Spotlight on...Emmie Donadio

Author: Alexxa Gotthardt

Emmie Donadio is the Chief Curator of the Middlebury College Museum of Art and Co-Faculty head of Atwater Commons. Donadio has worked in the museum since its inception in 1990, first as assistant director, then as associate director and, since 2004, as chief curator. Her most recent curatorial endeavor is "Screened and Selected: Contemporary Photography and Video Acquisitions 1999-2005." Currently on show, this innovative, cutting-edge exhibition surveys the museum's growing collection of contemporary photography and video art made possible by Marianne Boesky '99 and the involvement of current Middlebury students.

The Middlebury Campus: When did you come to Middlebury and did you start right away and a curator for the Museum?
ED: I came to Middlebury in 1977 with my husband who had a position in the American Literature Department. I was lucky to be hired by the History of Art Department to teach sections of the Art Survey course. That was in '77 and '78. Then I taught at UVM for two years, where I taught survey courses and my specialties which were, at that time, Northern Renaissance Art and Modern Sculpture. I did critiques of students at UVM, and some of my students from that period of my life have gone on to become well-known art historians, so that's pretty exciting. Middlebury College didn't have a museum until 1990. Richard Saunders, the director of the museum, was hired in 1985 and my position was created in 1990, when I assumed the responsibilities of assistant director. I became chief curator two years ago, and before that I was dssociate director for many years. We have a small museum staff, so I've had the opportunity to do a whole range of activities and projects in conjunction with the museum.

The Campus: What does the role of chief curator entail at the Middlebury Museum of Art?
ED: The chief curator role is undergoing some evolution. There wasn't a chief curator until two years ago. When Colin Mackenzie, curator of Asian art, came to work at the museum, the director of the museum was the college curator and I was associate director. Now, as chief curator, I have oversight of all the collecting activity of the museum and I work in conjunction with Colin Mackenzie, the curator of Asian art, and Pieter Broucke ,who has recently been appointed an adjunct curator of ancient art. And we all, of course, report to the director. We all work with each other. As associate director, because we are a small museum, I was also responsible for public relations and press releases, etc. but our museum coordinator Douglas Perkins has taken on a large part of that responsibility so I can focus more fully on the collection. I am also responsible for determining, along with our registrar, which works need conservation and coming up with a plan for the acquisition of 20th and 21st century art because that's actually my area of greatest interest.
I'm also on the Committee on Art in Public Places (CAPP). Middlebury has an extraordinary collection of public sculpture that's not well known. I'm extremely proud that Middlebury's collection of 20th and 21st century art is so strong in sculpture and photography.

The Campus: In relation to Middlebury's exhibition history, "Screened and Selected" seems revolutionary in its focus on 21st century photography. Why this new commitment to contemporary art at the museum?
ED: The project for "Screened and Selected" actually came about because, starting in 1999, the alum donor gave $25,000 annually specifically for the acquisition of contemporary photography and video. She stipulated that students would choose the work. Last year, the donor said she would continue the funding for another five years if Middlebury matched her gift, so, for the past two years, we have had $50,000 to spend. The exhibition itself came about for a variety of reasons. First of all, Middlebury tries to balance the exhibitions program between exhibitions of loans of work and exhibitions of things that we own. It also seemed midpoint through this ten-year project of collecting contemporary photography that it would be time to see the results of what we've done so far and do an assessment, and we were all extraordinarily, pleasantly surprised by what we have. It's been remarkable. Some of the things we acquired for not very much money are now going for three or four or five times the price we paid. This is something that the donor, who is an art dealer, figured would happen - she wanted to see what Middlebury could do and what the students would choose. It's really enhanced our collection overall to have these contemporary works of photography because in and of themselves they're valuable pieces and the artists are of interest.

The Campus: Why do you think it's important for Middlebury to have this base of contemporary photography?
ED: First of all, a lot of contemporary art is photography and a lot of it is photographically based. If you see the art sales of contemporary art, they include all mediums. It used to be that the mediums were somewhat distinct, and photography has really only in the last 20 years has become the focus of a lot of collecting activity. We're talking with each other, now, in February 2006, and only a month ago three photographs came up at auction and sold for over a million dollars and one sold for nearly three million. So, the photography market is every bit as hot right now as the art market in general. Originally, I think museums got into collecting photography because it was affordable. All contemporary art to some extent is affordable, but reputations grow very quickly and works of fairly young artist are sold for phenomenal prices. It's important for Middlebury to have a collection of contemporary art because it's of great interest to contemporary collectors and to all artists working as artists now. We just acquired this Tony Oursler piece that breaks down the boundaries between photography, video, sculpture and installation art. Contemporary art is very difficult to define as any one thing, so why not photography?

The Campus: What are your final impressions of the outcome of "Screened and Selected?"
ED: I really think there's something wonderful and remarkable about all of the works. Frankly, there are a couple I could do without, but given the way we went about choosing these things, I think we've done a remarkable job. We haven't gotten anything that's a dog (laughs). I'm very proud of this project, I'm proud of the contributions the students have made, especially recently in the J-Term course. I think it's a wonderful opportunity that the donor has given us. I feel very fortunate because the premise happened to tie into my interests and that it's been an opportunity for me to exercise my curatorial skills and to sharpen my awareness of current trends in art-it's been a wonderful learning opportunity.