Hobart and William Smith Colleges

News From the Davis Gallery

Richard A. Scudamore '55 has donated a watercolor painting, titled Switch Engine, by noted 20th century artist Arthur Dove, member of the class of 1903, to the Collections of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. A generous contributor to the Colleges, Scudamore previously donated a number of paintings from American artists, including two other watercolors by Dove.

Watercolor on paper, Switch Engine was painted in 1937. The painting is included in "Art and Labor: Works from the Collection," the first curated exhibition by the Colleges' new Clarence A. "Dave" Davis '48 Visual Arts Curator, Anna Wager '09. She received a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Washington.

Wager oversees the exhibition space of the Department of Art and Architecture and the expansive Collections of Hobart and William Smith. Her appointment coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the Davis Gallery at Houghton House, whose operation is possible through the gifts of Davis.

"Thanks in large part to donors, we have some really impressive examples of 20th-century works on paper, including these watercolors by Arthur Dove," says Wager. "Dove likely produced Switch Engine while living in Geneva in 1937, and it is a sensitive rendering of an industrial object. This train could have been one that passed behind the Dove Block on Exchange Street, and bringing that piece of Geneva back to Geneva is exciting."

Wager succeeds longtime curator Kathryn L. Vaughn P'08, who assumed the role in 2008. Under Vaughn's stewardship and the support of many alumni and alumnae, the Collections were properly catalogued and organized, the gallery was turned into a professional exhibition space and the Colleges began to purposefully acquire new works.

Vaughn also implemented internship classes, working with students to curate exhibitions, teaching them about label writing and exhibition design. It's a practice that Wager describes as "incredibly meaningful" to students. "It gives them ownership over an exhibition."

Presenting six shows each year - beginning with a faculty exhibition and ending the year with a student exhibition - the Davis Gallery provides an environment for studying the role of art and architecture in shaping, embodying and interpreting cultures.