Friends of the Davison Art Center

Since 1962, the Friends of the Davison Art Center have supported new acquisitions, educational activities, and events at the Davison Art Center. More that 900 works by artists such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Eduard Manet, Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, Alfred Stieglitz, Aaron Siskind, and Jasper Johns have been added to the collection through the generosity of the Friends. Help us continue to support the growth, vitality, and educational use of the Davison Art Center collection.

Join the Friends of the Davison Art Center at the FDAC’s Fiftieth-Anniversary Benefit Reception on Thursday, May 17, 2012. The reception will take place from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in the Alsop House Courtyard Tent (rain or shine) at the Davison Art Center. It will feature:

Welcome by Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth
Remarks by Professor Emeritus John Paoletti
Music by grapes and kisses
Silent auction
Cocktails and Light Hors-d’oeuvres

Benefit tickets are $50 and up.

If you wish to attend, please download a PDF of the invitation and reply card, fill it out, and return it to:

Friends of the Davison Art Center
Wesleyan University
301 High Street
Middletown, CT 06459-0487

For further information, please email fdac@wesleyan.edu or call the Davison Art Center at (860) 685-2500.

Tags: Circle 50, event, party

One work, one speaker, 15 minutes.

The Friends of the Davison Art Center invite you to the next installment of our Artful Lunch series with Joe Siry, Professor of Art History, tomorrow, April 25, 12:10 pm at the Alsop House Dining Room. Professor Siry will discuss the Alsop House architecture. Bring your bag lunch and enjoy coffee, homemade cookies, and conversation.

Tune in for the final event of the Conversations on the DAC on the River Valley Rhythms radio show on WESU 88.1fm. Stephan Allison will host Peter Frenzel, Jean Shaw and Rosemary Munkittrick at 4pm this Thursday, April 26. This series of five conversations revolves around the DAC as the Friends of the Davison Art Center celebrate 50 years.

Missed the show? You can download this show and the others in the series after they air at the River Valley Rhythms archive.

Tags: Jean Shaw, Peter Frenzel, River Valley Rhythms, Rosemary Munkittrick, Stephan Allison, WESU

The Big Draw: Middletown
Sunday, April 22, 2012 1:00–5:00 pm
PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE—SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Onsite registration: Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, 301 High Street
Free and open to the public
No advance registration required

Drawing workshops and activities 1:00–4:00 pm
Celebratory exhibition and reception: 4:00–5:00 pm

Drawing Workshops:

1. Model Marathon
Drawing the nude model
Drawing Studio (CFA Art Workshops room 105)
Parental permission required for those under 18

2. Still-Life and the Natural World
Study the natural world with an exciting array of objects including shells, taxidermied animals, skulls, etc. in an elaborate still life.
Location: Beckham Hall, upstairs

3. Movement and Drawing
Participants will create drawings through exercises that use making marks through movement as the subject matter. There will be live musicians to respond to while creating drawings, and dancers to draw. Try using your arm as a compass, or creatinge lines by walking and and dragging charcoal behind you. Good for all ages, g. Get ready to be experimental!
Location: Usdan Multipurpose Room, Basement level

4. Tableaux vivants
Go back in time and draw from models in 19th- and early 20th-century costumes in the historic Alsop House. Organized by the Middletown High School Art Club, under the leadership of Patrick Shugrue.
Location: Davison Art Center, in the Alsop House rooms

5. Scavenger Hunt
Complete a drawing “scavenger hunt,” following directions to observe the world around you.
Location: CFA Art Workshops lobby

6. ‘Sumi-e’ Ink Drawing
Introduction to Japanese traditional sumi-e drawing with ink. Taught by Keiji Shinohara.
Location: Beckham Hall

7. Fragments from the Davison Art Center
Make your own masterpiece inspired by the Davison Art Center collection. Paper will be distributed with a fragment of an image sampled from a DAC print—then you “fill in the print” with drawing.
Location: DAC 100

8. Draw the Davison Art Center gallery
Drawing in the gallery from the DAC exhibition, using GRAPHITE ONLY.
Location: DAC gallery

9. Telling Drawn Stories
Try your hand at comics, illustration, zines, and the art of telling stories in sequence.
Location: Beckham Hall

10. Earth Day Collaborative Mural Project
Participate in a collaborative drawing mural celebrating Earth Day.
Location: CFA Art Workshops lobby

Sponsored in part by the Friends of the Davison Art Center; the Wesleyan University Division of Arts and Humanities, Department of Art & Art History, Center for the Arts, and Center for Community Partnerships; the Middlesex County Community Foundation/Mary Ann Lambert Fund; and the Middletown

Be part of “The Big Draw: Middletown” this Sunday, April 22 at the Davison Art Center!

This community event celebrating drawing in all its forms is organized to encourage creativity, exploration, invention and fun. It is free and open to the public: adults, students, and children ages 5 and up. The event takes place from 1 to 5 p.m. and begins in the Davison Art Center. The event will take place rain or shine.

The event will feature 10 to 12 drawing workshops throughout the Wesleyan University campus. Wesleyan art faculty and art students, Middletown public school art teachers, and members of the Middletown High School Art Club will facilitate the workshops. The wide range of activities will include illustration, Japanese sumi-e ink drawing, a collective Earth Day-themed drawing, movement and drawing and a scavenger hunt. Participants will draw from live models, period costumes, the natural world, dancers, art in the Davison Art Center gallery and the imagination. Drawing study of nude models is open to adults and minors with parental permission. The day will culminate with a community exhibition on campus.

“The Big Draw: Middletown” is sponsored in part by the Friends of the Davison Art Center; the Wesleyan University Division of Arts and Humanities, Department of Art and Art History, Center for the Arts, and Center for Community Partnerships; the Middlesex County Community Foundation/Mary Ann Lambert Fund; and the Middletown Commission on the Arts.

For the latest information about “The Big Draw: Middletown,” see event updates on Facebook.

Need information about where to park at Wesleyan? Click here.

Tags: DAC, The Big Draw: Middletown

Tomorrow at 4pm Wesleyan’s Professor of Classical Studies Andy Szegedy-Maszak will be on the River Valley Rhythms radio show on WESU 88.1fm. Tune in to hear Stephan Allison talk with this scholar, writer and photographic curator who specializes in the study of Greek history and the history of photography. This is the third part of a series of five conversations revolving around the DAC as the Friends of the Davison Art Center celebrate 50 years.

The final conversation of this series will be:

April 26: Peter Frenzel, Jean Shaw and Rosemary Munkittrick

Can’t listen at 4pm? Weekly shows are archived at River Valley Rhythms and may be downloaded at your convenience after the show has aired.

Tags: Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, DAC, River Valley Rhythms, Stephan Allison, WESU

Tune in to the River Valley Rhythms radio show on WESU 88.1fm at 4 pm on Thursday, April 5 when Alain Munkittrick talks with Stephan Allison about the history of the Alsop House, the home of the DAC. This is part one of a series of five conversations revolving around the DAC as the Friends of the Davison Art Center celebrate 50 years.

Guests for the remaining conversations will be:

April 12: Clare Rogan, Curator of the Davison Art Center

April 19: Andy Szegedy-Maszak, Professor of Classical Studies

April 26: Peter Frenzel, Jean Shaw and Rosemary Munkittrick

Can’t listen at 4pm? Weekly shows are archived at River Valley Rhythms and may be downloaded at your convenience after the show has aired.

Tags: Alain Munkittrick, River Valley Rhythms, Stephan Allison, WESU

Tonight is the opening reception for the DAC’s spring exhibition, With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: 50 Years of Acquisitions. The reception will take place at the DAC from 5:00 – 7:00pm and will include a gallery talk.

This show is made possible by funding from the Friends of the Davison Art Center.

Tags: Exhibitions, gallery talk, opening reception, With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: 50 Years of Acquisitions

One work, one speaker, 15 minutes.

Join us at the Alsop House tomorrow, Wednesday, March 28, at 12:10pm for the DAC’s Artful Lunch series. Our guest will be Michael Roth, President of Wesleyan University, talking about one of his favorite pieces in the DAC collection. Attendees bring a bag lunch and enjoy coffee, homemade cookies and conversation following the talk.

The Friends of the Davidson Art Center sponsors the Artful Lunch series.

Tags: Artful Lunch Series, lecture, Michael Roth

The weather’s been warming up and the flowers planted by the FDAC Board in the fall are blooming at the Alsop House!  Be sure to stop by and see the daffodils!

Photos by Susanne Javorski

Tags: Alsop House, FDAC Board, flowers