Newcomb Art Gallery is an art museum located in the Woldenberg Art Center on the campus of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is known for its significant collection ofNewcomb Pottery and other crafts produced at Newcomb College, as well as administering the art collections of the university.[1]
History
In 1886, H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in memory of her daughter Sophie for the education of women at Tulane.[2] The College was the first coordinate College for women in the United States.
The endowment was established by Mrs. Newcomb to provide, perpetuate, and protect the women’s college indefinitely. In the 1970s, Tulane sought to use this endowment for the purpose of the entire university during a time of economic hardship. Later, in the 1980s an effort was initiated to close the college and incorporate it into Tulane University. At the time of the Newcomb Centennial Celebration in 1986, concerned graduates of Newcomb College met as an ad hoc committee to re-establish the intended purpose of the original endowment and to reaffirm the integrity of Newcomb College and sustain its outstanding educational programs. The Tulane board of trustees ultimately affirmed the status of H.Sophie Newcomb Memorial College [3] and established a Board to administer the Newcomb Endowment.
Early in this process, Mignon Faget, a New Orleans jewelry artist and a member of the committee, suggested establishing a Newcomb Art Gallery to maintain the strong legacy of Newcomb's art program and to ensure the permanence of Newcomb College. In the early 1990s, a grant funded by Joyce Frank Menschel, another Newcomb alumna, ultimately led to the establishment of the Newcomb Art Gallery.
The Gallery then became a part of other educational units of Newcomb College, including the Art Department, The Music Department, the Dance Program, and the Liberal Arts Department.
In 1996, the Newcomb Art Department completed an expansion and renovation that included the addition of the Newcomb Art Gallery, a 3,600-square-foot (330 m2) exhibition space dedicated to presenting contemporary and historic exhibits to the Tulane and New Orleans communities.
Although the Gallery's administrative offices were flooded with four feet of water by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the art holdings were relatively undamaged.[4] After Katrina, Tulane closed Newcomb College and diverted the school's endowment to other uses. The Newcomb Art Gallery remains as a legacy of the historic presence of the former Newcomb College.
Mission
The founding faculty members intended that the exhibition gallery should be an integral component of the College’s educational mission, but it was also to serve the community by focusing national and international attention on Newcomb College, New Orleans, and Louisiana. The Gallery aims to present high quality exhibitions that enhance the University’s curriculum, link the city and the University through a common interest in the arts, and bring intellectually stimulating cultural opportunities to the community that other governmental and academic institutions are unable to provide. As a unit of an academic institution, the Gallery is able to present interdisciplinary exhibitions that are challenging, innovative, and socially relevant. The Gallery is intended to be smaller than the typical city museum, broader in scope than a contemporary art center, and more international in reach than most commercial galleries.
Exhibitions
The Gallery holds on average three to five exhibitions annually. The exhibitions include educational programs such as through school programs, lectures, symposia, artist-led family programs, public tours, performances, studio demonstrations, and partnerships with other organizations. Thematic exhibitions from other cultures, such as those from Africa, Asia, and Central America, alternate with more contemporary shows. The Gallery has also presented exhibitions dedicated to well-known artists such as David Smith, Marsden Hartley, and Ellsworth Kelly, as well as artists with a Newcomb connection likeMark Rothko, Ida Kohlmeyer, and current faculty member Gene Koss. Honoring the legacy of the artistic traditions of Newcomb College, the Gallery regularly presents work by women artists. In 2003 the Newcomb Art Gallery commissioned a new work by artist Carrie Mae Weems that became known as her "Louisiana Project".[5][6]
Collections
The Gallery maintains the Newcomb Art Collection, which includes outstanding groups of Newcomb pottery, first produced in 1895, and other objects associated with the Arts & Crafts Movement includingembroidery, bound books, and metalwork. The first national coordinate college for women, Newcomb followed industrial trends offering intensive design training for decorative arts production. The Newcomb College Art Department is best known for its distinctive ceramic wares, and the Gallery houses more than 600 fine examples including important pieces made by Sadie Irvine,[7] Harriet Joor,[8] and Marie de Hoa LeBlanc.[9] It also has a significant collection of drawings, watercolors, paintings, and prints by Newcomb-affiliated teachers, artists, and designers. Occasionally, objects are purchased for the collection, but most acquisitions are the result of gifts and bequests. In addition, the Gallery administers the Tulane University Art Collection (TUAC), a teaching collection that includes examples of Louisiana portraiture,neo-classical sculpture, and prints primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries.
References
1. ^ Newcomb Art Gallery - The Collections (accessed March 12, 2011).
2. ^ Dixon, Brandt V.B., A Brief History of H.Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, 1887-1919, (1920). 208 pp.
4. ^ "Newcomb Art Gallery's pottery collection, Audubon prints survive Katrina flooding", New Orleans CityBusiness, October 24, 2005.
5. ^ Carrie Mae Weems: the Louisiana Project (Newcomb Art Gallery, 2004), ISBN 978-0-9668595-4-6.
6. ^ Kenneth Baker, "Two centuries ago, the U.S. doubled in size. At what cost? One artist wonders -- in black and white." San Francisco Chronicle, July 29, 2006.
