On Jan. 28, “Mike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985″ opens at the Manetti Shrem Museum. Art history alum Emily Szasz (M.A., ‘22) had the opportunity to work on this exhibition when she was the first as Nancy Rutherdale Griffith Curatorial Intern and later as the Curatorial Department Assistant. 

Emily worked on the exhibition for an entire year. Among her contributions were research toward a comprehensive timeline of Mike Henderson’s life and career; inventoring and capturing ephemera;  collecting data for photographs and images included in the exhibition catalogue; and communicating and interviewing Henderson about his works and personal photographs. 

“Mike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985″ is Professor Emeritus Mike Henderson’s first solo U.S. museum exhibition in twenty years. The show will feature his contributions to the history of contemporary painting and filmmaking, radical Black politics, and to the story of California art. Curated by Sampada Aranke (Ph.D. ’13, performance studies) and Dan Nadel, “Before the Fire” will be on view from January 30 to June 25, 2023.