Davison Art Center

The Friends of the Davison Art Center organized an Autumn Soirée fundraiser on Oct. 22 at the President's House. Attendees enjoyed a special evening of music and art hosted at the home of President Michael Roth and University Professor of Letters Kari Weil. “Kari and I are lifetime members of the Friends of the Davison, and we were happy to express our support in this way,” President Roth said. "The Center benefits the Wesleyan community, of course, but also so many in the area who care for the arts.” Professor of Music Neely Bruce performed an intimate piano concert. As…

(more…)

On April 25, the Friends of the Davison Art Center presented The Big Draw: Middletown, a community celebration of drawing and workshops for all skill levels, from beginning drawers to accomplished artists, at locations across Wesleyan. Facilitated by Wesleyan art professors and students, and sponsored by the Middletown Commission on the Arts and nine local businesses, the fourth annual free event attracted more than 300 participants from almost 40 towns. (Photos by Mariah Reisner '04 MA '07 and Tessa Houstoun '17) (more…)

Imagine a place where Wesleyan students with a panoply of interests – art, photography, architecture, graphic design, and theatrical design, to name but a few – can work together in a dedicated digital space. Where faculty and students can bridge the divide between traditional arts and humanities courses and the tremendous shifts taking place in the technological world. That place is no longer imaginary. A $150,000 grant from the George I. Alden Trust will support a Digital Design Studio in the repurposed carriage house section of the Davison Art Center. Beginning with about eight classes taught by three or four faculty…

One of Davison Art Center’s most important works – an early 19th century Francisco Goya lithograph – will be shown in a major art exhibit in Boston this fall. The print, a portrait of the printer Cyprien-Charles-Marie Nicolas Gaulon, was made at the end of Goya’s life, between 1825 and 1826, and is one of only two known “first state” copies of the work (the other is in France's Bibliotheque Nationale). Gaulon taught Goya lithography during the artist’s senescent exile in Bordeaux. “It’s a portrait of a friend, the man who taught him this technique, towards the end of his life,"…

A significant federal grant will support efforts to make works in Wesleyan's Davison Art Center more accessible to students, faculty and the wider world. The $111,173 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, announced this week, will fund digital photography of some of the DAC's permanent collection, beginning in 2015 with Dutch and German "old master" prints. The funds, awarded in the Museums for America program, will allow the DAC to execute high quality, rapid photography of key parts of its holdings; these images can then be used for collection management or in classes. (more…)

It was called "the war to end all wars." Causing the downfall of three major empires, and eclipsing all previous wars in its destruction, World War I changed the course of global history. And decades before television and sophisticated print advertising, it changed the way conflict was marketed to the American people. A new exhibit, Call to Action: American Posters in World War I, at the Davison Art Center, displays dramatic posters that recruited soldiers, celebrated shipbuilding, called women for war work and even urged homemakers to prepare alternative foods in support of the war effort. "The best illustrators of the day were…

Two drawings by James McNeill Whistler, part of the Davison Art Center’s collection of more than 100 Whistler works, will be shown in a new documentary on the life of the painter. The sketches, one in pencil and one in pen and ink, will be seen in “James McNeill Whistler & The Case for Beauty,” premiering September 12 on PBS. They represent just a small part of Wesleyan’s extensive holdings of works on paper by Whistler, one of the most important American artists of the 19th century. “Whistler was crucial in making the connection between the Impressionists and British art,…

(more…)

(more…)

The Friends of the Davison Art Center is hosting its first-ever online auction featuring many pieces of fine art including works by internationally-exhibiting photographers, Wesleyan faculty, alumni and friends. The online auction, supported by Bidding for Good, runs for three weeks, from Oct. 15 through Nov. 9 and will be accessed at http://fdac.wesleyan.edu. As part of Wesleyan’s Homecoming/Family Weekend the Friends will also host a silent auction and free champagne reception at the Alsop House from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2. "We welcome the public to come get an up-close look at the pieces in the online auction…

Friends of Davison Art Center Holds Autumn Soirée Fundraiser

“Phantom Bodies” Photographs on Display at Davison Art Center

Big Draw Unleashes the Artists Within

New Digital Design Studio to Bridge Divide between Arts, Technology

Davison Art Center’s 19th Century Goya Print Exhibited in Boston

Federal Grant Supports DAC Digital Initiative

WW I Posters Shine at Davison Art Center Exhibit

Two Whistler Drawings from DAC to Be Featured in PBS Documentary

Friends of the DAC Hosts “The Big Draw” for Local Community

“Planes, Trains and Automobiles” at the Davison Art Center through March 6

Friends of the Davison Art Center Hosts Online, Onsite Auctions

Ligon ’82 Donates Etchings to DAC in Honor of Professor of Art Schorr