SPEAKER 1: Welcome to the Towson University College of Fine Arts and Communications What's Your Story podcast. In today's story, we hear from Nancy Siegel, professor of Art History and Museum Studies. She tells us how the subject of a particular painting inspired her passion for the arts. 

NANCY SIEGEL: I grew up going to museums in New York City from the time when I was a little girl. And my mom and dad would take me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and let me wander and wonder, just finding my way among the paintings and objects that piqued my interest with no real plan and with no real objective in mind as far as I could tell. And I remember falling in love with Pablo Picasso's portrait of Gertrude Stein. 

It's this large, seeded portrait that Picasso painted of his friend between 1905 and 1906. It's mostly browns and beige and cream with flecks of burgundy and blue. This magnetic depiction of odd, cube-like shapes and colors that somehow come together in this recognizable way so that you know its Gertrude's face and form. And I remember just sitting cross-legged on the floor mesmerized for who knows how long just looking and wondering and imagining and a spark ignited. 

And I fell in love with art and museums and the idea of this woman about whom I knew nothing at the time. Gertrude Stein was an art collector and a poet and a patron of the arts and an advocate for those who needed a voice. She hosted salons in her Paris home in the years surrounding World War I and World War II where she championed the arts and promoted artists of the early 20th century by following her instinct on what she thought was good or interesting or important. 

And with her brother Leo and her partner, Alice B. Toklas, she lived her life assertively and passionately. And she was direct and brash and bold and creative, fearlessly honest, and spoke her mind. And she was admired and respected for her values. And she probably annoyed just as many people who thought she was too loud or too avant-garde. But I thought she was amazing and a role model. And I think I was impressed by her independent spirit. 

And I go back year after year to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to find Gertrude. She isn't always in the same place, but I find her. And I sit cross-legged on the floor regardless of the nearest bench or regardless of my protesting knees or disapproving looks from self-conscious teenagers. And all these years later, I still think about her when I'm teaching my students. And I try to impart that value of finding your passion, of speaking your mind, of living your life fearlessly, boldly, creatively. That's my story. 

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