists, and was influenced by the experiences of Black individuals.

Lawrence's artwork portrays the lives and struggles of the Black community, capturing their experiences through several series focused on figures such as Toussaint L'Ouverture, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman, as well as themes related to life in Harlem and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. His style is characterized by vibrant colors and abstract forms.

In the 1940s, during a time of widespread segregation, Lawrence broke racial barriers by becoming the first Black artist whose work was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

He stated, "If at times my productions do not express the conventionally beautiful, there is always an effort to express the universal beauty of man's continuous struggle to lift his social position and to add dimension to his spiritual being."

Researched and written by:
Julianna Collins, Stamelos Gallery Center former intern, UM-Dearborn art history/museum studies graduate, Class of 2025

Contact Us

  • Stamelos Gallery Center
  • 1st Floor, Mardigian Library, UM-Dearborn
  • 4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn, MI 48128
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