Hood Quarterly, autumn 2016
John Stomberg, Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director
Introducing the Hood Downtown Exhibition Space
Hood Downtown, a temporary venue on Hanover’s Main Street, will be the Hood’s public face during our expansion project, offering us an entirely new way to present works of art. The difference will be clear right away. The exhibition space is located at street level. You can see the art through the windows and walk right in for a closer look. Each show will be designed to be visually arresting from outside or inside. Accessibility is key.
Hood Downtown is a double gift. First, it is the inaugural project funded by the Charles Gilman Family Endowment that supports the museum’s exhibitions and programs. We are grateful to the Gilman Family for this wonderful gift. And, in turn, it is our gift to the campus and community for supporting us over the past three decades, and for patiently waiting while the museum transforms itself over the next few years.
We thought long and hard about the direction of the programming at Hood Downtown. We wondered what we could add to a region that already boasts a dynamic arts scene. Over the course of a few months, we visited AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen in Hanover, Big Town Gallery in Rochester, and Long River Gallery in Lyme. Together, these venues provide exposure for hundreds of regional artists and craftspeople—it is truly a lively local arts scene. What, then, could the Hood Downtown venue offer that was missing, that would be special and true to the Hood Museum of Art’s mission, would enhance the college experience for Dartmouth students, and would add substantially to the local arts community?
We landed on the idea of bringing the world to Hanover.
The program will feature artists from around the globe who have not previously shown their work here. The field of “global contemporary art” grows more exciting daily as curators, institutions, and the arts media recognize that there are brilliant artists and art centers all over the world. The artists themselves are increasingly working on a global stage, showing on multiple continents in widely divergent venues. These include exhibition spaces such as Hood Downtown, commercial galleries, art fairs, various biennials and triennials, contemporary art centers, and art museums. We will make Hanover a stop on this international circuit, bringing art from around the world to Main Street. We look forward to having you on board as we embark on this new adventure.
. . . and Announcing the James Nachtwey Archive at the Hood Museum of Art
In this issue of the Quarterly we share major news: the James Nachtwey archive has come to the Hood! Internationally acclaimed for his gripping photojournalism, Nachtwey has worked for decades to create images that demonstrate the impact of history, one person at a time. The acquisition of his archive, including prints, contact sheets, negatives, and digital files, marks the beginning of the Hood’s decisive step toward becoming a center for the study of photography and society. This move will align the museum’s research and scholarship with that of several other centers at Dartmouth with foci ranging from the humanities to international relations. Nachtwey will work closely with our staff to create oral histories for his images; he will add new work to the archive; and he has several publication projects underway. We look forward to sharing the wealth of Nachtwey’s work in exhibitions, catalogues, and online programming. Stay tuned for much more information on this topic in the years to come.
In This Issue:
- Laetitia Soulier: The Fractal Architectures
- Dartmouth Acquires Complete Archive of Acclaimed Photojournalist James Nachtwey
- Alumni Voices: James Nachtwey, Class of 1970
- Community of Learners: We Bid Farewell to Lesley Wellman