The School of Architecture, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA (USA) hosted the ninth mosaic installation Victorious Secret created by visual artist Angela Lorenz in 2012-2013. This set of three triptychs, encompassing nine panels in all, is based upon actual ancient mosaics from 300 AD still in their original location in Piazza Armerina, Sicily (Italy). These mosaics of female athletes made out of buttons are dedicated to Title IX, a law created in the United States in 1972 to address inequality in sports programs and other discrimination. At UVA all three mosaic triptychs were hung in the School of Architecture’s East Wing Gallery from August 24th to Sept 26th, 2016.
An opening reception was held as part of the Final Fridays programming August 26.
On Monday, September 19, 2016 the artist gave a public lecture, “Women Athletes as Family Status Symbol: Goals for Daughters in the Roman Empire,” in the architecture school, Campbell Hall. Lorenz was introduced by Catherine Spear, UVA’s Title IX coordinator, who relayed the meaning and history of Title IX, and its relevance today, as it is used to protect the rights of men and women, boys and girls at any schools receiving federal funding.
On Tuesday, September 20 the artist was a guest lecturer in two UVA classes: Global Perspectives on Gender and Sport taught by professor Bonnie Hagerman, and Household Archeology taught by professor Foteini Kondyli. In professor Hagerman’s class, the discussion centered upon how to make research findings visual, with examples of alternate ways to convey academic research. In professor Kondyli’s class, the topic of gender roles and architectural spaces in ancient cultures fueled the discussion.
The artist is grateful for the support of many departments and employees that aided in the installation, promotion and funding of the exhibition and related events, especially the Women, Gender & Sexuality Program’s professors Cori Field and Bonnie Hagerman, and administrator Bridget Murphy. Thank you to UVA’s School of Architecture for hosting the Victorious Secret installation in their gallery, with the essential assistance of gallery coordinator Erin Root. Gratitude is also due to UVA’s Office of the Title IX Coordinator; Office of the Provost and the Vice Provost for the Arts; McIntire Department of Art; Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese and the Department of Classics.
Links to Victorious Secret events, activities and press:
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2016/09/revealing-the-victorious-secret
http://www.wgs.virginia.edu/content/victorious-secret-talk-artist
http://www.virginia.edu/art/events/
http://classics.virginia.edu/victorious-secret-noticing-elite-sports-women-300-ad
On October 21 the artist gave a formal public lecture in the Kislak Center Pavilion cosponsored by Penn Humanities Forum. Following the lecture, the public was invited to the adjacent historical Henry Charles Lea Library room, where Lorenz’s artist’s books from Penn’s permanent collection were on display during a Q&A with the general public. 
For the first time ever the three mosaic triptychs were placed in three different campus buildings, topping and diversifying Yale’s earlier placement of the mosaics in two library venues. This maximized the number of visitors, athletes and scholars able to view the work and encouraged students and faculty to visit various areas of campus, such as the Matchbox, a new athletic facility for physical fitness, wellness and dance.
Another triptych was placed in the Unified Science Center, just outside a major lecture hall and adjacent to a popular campus cafe. The third triptych hung in the McCabe Library entrance, a location featured on all campus tours and a heavy area of student foot traffic. This multi-venue strategy resulted in an unprecedented number of student newspaper articles, four in total.
These mosaics of female athletes made out of buttons are dedicated to Title IX, a law created in the United States in 1972 to address inequality in women’s university sports programs and other discrimination. A variety of departments, staff members and campus groups lent support and energy to this exhibition and related events. The artist was particularly pleased that the Yale Women’s Tennis Team came as a team bonding activity to the lecture and subsequent event, at which the public printed a keepsake of the lecture and exhibition on an antique Albion press in Sterling Library.
The mosaics were placed in a heavy area of foot traffic on campus to maximize the number of visitors, athletes and scholars able to view the work: the elegant, monumental lobby of Olin Library. In addition to an informative poster displayed next to the mosaics, the video of Victorious Secret was continuously run on a monitor adjacent to the exhibit, allowing students to unlock the meaning of the piece and its iconography of athletic equipment and prizes. It would be difficult to imagine a more appropriate setting for the mosaics in the United States, as the Olin Library lobby is based on ancient Roman decor with a marble mosaic-tiled floor, three-legged bronze lamps and marble columns. Bespoke wooden panels were created to display the mosaics free-standing in a semi-circle reminiscent of a Roman theater.
us, Baker-Berry Library, leading to the student cafe and lounge area. This means thousands of people daily paraded by the mosaics in the Brickway Gallery, including all campus tours, from August 30 – December 1, 2013. In addition to an informative poster displayed next to the mosaics, the video of Victorious Secret was continuously run on a monitor adjacent to the exhibit, allowing students to unlock the meaning of the piece and its iconography of athletic equipment and prizes.
