Karol Lawson juxtaposes a leaping ostrich wearing a tutu with Rembrandt's "Return of the Prodigal Son" in an art exhibition opening Aug. 27 at Sweet Briar. The arrangement suggests the otherwise serious art historian has a playful bent.

As it happens, the penciled story sketch of "The Ostrich Ballet, Dance of the Hours" from Walt Disney Studios' "Fantasia" also is a perfect fit for "Language Arts: Images, Words, and Stories Selected from the Permanent Collection," which opens Thursday in Pannell Gallery. Lawson discovered the drawing, along with a sketch of Grumpy from "Snow White," in the College's permanent art collection.

Hovsep Pushman’s still life, “The Book of Life: Une page de Khayyam,” appears in the readers and reading section of “Language Arts.”"Really, the Rembrandt and Disney works are not so very different," Lawson said. "They are poignant, graceful images that put into visual form timeless stories of joy and of sorrow. It's that morphing of the essence of a story in language to a story in an image that I want visitors to experience."

The show will run through Dec. 11. A gallery reception will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17.

Lawson, who became director of the College's art collection and galleries in July after serving as interim director last year, is curating the exhibit. The idea that ties the show together, however, began last fall with then-sophomore Annie Colpitts' arts management project to develop an exhibition concept from works in the permanent collection.

Colpitts came across a book by renowned sculptor and printmaker Louise Bourgeois, and the idea of artists and books grew from there, Lawson said. Later, she refined and expanded her student's project to include works that are inspired by poems or narratives, incorporate words and letters, or illustrate specific tales.

Creating exhibitions from the collection — Lawson plans a second one next semester — serves numerous goals, not least allowing the Sweet Briar community the opportunity to see some of it displayed. It also compels the gallery staff to research, conserve, archive and otherwise attend to the long-term care of its roughly 2,000 pieces, she said.

Furthermore, being relatively new to her own job and for the benefit of SBC's new president, Jo Ellen Parker, "I thought it would be a good time to have some fun with the permanent collection and take a fresh look at it," Lawson said.

"Language Arts" includes about 35 works representing widely varied time periods and styles, from the aforementioned etching of Rembrandt's work to complete books such as Bourgeois' "The Puritan." Lawson presents them in groups loosely united by a theme — books, readers and reading, stories, or works inspired by poems, to name a few.

Under the theme of "sexuality," for example, one of three Japanese woodblock prints in the show, "Woman with Iris," circa 1810 to 1847, depicts a courtesan. The artist comments on her clothing by including a poem that refers to the proper way for women to dress.

With this exhibit, Lawson also is introducing an ongoing series of informal "conversations in the gallery" about works in the show. The campus' "center of gravity" has shifted to Prothro Commons and, soon, to the new fitness center, she said. Her aim is get people back in the habit of dropping by Pannell, even those who don't find an art gallery to be their natural milieu.

The talks will be interdisciplinary and led by members of the Sweet Briar community rather than by art historians.

"The focus is on the interesting story behind the images," Lawson said. "Sometimes people are intimidated by art history. With these informal gallery talks, I hope visitors will realize that they can learn about art while they're also enjoying thrilling stories of derring-do, drama, romance, skullduggery.' "

The gallery conversations will be held 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 8, Oct 29 and Nov. 19 this semester. They are free and open to the public, as is regular gallery admission.

Pannell Gallery has new regular hours of operation this year. It will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday and closed on Saturday. Admission is free and guided tours are available on request. For more information, please contact Lawson at klawson@sbc.edu or (434) 381-6248.