Pictured above: Work by Neil Rennie, NEC Assistant Professor of Art

Studio Art Faculty Exhibition
and
Dangerous Archaeology: A Daughter’s Search for Her Mother (and Others)

January 25 through March 2, 2012
Reception: Thursday, February 9, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

The Gallery at New England College presents two separate exhibits featuring work by members of the New England College faculty from January 25 to March 2,  2012. The Main Gallery will feature the art work of faculty from the Studio Art program, showcasing works ranging from traditional to contemporary media. The Balcony Gallery will present the work of NEC Professor of Writing Martha Donovan, complemented by photography by NEC alumna Autumn Monsees '11. The public is invited to the opening reception on Thursday, February 9 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

The Studio Art Faculty Exhibit includes oil paintings by Professor of Art Marguerite Walsh, a series of eight large-scale, color photographs abstracted from images of water reflections by Assistant Professor of Art Neil Rennie, and from the photography department, Rebecca Morrison created two short animated films combining photographic stop motion and digital drawings as well as mixed-media works. This exhibit will also include a selection of monotype prints and fictional narrative paintings combining mixed media and oil on panel by Assistant Professor of Art and Gallery Director Darryl Furtkamp, and gestural abstractions by Professor of Art Farid Haddad.

"Dangerous Archaeology" is a collaborative effort by Professor of Writing Martha Donovan and NEC alumna Autumn Monsees '11.  It combines Donovan's chronicling of the story about her mother’s childhood as the daughter and granddaughter of foreign missionaries growing up in India with photographic images by Monsees.

Professor of Writing Martha Andrews Donovan knew she wasn’t quite finished with the project she began six years ago chronicling the story about her mother’s unusual childhood. She was introduced to NEC student Autumn Monsees by fellow faculty member and friend, Associate Professor of Writing Maura MacNeil.

Pictured below: "Book With Pages" from the Donovan-Monsees project

Donovan had boxes and trunks full of books, letters, and objects from her family’s life in India. Each day she began by writing a response to a different artifact building a memoir in the form of an imagined archaeological exhibit catalog. Monsees then went to work, making over 800 images of these artifacts. The result is the fifteen broadsides in this exhibit, a book, and two slideshows that will run concurrently in the Balcony Gallery.


“Collaborating with Autumn has reminded me that the true essence of an education is a partnership between teacher and student,” says Donovan.  “For me, the reward of teaching is the pleasure and privilege of working with students, guiding them at the start of their journeys and then learning alongside them.”

Admission to The Gallery is free. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Friday from 11:00 to 3:00 p.m. Weekends are by appointment. The Gallery is located on Main Street in Henniker, New Hampshire, adjacent to the College’s Administration Building. For more information, call The Gallery at 603-428-2329.

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To view a listing of exhibits scheduled for the 2011-12 academic year, click here.