Expanding Access to American Art
Museum directors and program directors with First Lady Frances Wolf. From Left to Right: Carrie Haslett, John Graydon Smith, Kathleen Jameson, The Trout Gallery Director Phillip Earenfight, Erin Coe, Abigail Baer, Anne Kraybill, Leslie Anne Miller, Timothy Rub, First Lady Frances Wolf
Trout Gallery selected for a new collection-sharing partnership with the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Trout Gallery is one of only eight museums and galleries in Pennsylvania selected for a new collection-sharing partnership with the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA). The Art Bridges + Terra Foundation Initiative, which brings together Pennsylvania museums in an effort to expand access to American art, was recently announced at a press conference in the rotunda of the Pennsylvania State Capitol, followed by a luncheon hosted by First Lady Frances Wolf and attended by partnership museum representatives, including The Trout Gallery’s Phillip Earenfight and Heather Flaherty.
“The Trout Gallery is honored to be selected for participation in this collection-sharing initiative, which will bring to the Dickinson College and Carlisle community important works of American art from PMA—one of the world’s great museums,” said Earenfight, director of The Trout Gallery and associate professor of art & art history.
Beginning in the fall of 2020, Earenfight said The Trout Gallery will host a series of silhouette portraits by Moses Williams (c. 1775 - c. 1825), who was a slave to Charles Willson Peale, the artist and founder of American’s first museum. These portraits will be displayed in conjunction with contemporary silhouette imagery by Kara Walker, whose work addresses slavery in America and the experience of African-Americans.
“This is the first in a series of PMA-related exhibitions at The Trout Gallery dedicated to works by African American artists, which are particularly well represented in the PMA collections and are an area of growth for us,” said Earenfight.
According to Elizabeth Glassman, president and CEO of the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Art Bridges + Terra Foundation Initiative in Pennsylvania is part of a “nationwide program to engage local communities with outstanding works of American art in meaningful ways. Created with local communities in mind, their collaborative exhibitions and programs will present American art in innovative ways, inviting audiences to be part of an always-evolving dialogue around it.”
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Published May 2, 2019