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FDAC Events

Friends of the Davison Art Center members receive invitations to a wide range of events. Please also see the FDAC Blog for timely news of upcoming events and photographs of recent ones. You also can visit iTunesU to download video podcasts of two recent Artful Lunch talks. These first two podcasts feature Andrew Szegedy-Maszak and Sasha Rudensky.

Selected upcoming events include:

Reception and gallery talk: APOTHECARY (storehouse)

Friday, February 3, 2012, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
David Schorr, Professor of Art
The opening reception for the DAC's winter exhibition, APOTHECARY (storehouse): new paintings by David Schorr. The artist will speak at 5:30.

Artful Lunch

Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 12:10 p.m.
David Schorr, Professor of Art
One artwork, one speaker, fifteen minutes. The FDAC sponsors these presentations by Wesleyan faculty about their favorite works in the DAC collection. Attendees bring a bag lunch and enjoy coffee, homemade cookies, and conversation following the talk.

Lecture by David Schorr: Approaching Apothecary

Wednesday 22 February, 4:30 p.m., CFA Hall
The DAC gallery will be open after the lecture.

Artful Lunch

Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 12:10 p.m.
Michael Roth, Wesleyan University President and University Professor
One artwork, one speaker, fifteen minutes.

Reception and gallery talk: With a Lot of Help from Our Friends

Thursday, March 29, 2012, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
The opening reception for the DAC's spring exhibition, With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: 50 Years of Acquisitions Funded by the Friends of the Davison Art Center. Details to come.

The Big Draw: Middletown

Sunday, April 22, 2012
Celebrating drawing in all its forms, this day-long event will encourage creativity, exploration, invention, and fun. The Big Draw: Middletown will be accessible to people of all ages, from grade-schoolers to university students, parents, adult amateur artists, and anyone who has ever picked up a pencil. It will include collaborative projects with student volunteers from Middletown High School and Wesleyan University. Activities will include automatic drawing, a drawing scavenger hunt, mapping, mural-making, and an impromptu exhibition. Presented by the FDAC with support from the Middletown Commission on the Arts, the Middlesex County Community Foundation, and additional co-funders to be announced, The Big Draw: Middletown will be free of charge and open to all.

Artful Lunch

Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 12:10 p.m.
Joseph Siry, Professor of Art History
One artwork, one speaker, fifteen minutes--or in this case, one house, one speaker, fifteen minutes, as Professor Siry speaks about the historic Alsop House.

FDAC Student Event

Student member event
Thursday, April 26, 2012 (time to be announced)
This student event will involve poetry, visual art, spoken word performance, and refreshments. Stay tuned for details!

Field Trip to the Center for Contemporary Printmaking

Saturday, April 28, 2011
Details to come.

Recent events have included:

Tour of New York City Photograph Galleries

Saturday, November 12, 2011, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
This Friends of the Davison Art Center event was led by noted collector and Wesleyan University professor Andrew Szegedy-Maszak. The participants met in New York, visited galleries on 57th Street and in Chelsea, and enjoyed a prix-fixe lunch in a cozy Chelsea bistro.

Artful Lunch

Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 12:10 p.m.
Sasha Rudensky, Assistant Professor of Art
One artwork, one speaker, fifteen minutes. The FDAC sponsors these presentations by Wesleyan faculty about their favorite works in the DAC collection. Attendees bring a bag lunch and enjoy coffee, homemade cookies, and conversation following the talk.

Artful Lunch

Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 12:10 p.m.
Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, Professor of Classical Studies and Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek
One artwork, one speaker, fifteen minutes.

Artful Lunch

Wednesday, September 28, 2011, 12:10 p.m.
Elizabeth Milroy, Professor of Art History
One artwork, one speaker, fifteen minutes.

Decadent Desserts

Student member event
Thursday, September 22, 2011, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Student members of the FDAC enjoyed desserts and music in the courtyard, along with an open gallery.

Dürer, Rembrandt, Picasso: Reconsidering the Masters at the Davison Art Center

Wednesdays, 6:00–7:30 p.m., September 7, 14, and 21, 2011
The Wesleyan Institute for Lifelong Learning and the Friends of the Davison Art Center presented this short course on three of the most influential printmakers: Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Pablo Picasso. Why did these important painters devote significant time throughout their careers to making prints? What artistic and technical challenges seized their imaginations? How could prints convey ideas, and bring fame and fortune? Taught by Curator Clare Rogan, the course met at the Davison Art Center to view selected master prints from the collection.

"Circle 50" Cocktail Party

Thursday, May 5, 2011, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
This members-only event kicked off the FDAC's 50th-Anniversary year (2011-2012) just a bit in advance! Attendees reconnected with FDAC friends, voted on artworks to add to the collection, and more.

Decadent Desserts

Student member event
Thursday, April 28, 2011, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Student members of the FDAC enjoyed desserts and music in the courtyard, along with an open gallery.

Art and Conservation in New Haven

Saturday, April 2, 2011, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Friends of the Davison Art Center could join a special tour of the conservation laboratory of the Yale Center for British Art, learning how conservators examine artwork and how different art media present different issues. Lunch was included.

Tour of New York City Photograph Galleries

Saturday, November 13, 2010, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
This tour of New York photograph galleries was led by noted collector and Wesleyan professor Andrew Szegedy-Maszak. A prix-fixe lunch was included.

The Perfect Omelet: Taste & Tyranny

Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
History and mysteries of the omelet, with a demonstration of cooking technique by John Finn, Wesleyan professor of Government and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Professor Finn discussed how the search for the perfect omelet is not simply a question of what tastes good, but also about how "taste," whether gustatory or aesthetic, is inescapably political.

Behind the Scenes at the DAC

Tuesday, October 12, 2010, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
FDAC members saw the treasures of the DAC in a members-only tour with Curator Clare Rogan.

Flying Pizza Party

Student member event
Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Pizza and music in the courtyard, open gallery for student members

Wesleyan students joined us in the Davison Art Center Courtyard for the FDAC's first-ever Flying Pizza Party. This student event featured a special "Pie" Baking Contest. Pizza judging was based on aesthetic quality, originality, and tastiness, amid a pizza potluck dinner with supplementary pies provided by the Davison Art Center. There also was live music and a look at the exhibition Art and Appetite.

WESeminar: "A Splendid Palace in Middletown": Celebrating the Richard Alsop IV House

Saturday, May 22, 2010, 2:00 P.M., Room 100, Davison Art Center
Part of Wesleyan's Reunion/Commencement weekend, this event was coordinated with the FDAC-sponsored reception noted further below.

In 1844, a visitor to the Alsop House described it as "a splendid Palace in Middletown the walls & ceilings are of plaster of paris beautifully decorated by eminent Artists...." In 2009, the National Parks Service honored the historic importance of the house and the wall paintings by designating the Alsop House a National Historic Landmark. There are fewer than 2,500 National Historic Landmarks in the United States and only 60 in the state of Connecticut. This event offered a discussion about the history of the Alsop House and its place in American architecture.

Introduction: Elizabeth Milroy is professor of art history and teaches the history of art and material culture in North America. She is a visiting scholar in historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania, and is completing a major history of Philadelphia's cultural landscapes titled The Green Country Town: William Penn's Legacy and the Birth of Philadelphia's Public Parks, 1682-1882.

Presenters: Alain Munkittrick (B.A. Wesleyan 1973) is an associate of Munkittrick Associates, which provides architecture, interior design, and space planning services. He was the first student appointed to the Wesleyan Landmarks Advisory Board and served on the WLAB for almost 25 years. Joseph Siry is professor of art history and teaches history of modern architecture and urbanism, mainly in Europe and the United States. His current book is Beth Sholom: Frank Lloyd Wright and Modern Religious Architecture. He was a 1994 recipient of the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Dedication of the Richard Alsop IV House as a National Historic Landmark

Saturday, May 22, 2010, 3:00 p.m.
Richard Alsop IV House and Davison Art Center courtyard
Sponsored by the Friends of the Davison Art Center

Tour of the Arts in Providence, Rhode Island

Saturday, May 1, 2010, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The FDAC offered this special tour of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, as well as additional sites in Providence. The group met at the new wing of the RISD Museum, designed by Rafeo Moneo, and enjoyed a personal tour of the exhibition Pat Steir: Drawing Out of Line, led by Jan Howard, Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs. They also toured the museum's new study room for works on paper. A prix-fixe lunch at a noted seafood restaurant was included. The afternoon continued with a tour of the John Brown House Museum, one of the grandest houses in the United States when it was completed in 1788.

Children's Art Workshop

Saturday, April 24, 2010, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

FDAC docents conducted a workshop for children in grades one through six. Children viewed the Robin Price exhibition and created their own artist's books.

Studio Visit with Robin Price, Publisher

Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Book artist Robin Price hosted a special visit to her studio for members of the Friends of the DAC and Friends of the Wesleyan Library. The visit included a demonstration of letterpress printing and a discussion of how she develops and creates her artist's books.

Other FDAC Events

Other FDAC events include the annual Holiday Print Sale; such major fund-raisers as benefit auctions every five years; and members-only parties, receptions, and trips to other museums. The FDAC also used to present occasional Heirloom Discovery Days.
FDAC members enjoying themselves at Heirloom Discovery Day

Details of these and other Friends of the Davison Art Center events appear on this page and in direct communications to members. FDAC events have a long history; a photograph of revelry in 1972 provides one trace of this.