About
The William H. Van Every and Edward M. Smith Galleries play a fundamental role in the life of Davidson College.The Galleries support the academic mission of the college through the presentation, interpretation, and discussion of primarily contemporary artworks in all media for students and members of the Davidson community, as well as for national and international visitors to the campus. Gallery exhibitions and programs nurture individual thinking, develop visual literacy, and inspire a lifelong commitment to the arts.
The college maintains a permanent collection of art that offers students and members of the community an opportunity to interact with and research more than 4,000 works of art spanning more than five centuries. Works from the permanent art collection are displayed in academic buildings on campus and are also loaned to other regional, national, and international art institutions for inclusion in thematic exhibitions and/or individual retrospectives.
Lia Rose Newman
Director / Curator
Email: linewman@davidson.edu
Lia Newman has held the position of Director/Curator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College since January 2013. From 2002 to 2012, Newman was Director of Programs and Exhibitions at Artspace in Raleigh, NC. She earned a BA in Art History and a BFA in General Studio with concentrations in sculpture and photography from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, and an MA in Liberal Studies from Duke University, Durham, NC. Newman is responsible for curating exhibitions, developing exhibition-related programming, and overseeing and growing Davidson College’s Permanent Art Collection, including the campus sculpture program. Currently, she serves on Arts & Science Council's Public Art Commission as well as the Davidson Public Art Commission.
Marisa J Pascucci
Gallery & Collection Coordinator
Email: mapascucci@davidson.edu
Marisa J. Pascucci is the Gallery and Collection Coordinator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries. Before relocating to the Charlotte area in January 2017, she was the Curator of Collections at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Marisa graduated from American University with a Bachelors degree in art history and earned dual Master of Arts degrees in art history and museum studies from the joint program between Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Davidson College’s Art Collection Advisory Committee (ACAC) promotes the appreciation and study of visual art through the college’s permanent collection for the benefit of Davidson’s students, faculty, staff, alumni, community, and visitors. ACAC members are Davidson College’s “eyes and ears” for opportunities of potential acquisitions of art for the purposes of teaching and learning. In addition, members provide guidance to the gallery director on matters pertaining to museum policy, research, and collection advancement.
To learn more about membership on the committee, please contact Lia Newman at linewman@davidson.edu.
Jamie Knowles ’10, Chair
Malú Alvarez ’02, Past Chair
Charlotte Artus
Jane Avinger
Susan Baik
Kat Belk ’46
Ana Maria Ortega Crespo
Francisco Crespo
Lisa Robinson Chidsey ’83
Meika Fields Daus ’03
Amy Clemmons King ’97, Past Chair
Joseph P. Logan ’77
Fred Lopp ’63
Frank K. Lord ’89
Susan Norman McAlister ’85
John Andrew MacMahon ’95
Daniel F. McLawhorn ’70, Past Chair
Ambrice Miller ’09
Virginia (Ginny) Newell ’78
Marian Nisbet
Elena Paul ’85, Past Chair
Katherine Hernandez Polenz ’08
Mary Margaret Cochrane Porter ’98
Susan Ross
Jessica Ruhle ’03
Lauren Sanford ’03
Tyler Yvette Wilson ’14
True to the liberal arts’ tradition of promoting independent thinking, the first art exhibition ever held at Davidson College was organized by a student. Freshman Gordon Horton organized the Annual Student Exhibition in 1938. Since then, the Van Every/Smith Galleries have come a long way, organizing hundreds of exhibitions in the Katherine and Tom Belk Visual Art Center and amassing a collection of over 4,000 works of art. Read the full history here.
The Van Every/Smith Galleries are a venue for educational contemporary art experiences for students and members of the Davidson community, as well as for national and international visitors to the campus. Gallery programs are made possible, in part, because of the generosity of individual donors, grants, foundations, and endowments.
Click here and select “other” from the drop-down menu. Designate your gift to the Herb Jackson and Laura Grosch Gallery Fund (to support current gallery programs) or to the Herb Jackson and Laura Grosch Gallery Endowment (to support long-term funding of the gallery) or to the Dr. Joan Huntley Art Acquisition Endowment.
We deeply appreciate your support!