Staff News: Autumn 2008

Posted on September 01, 2008 by Kristin Swan

Hood Quarterly, autumn 2008

Juliette Bianco, Assistant Director, will be presenting at the International Council of Museums' (ICOM) University Museums and the Community Conference in Manchester, England, September 16–20, on "The Purpose-Driven University Museum."

The Hood welcomes two new Assistant Curators for special projects for the 2008–9 year: Emily Shubert, who has recently completed her master's degree in contemporary art at the University of Connecticut, and Alew Bortolot, who has recently completed his Ph.D. in African art at Columbia University.

In July 2008, Amy Driscoll stepped down as Assistant Curator of Education to spend more time with her family. During her six years in the position, Amy developed and enhanced the museum's docent program and organized many valuable teacher workshops, including an innovative summer session on writing in response to art. Her contributions to the museum have enhanced visitors' engagement with original works of art in many ways and are appreciated by her fellow staff members, regional teachers, and Hood docents.

Karen Miller is welcomed to the Hood staff as the Exhibitions and Programs Coordinator. Karen brings years of experience to this position, most recently as Education Director for six years at AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Karen holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education and an M.A. in Art History and Archaeology from the University of Maryland.

After six years at the Hood, Curator of African, Oceanic, and Native American Collections Barbara Thompson will become curator of African and Native American Art at the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Visual Arts at Stanford University. During her time at the Hood, Barbara made many important acquisitions, including El Anatsui's Hovor (2003). She also curated a number of important exhibitions, including most recently Black Womanhood: Images, Icons, and Ideologies, which is currently on view at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College. We wish Barbara the best at Stanford!

Bart Thurber, Curator of European Art, recently led a group of Dartmouth students on the Italian Foreign Studies Program to Vicenza and Venice to visit a number of historic sites. Some of the highlights of the trip included private tours of Renaissance palaces, villas, and museums to examine the work of Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), who is considered the most influential—and most copied—architect in the Western world. Soon after the end of the tour, Bart delivered a paper at an international conference in the Veneto as part of this year's celebrations in honor of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Palladio.

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Written September 01, 2008 by Kristin Swan