When Hood Museum Director Brian Kennedy arrived more than two years ago, I shared with him my vision of infusing Dartmouth with art, and he has embraced my call to take art directly to the broader public and place it in "unexpected places" on the campus. While plenty of Dartmouth students, faculty and staff will make a special trip to the Hood Museum to view an exhibit, I wanted to bring art outside of the walls of the Hood, to give the Dartmouth community the opportunity to be engaged with art, challenged by art and surrounded by art.
The Hood Museum staff, under Brian's leadership, has met this charge. Unfortunately, the response from some in the community has been dispiriting to me and others who share this vision for art at Dartmouth. The Inuksuk, built by an elder, the first commissioner of Nunavut, has been knocked over nine times; the Wenda Gu exhibition in the library was cut with scissors; and the sign for the new Houser sculpture at the Sherman House has been stolen.
In addition to the physical destruction of the art, the written discourse on it has occasionally taken an unpleasant turn. It is one thing to raise issues of quality or taste; it is another to make unsubstantiated or erroneous statements on those associated with a given project. A recent article in the Dartmouth Independent included many egregious misstatements about the Wenda Gu exhibit, Wenda Gu and Brian Kennedy. While it would require a very long response to deal with all the inaccuracies in the article, I have asked Brian Kennedy to address the most troubling comments.
I continue to believe that the Dartmouth community can embrace art at the Hood Museum as well as in unexpected places on campus, be it in Baker Library, in front of McNutt, or near Sherman House. While I certainly don't expect everyone to like every piece, I do have confidence that the discourse around art will be informed and respectful. And I have no tolerance for the destruction of any art on the campus, whether inside or outside of the museum walls.
I ask for the help of the Dartmouth community to make this campus a welcome place for visual and verbal expression. If a work of art provokes you, then learn more about it. Question it; discuss it; listen to experts speak about it. Civil discourse and engagement of challenging ideas should permeate all of our discussions and interactions at Dartmouth. I hope that you will strive to make Dartmouth a place that will embrace challenging and provocative art and ideas.
