Collection Information
Size: 2.8 Linear feet
Summary: The Wiegand Gallery records measure 2.8 linear feet and date from circa 1941 to 2019, with the bulk of the records dating from 1972 to 2010. The records shed light on the gallery's operations through exhibition files and administrative records. The administrative records consist of newspaper clippings accompanied by exhibition ephemera, historical information about the gallery, photographic materials, the gallery newsletter, and press releases. Artists' files for artist, teacher, and Wiegand Gallery curator Charles Strong and Hassel Smith are also present. Exhibition files consist mainly of artist resumes, press releases and announcement cards, catalogs, reviews and clippings, and photographic materials depicting artwork, artists, and installations.
Biographical/Historical Note
The Wiegand Gallery was an art gallery on the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California. The Wiegand Gallery was founded in 1987, however, the university held exhibitions of notoriety since the early 1970s. Under the direction of the school's art department as well as painter and professor of art Charles Strong, the university's art gallery held shows for William Synder, Kristen Fenstermaker, Lois Siegriest, James Budd Dixon, Frank Lobdell, Great Plains Native American art and artifacts, and more from the 1970s to 1980s. After 1987 to the 1990s, the gallery focused on exhibiting mid-career artists and lesser-known works by well-known artists. Artists shown in this period include Joel Bass, Susan Mareneck, Jim Melchert, Wayne Thiebaud, Joan Brown and Manuel Neri, Mark di Suvero, and Terry St. John. Artists exhibited in the 2000s include Robert Chiarito, Patrick Morrison, Paul Harris, Oliver Jackson, and John Walker. Notable group shows held at Wiegand include Art from the Inside: Drawings by Chicano Prisoners (2004) and Countdown to Eternity (2005), a photo exhibition of pictures taken during the Civil Rights Movement by Benedict J. Fernandez. Countdown included a gallery event with Tom Houck, Martin Luther King Jr.'s driver and personal assistant. The gallery was closed by administration in 2019.
Provenance
The collection was donated in 2020 by Dr. Gregory White, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Notre Dame de Namur University.
Language Note
English .
Funding Note
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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