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Of Accidental Origin Curatorial Statement

Of Accidental Origin   Saltonstall House Curatorial Project, 2017-2018  Fueled by Art Advisory Board meetings, Art Department consultations, and unanimous votes, Lamont Gallery director, John Wharton, drafted an argument for the sale of the permanent collection in 1977.  From its  beginnings, the Lamont Gallery was meant to serve the community through hosting educational, traveling exhibitions.  Collecting and maintaining artwork was not in the mission statement, but yet, in 1977, Mr. Wharton found himself with an unwieldy, unorganized collection.   Then comprised mostly of 18th century British prints and paintings, Mr. Wharton believed that collection was too specific, and perhaps, “too overwhelming” for high school students to “explore as thoroughly as it demands.” The majority of the collection did not leave its basement storage due to the belief that the collection was “too random and disjointed to contribute shows to the Lamont Gallery which...
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An Overview of the Project

At the beginning of fall term, Ms. Durand, the Lamont Gallery Manager, reached out to us because of our displayed interest in the gallery and/or from our prior work with the gallery last spring.  She proposed the idea to Principal MacFarlane of curating her dining room in Saltonstall house with pieces from our immense archive. Principal MacFarlane, eager to customize the home, accepted and funded our project (after we came up with a budget, of course). "Watermelon Sleeves," or more properly known as The Red Death , by Federico  Castellón .  For the next few months, Ms. Knauss, the Collections Assistant and Archives Coordinator, supervised our meetings.  Fueled by pizza, we first reviewed most of the items in the archive digitally, noting the pieces that evoked strong emotions from us. As we reviewed the collection, we began to notice themes and nicknaming the pieces such as ‘Watermelon sleeves’ and ‘MS Paint’. There was a section of about a...
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Our Mission

  Since September, the Saltonstall curatorial team has worked to shed light on the Lamont Gallery’s permanent collection. Kept in the archives for years, the collection is home to a wide variety of prints, paintings, masks, and musical instruments, many of which mysteriously found their way to the gallery, hence the name “Of Accidental Origin.” Previous Gallery director John Wharton penned the exhibition’s title in a 1977 letter to the Art Advisory Committee captioned “Argument for the Sale of the Permanent Collection.” He believed “the collection as a whole is, in fact, too random and disjointed to contribute to shows to the Lamont gallery which might have general educational value.” “Of Accidental Origin” aims to counter this by embracing the range of work available in the Gallery. The exhibition combines a wide variety of art into a show the curators believe both cohesive and reflective of Exeter’s diverse community. Displayed in Principal MacFarlane’s dining room, the exhibi...
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