December 06, 2018

Hoffman Gallery Changes

We are in the process of moving the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art to a director model that will be faculty-led and more student-centered. The current gallery director, Linda Tesner, will leave Lewis & Clark at the end of the academic year.

Dear Colleagues,

I write to let you know of some changes coming to the leadership of the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art. We are in the process of moving to a director model that will be faculty-led and more student-centered. The current gallery director, Linda Tesner, will leave Lewis & Clark at the end of the academic year.

I wish to thank Linda for her thoughtful and ambitious direction and curation over the last 20 years. Among many achievements, she chaired the committee that brought to campus Alison Saar’s York: Terra Incognita—Lewis & Clark College’s permanent memorial—which honors a key member of the Corps of Discovery too long ignored by history. The current gallery show, Maria T.D. Inocencio and Mark R. Smith: Loss of Material Evidence, is a great example of the programming she has brought to Lewis & Clark and to the wider Portland community. The awaited Sandow Birk exhibit opens January 24, and the Senior Show follows in the spring.

Even after the transition to a new director next summer, the gallery space will retain its function as a resource for the art community on campus and in the broader community. We are seeking a more student-centered gallery experience, and we plan to have a faculty member lead that process. The art department will be more involved, and students will be more engaged in a creative and dynamic gallery space.

There’s much to anticipate as the Hoffman Gallery evolves. Additionally, next fall we’ll welcome a new assistant professor of art, Brian House, who will lead a new digital media track. I look forward to welcoming him to the arts community at Lewis & Clark.

The current exhibition at the Hoffman Gallery runs through Sunday, when there will be a gallery talk and catalogue signing from 2 to 4 p.m.

Thank you, 

Bruce Suttmeier
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences