News

This week, gallery intern Sarah Willoughby ’25 had the opportunity to interview Davidson College alum Daphne Butler Birdsey ’06. Daphne received a B.A. in political science at Davidson College in 2006. After college, Daphne pursued a career in fundraising, including over 13 years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, during which she received an M.A. in Visual Art Administration from New York University. She eventually assumed the role of Deputy Chief Development Officer for the Director's Office. Most recently, she has moved to Williamstown, MA to work as Chief Advancement Officer at the Clark Art Institute. In this interview, Daphne...

Meet Molly Smith, one of our new interns on staff at the Van Every/Smith Galleries! Molly Smith is a Sophomore at Davidson College from Nashville, Tennessee. She is a Classical Languages & Literature major. Molly wanted to work in the gallery because of her work at home. In Nashville, Molly teaches kids art. Having a job in tune with the craft side of things made her crave a focus on art’s conceptual side. Molly believes museum spaces are already designed to spur ideas and questions, but getting to see the back of the tapestry — perusing the gallery archive or...

Mythologies originate in the mundane and are granted narrative power through repetition, re-imagination, and devotion. While being untrue, they can be deeply powerful tools for communication. We value and propagate the stories which reinforce our beliefs and biases and form a boundary to separate acceptable narratives from more bizarre subjects. In my artwork, I attempt to chip away at this boundary and create unconventional interactions between normality and surrealism.My work prods at the formality of religion, showing how a religious myth can develop from a secular occurrence, or using religious signifiers to tell a secular story. I use demons as...

Meet Brown Payne, one of the new interns on staff at the Van Every/Smith Galleries! Brown Payne is a Sophomore Art History Major at Davidson College from Nashville, Tennessee. Brown wanted to intern at the galleries because of his major and because he wanted to learn more about curation and taking care of the art collection. Brown also really enjoys getting the opportunity to spend more time in the VAC. Learn more about Brown: Who is your favorite artist? “My favorite artist right now is Robert Gober because of his simple reconstructions of everyday objects that are sort of silly...