New exhibition and curator’s talk on coins from antiquity to today
September 10, 2019
McMaster Museum of Art presents
Instruments of Exchange: Coins from Antiquity to Today
Curator: Spencer Pope, Department of Classics and Honorary Curator of McMaster’s Bruce R. Brace Coin Collection
Togo Salmon Gallery
September 12, 2019 – August 2020
OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, September 12, 6 – 8 pm
CURATOR’S TALK
by Spencer Pope: Thursday, September 19 ,12:30 – 1:20 pm
Because they are instruments of economic exchange, coins contain richly detailed images that provide an assurance of their value. And because they are issued by a political authority, the images represent the community that produced and keep them in circulation. In this way, coins sit at the intersection of economic, political, and artistic interests.
Coinage developed a visual language that spoke both to their value and their origin as early as the seventh century BCE. It remained a fundamentally conservative medium throughout antiquity and even beyond: their recognizability is part of their function. The visual language established in antiquity still governs many coins today, with the result that much of what circulates now is indebted to long-lived traditions.
This exhibition presents coins from the McMaster Museum of Art and considers their role as instruments of exchange. Complementing the coins are a selection of ceramic and glass vessels from the antiquities collection.
M(M)A Education Staff Teresa Gregorio Shortlisted in City of Hamilton’s Arts Champion Awards
June 23, 2026
Please join us in congratulating M(M)A’s Educator for Campus & Community Engagement, Teresa Gregorio, for being shortlisted in the Arts Champion Awards in City of Hamilton’s Arts Award 2026. The Arts Champion Awards may be conferred annually to living individuals who are outstanding supporters of the arts in Hamilton as volunteers, advocates, or board members. […]
New Acquisitions from Open Studio
June 19, 2026
McMaster Museum of Art M(M)A and Open Studio are pleased to announce that M(M)A has acquired three works by Carl Beam, Janet Cardiff, and Rita Letendre from Open Studio’s historic archive collection through its Print Sales program. These works now enter M(M)A’s Permanent Collection. About Open Studio: Open Studio was founded in 1970 and is […]
M(M)A Education Staff Nicole Knibb Receive President’s Awards for Outstanding Service in 2025
June 8, 2026
Please join us in congratulating M(M)A’s Senior Educator (Academic and Professional Engagement) and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, Nicole Knibb, for receiving the President’s Awards for Outstanding Service in 2025. Nicole Knibb has made a profound and lasting contribution to interdisciplinary education, community engagement, and inclusive pedagogy at McMaster University. Through her leadership at the McMaster […]
