History of the Department
The Galleries
Recent Events
Artistic expression has always been integral to the life of the Dominican Order. One has only to recall the frescoes of Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolomeo's drawings; both men were Dominicans who were also artists. It is natural, therefore, that Providence College, a Dominican institution, offer a major in the fine arts.
The seeds for a studio art and art history curriculum at Providence College were probably first planted by John J. Sullivan, O.P., who came to the college in 1931.
John J. Sullivan, O.P., untitled drawing, pencil on paper, 7"x 9" |
It is said that Fr. Sullivan, the first Dominican artist at PC, was very interested in establishing a department of art here, but the Depression years did not permit this. Fr. Sullivan, whose studio was in downtown Providence, became the unofficial artist-in-residence at PC. A number of his paintings and drawings can be found throughout the College today.
It was Lawrence M. Hunt, O.P., however, who was at the very center of the drive to establish an art department. A native of Richmond, VA, Fr. Hunt graduated from Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, with a Ph.D. in architecture in 1928, and was ordained a Dominican priest in 1935. He joined the College faculty in 1936 and taught mathematics and art history, which was the sole art course offered at that time.
Fr. Hunt used funds from his own allowance to collect books, furniture, slides, and art works which could be used for the current course as well as for establishing a future department of art. As an additional supplement to the art history course, Fr. Hunt had his students meet at the MFA in Boston on Saturdays to go on instructed tours.
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Lawrence M. Hunt, O.P., PhD., Art Office 1973
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The Department began to take root as Fr. Hunt sought out young Dominicans with an interest in art, asking them to come to Providence College not only to teach art courses, but to assist in setting up a department of art. Two such Dominicans were Ambrose McAlister, O.P., who came to the College in the fall of 1967, and Adrian Dabash, O.P., who came to PC as a student in 1958 and as a professor in 1974.
By January 1968, an art elective program was established, which many see as the formal beginning of a department of art on the PC campus. However, all studio art courses were still taught through the School of Continuing Education. Over the next few years, courses such as ceramics, printmaking, photography, and painting were added to the evening curriculum.
When a request for a formal art department in the day school was made and approved on October 28, 1970, Fr. Hunt’s quiet and continuous efforts finally came to fruition and the Department of Art and Art History was established. Fr. Hunt served as the first chairman of the Department, a position he would hold until 1976. He would continue to serve as professor of art history and assistant Department chairman until his death in 1980.
In 1971, studio courses were finally added to the day school program of studies, and the first lay -- and female -- faculty members joined the Department. Suzanne d’Avanzo was hired in the Studio division and Alice Hauck in the history of art. With an M.A. in art history, Ms. Hauck (later earning a Ph.D. and changing her surname to Beckwith after marriage) designed and implemented a full art history curriculum and major, increasing the number of art history faculty along the way.
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Thomas M. MGlynn with original
clay figure of St. Martin de Porres, 1968.
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During the summer of 1970, before the establishment of the Department, the Pietrasanta (Italy) Summer Study Program was instituted. This program ran for twenty years under the direction of Fr. McAlister, based at the studio of Dominican sculptor, Thomas M. McGlynn, O.P.
Fr. McGlynn, a member of the Providence College faculty at one time, was the inspiration for the Pietrasanta Program, and was its first professor of sculpture. He traveled to Pietrasanta in 1956 to carve a 15 1/ 2 foot marble statue of Our Lady of Fatima for the Shrine at Fatima, Portugal, and remained in Pietrasanta for the rest of his life. After his death in 1977, the program took over Fr. McGlynn's Pietrasanta studio. His archives and sculptures were brought to PC in 1978, where they have been catalogued and set up for viewing.
Three McGlynn works grace the PC campus today--the statue of Martin de Porres near the library, the statue of St. Dominic located next to Ditraglia Hall, and the bust of Pope John XXIII, the focal point of the McGlynn Sculpture Court, located at the Hunt-Cavanagh building.
In 1976, Providence College acquired the Chapin Hospital property on Huxley Avenue, and the Art and Art History Department was given a building on this "lower campus" for studio art work, as well as space in another building for ceramics courses. All previous art space in the library was given up, and art history moved to Stephen Hall, its original home.
In 1983, the studio art building was dedicated in honor of Fr. Hunt and John Cavanagh, a liturgical artist and founder of the world's largest altar bread manufacturing company.
A Providence native, Cavanagh was a 1935 alumnus of the College who devoted countless hours designing religious artifacts for churches and chapels throughout the country. Artist, silversmith, and designer of the PC mace, which is carried at all College ceremonies, Cavanagh was a member of the College Corporation, the president's council and a president of the National Alumni Association.
In 1994, Art History and the Slide Library moved to their permanent home in Hunt-Cavanagh Hall, and drawing, painting and design moved across the street into the Service Building, finally bringing the Department together into one general area.
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THE GALLERIES:
The Hunt-Cavanagh building is also home to the Hunt-Cavanagh Art Gallery, which is used for professional exhibitions, and along with the Reilly Gallery, for senior students' graduation shows. It provides all students with the opportunity to observe and reflect upon the works of serious artists.
Hunt/Cavanagh Gallery
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Alice Cahana, 2000
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One of the most significant exhibitons held in the Hunt-Cavanagh Gallery was that of the work of Alice Cahana. A holocaust survivor, Cahana painted the terrible memories of her time in the concentration camps of Hungary and Poland and was featured in the Academy-award winning documentary by Stephen Spielberg, The Last Days (1998). Both she and her work appeared at PC as part of a week-long commemoration of Yom Ha Shoah—Day of Remembrance—in 2000. Most recently, Cahana's work has been acquired by the Pope for the Vatican collection.
In 2005, with the dedication of the Smith Center for the Arts, PC gained additional exhibition space with the Robert F. and Mary Anne Reilly Gallery.
Robert F. and Mary Anne Reilly Gallery, Faculty Exhibition 2007
Mr. Robert F. Reilly, an alumnus from the class of 1942, and his wife, Mary Anne, continue to be outstanding contributors to both the College and society. Mary Anne, an alumna of Fordham University, credits her education at Dominican Commercial High School as critical to her success, which includes breaking through the male-dominated business world of the 1950s to hold prominent positions in the publishing industry. Robert, a member of the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame for both baseball and basketball, has held important positions in the apparel industry. Robert has remained strongly dedicated to the PC community. As a generous benefactor and former trustee, Robert continues to serve as Director of the New York Alumni Club. Both Robert and Mary Anne are recipients of honorary degrees from Providence College.
The Reilly Gallery has already hosted several notable exhibitions. The majority of these exhibitions have been created and executed by classes in the museum studies course, enabling students to learn first-hand not only about works of art, but to experience the process of bringing an exhibition from the early stages of conception to the final stage of actuality.
Robert Wilson, 2005 |
In 2005, the gallery held The Proscenium Eye: Drawings and Sculptures by Robert Wilson, providing students with the experience of personally interacting with internationally-renowned artist, Robert Wilson, his assistants, and his artwork. Wilson was on hand to offer a College-wide workshop on his unique brand of performance art, and following this experience, a few PC students went on to internships at Wilson’s studio, The Watermill Center, in Long Island, N.Y.
In 2006, the gallery hosted Another Look at Joseph Beuys in which students from the museum studies course worked with an anonymous private collector to provide an insightful exhibition of the artist’s work. This project also spearheaded simultaneous exhibitions of Beuys’ work at our sister institutions, Brown University and the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design.
Also in 2006, the Reilly Gallery hosted a rare exhibition of the work of artist, Jack Wolfe. Wolfe’s iconic portraits of Native Americans represented his own people with poignance and defiance.
Both Hunt-Cavanagh and Reilly Galleries have now become significant stops on the City of Providence’s monthly Gallery Night Tours. However, the growth of the Department and its significant milestones have not been restricted to the galleries.
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RECENT EVENTS:
Christo, 1990 |
The 20th Anniversary of the Department was celebrated in 1990. To commemorate the occasion, the College invited the renowned environmental artist, Christo, to give a lecture to the College community prior to the commencement of his Umbrella Project in California and Japan. In anticipation of his arrival, the statues of Mr. And Mrs. Slavin were wrapped, in the fashion of Christo, by the Art Club. Following his visit, several students went on to work on the installation of the Umbrellas in California.
In 2000, the Department invited a group of Buddhist Monks from the monastery of the Dali Lama in Ithaca, New York to construct a traditional sand mandala at the College. Over the course of two weeks, the monks created -- and then destroyed -- the mandala, culminating in the casting of its sands upon the river in downtown Providence. Barnaby Evans, creator of the popular installation piece, Waterfire, conducted a lighting of Waterfire to commemorate the event.
Currently, there are six professors of studio art covering all specialties from 2-d to 3-d, and five professors in art history, covering most of western art history, as well as museology, women’s studies, and Asian studies. The most significant recent development in the studio division has been the establishment in 2006 of a major in digital imaging, assuring that PC will remain on the cutting edge of new developments in this field. In art history, the addition of coursework in archaeology beginning in 2005 has already resulted in the inclusion of PC students on excavations on Crete, as well as making PC a contributing member of the American School of Classical Studies, Athens.
The professors of Art and Art History continue to show the dedication of Fr. Hunt, guiding and mentoring students along their educational paths and instilling in them a love of art. Students involved in the Art Club strive to extend this love of creative process to the rest of the community—through events and activities which range from sponsoring lectures to hosting after-school art programs at local elementary schools. Students of the Department have gone on to become regularly exhibiting artists, museums curators, professors, art auctioneers, artists’ representatives, editors, authors, philanthropic administrators, and attorneys, to name only a few of the ways in which they continue to live their education.
Mary Lyons Crams
Allison Herrmann ‘07
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