Friday, May 26, 2006
Museum Receives Major Photography Gift
Robert Adams: Turning Back, A Photographic Journal of Re-exploration
The Middlebury College Museum of Art announced this week that it has received a significant gift of contemporary photography. With the support of Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr., the Museum has acquired a complete portfolio of recent work by noted American photographer Robert Adams titled Turning Back: A Photographic Journal of Re-exploration, which comprises a suite of 164 photographs. The suite is the last of only three editions that Adams has printed. The first two editions are in the collections of Yale University and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, respectively.
Inspired by the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–1806), Adams examined the same Oregon landscape that the explorers described as a vast forest of ancient evergreens. The result, Turning Back, is a portfolio of images that provides a haunting commentary on the ambiguous and disturbing relationship America has with its forests. While many of the images are an indictment of landscape abuse, others hint at nature's resilience and provide a glimmer of promise for the future.
"This gift represents a landmark addition to our collection of modern and contemporary photography," said Middlebury College Museum Director and Walter Cerf Distinguished College Professor Richard Saunders. "Given the social and environmental impact of these images and the stature of Middlebury College as a leading institution in the field of environmental studies, this suite of photographs will greatly enhance the teaching mission of the Museum and will be widely studied and appreciated by a broad segment of the curriculum and the public."
The gift also includes funds to support exhibition and programming efforts related to the Turning Back portfolio. Turning Back will be exhibited starting in January of 2007 in the Museum's Christian A. Johnson Gallery.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Friends of the Art Museum Honor Eleven for Excellence in the Visual Arts
At their Annual Meeting on Sunday, April 9, the Friends of the Art Museum presented awards for distinction in the visual arts to eleven individuals from Addison County. Student award winners were Middlebury College senior Jennifer Watson, Middlebury Union High School senior Emily Hillman, North Branch School eighth-grader Viscaya DuMond Wagner, and Beeman Elementary School sixth-graders Amanda and Megan Morse. Award recipients in professional and volunteer categories included Lincoln artist Reed Prescott, and the Robinson Elementary School Arts Leadership Team of Peg Brakeley, Pam Paradee, Vera Ryersbach, Frank Spina, and Lynn Stewart Parker. For more information on the 2006 winners and the nomination process, please visit our membership page.
Recipients of the 2006 Awards for Distinction in the Visual Arts. Front row (l–r): Amanda Morse, Megan Morse. Back row (l–r): Peg Brakeley, Vera Ryersbach, Lynn Stewart Parker, Pam Paradee, Reed Prescott, Jennifer Watson, Viscaya Wagner, Emily Hillman, Frank Spina. (Photo: Jonathan Blake)
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Museum Adds Early 15th Century Italian Altarpiece to its Collection
In December the Middlebury College Museum of Art acquired a magnificent early 15th century altarpiece attributed to an Italian artist named Lippo d'Andrea. The altarpiece, which depicts the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Saints John the Baptist and Nicholas of Bari, will go on view this fall as part of a reinstallation of the Museum's Ancient Mediterranean and Early European gallery before being removed for cleaning and conservation sometime in 2007.
June, 2005
Middlebury College Museum of Art Achieves Accreditation from the American Association of Museums
The Middlebury College Museum of Art has recently been awarded accreditation by the American Association of Museums. Accreditation by AAM is among the highest of recognitions bestowed on museums in the United States. AAM accreditation signifies excellence within the museum community. It is a seal of approval and strengthens individual museums and the entire field by promoting ethical and professional practices.
Of the nation's nearly 16,000 museums fewer than 5 percent are currently accredited. It is a rigorous but highly rewarding process that begins with the museum's application to join the accreditation program. Once accepted into the program, the applicant museum then completes an in-depth yearlong self-study designed to examine all aspects of the museum's operations. AAM then assigns a team of museum professionals drawn from peer institutions to visit the applicant museum and review its operations. The visiting committee reports its findings to AAM who then either accepts or declines the museum's request for accreditation.
The Middlebury College Museum of Art is one of only five museums accredited in the state of Vermont.
According to Richard Saunders, director of the museum at Middlebury, "Accreditation by AAM provides public recognition of the high caliber of programs, exhibitions, and operations we maintain here at Middlebury. It affirms the high standards to which we aspire, and it affords us even greater opportunities to bring to Middlebury exhibits and loans of artwork of cultural and art historical significance."
As the national service organization representing the American museum community, the American Association of Museums addresses the needs of museums to enhance their ability to serve the public. For more about AAM and the Accreditation Program please visit www.aam-us.org.