Mead Art Museum Docent Acquisition Display

Docent Acquisition Display

May 1-August 9, 2009
North Fairchild Gallery

On April 3rd, the Mead’s volunteer student docents made their first purchase for the museum’s collection using funds established in honor of Trinkett Clark (1951-2006), former curator of American art at the Mead. Gideon Bok’s 2008 print, Wingate Studio with Aldo’s Press, No Sleep ’Til Hinsdale represents the culmination of a year-long research project that the Mead hopes to be able to repeat for many years to come.

Beginning in September, the docents met weekly to consider various aspects of collecting for a museum. Practical considerations of budget and storage spaces played a role in their conversations, but more abstract notions of quality, connection to the existing collections, and relevance to the college curriculum soon took prominence. Contemporary prints then rose to the fore as a collecting niche the docents could fill effectively, now and in the future. Narrowing the focus to works produced locally further linked the docents’ acquisition to an established tradition of American holdings at the Mead.

After many discussions, guest speakers, and field trips, the docents honed their choices to three prints, each represented by a team of student advocates. Following true museum practice, each docent team prepared a formal report on its proposed acquisition before presenting that print to a “Docent Board of Trustees” composed of curators, faculty, and experts assembled for the project. Happily, after the board approved the purchase of the Bok, one trustee generously offered to purchase a second proposed print for the museum, Ahmed Alsoudani’s Untitled, 2008. Both prints are now on display in the museum’s Fairchild Gallery, near the entrance.

Participating Docents: