Southeast art professor Dr. Joni Hand embraces opportunities to take the subject of art beyond constraints of curriculum, as well as introducing it to new audiences. Historic Talk Tuesday provided such an opportunity Aug. 21 at the The Crisp Museum at SEMO’s River Campus, where she presented “The Birth of the Modern: Realism and Impressionism.”

Talk Tuesday’s are free events held to discuss different artistic eras. On this particular night Hand presented Realism and Impressionism. The presentation discussed the historical influence and importance of artwork within the development of culture, and growth of society in modern art.

Throughout the lecture, Hand interacted with the audience and asked questions to collect their interpretation of the various works of art. Hand's presentation progressed through a timeline of artwork, and discussed the lives of artists and the meaning of things such as balance, color usage, dimension and shadow.

“This wasn’t the audience I expected,” Hand said. “There were many more people from the community which is great to see.”

Hand said the purpose of these events is to create larger local influx to the university and museum.

The free events are open to the public, and Hand said she keeps a broad audience in mind, planning topics that do not require background knowledge.

“I just love doing things like this, it’s just what art historians do, we love art,” Hand said. “For a smaller town, it is important to have more opportunities for people to learn. Not everyone can go back to school, or get a degree, so things like this are important.”

Kevin Hand, Hand’s husband was among those in attendance. “We as a society should be able to stretch our own beliefs in our own free time. We don't always have open opportunity to have open discussions on subject matters we care about besides in school settings.”

Historic Talk Tuesday’s will continue to be held every week at 7 p.m. until Dec. 18 in the Crisp Museum.