Hello friends! My name is Diana D'Souza, and I'm pursuing a double major in Government modified with Economics. On campus, I'm the summer Co-President of Women in Business (WIB) and a Chinese language research assistant. I'm also involved in the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) and will be leading a fly fishing first-year trip in the Grant. In my free time, I enjoy paddleboarding, curating Spotify playlists, and baking with friends.
Clustered between the Hop and Wilson Hall, you will find the Hood Museum of Art, home to some of the most impressive Native American and Australian indigenous art. Although I had frequently passed the Hood during my late night food dashes, I never stepped foot inside until my Humanities floor joined Professor Timothy Baker '08 and Associate Curator Amelia Kahl '01 for a tour.
Curator Amelia Kahl '01
Our tour was divided into two parts, the first of which was a guided tour, where Amelia spoke about the history of the artwork and answered questions. We began by entering the landscape exhibit and I vividly remember a painting reminiscent of the Lorax—with puffy, cotton candy-like trees, a pink sky, and a spattering of flowers in rolling green grass. Next, we proceeded to look at Native American art (baskets, wallets, and pottery) before entering my favorite exhibit: The Politics of Pink. This exhibit, which was designed by Charlotte Grussing '19, embraced how women are stereotypically associated with the color pink. By drowning the exhibit in pink and showcasing the works of women, she was successful in proving that women can reclaim the color pink.
"The Butcher's Tale" (La Mesa del Carnicero), part of the Politics in Pink Exhibit
The second part of the tour took us upstairs, where we had ten minutes to explore as much as we could before the tour concluded. As I admired masks, sculptures, and expansive paintings, I found myself drawn to Allison Saar's "Cache," the focal point of the room. The sculpture features a naked woman curled on the floor with a massive ball of hair weighing her down. Kahl mentioned that it was a symbolic piece that spoke to the woman's struggle of being of both African and European ancestry.
At the end of the tour, we broke out into a Q&A session. Kahl informed us that Dartmouth owns over 150,000 pieces of art, but only 1.5-2% of them are showcased at a time. Every term, the Hood attempts to update or replace exhibits in order to keep the novelty of the museum alive. Besides stopping by for a quick stroll, she encouraged us to conduct research in the museum as an intern, to design our own exhibits, or to request to study an artifact for class. Being able to engage with the Hood staff while discussing beautiful yet intriguing pieces of art made me better appreciate the value Dartmouth places in the humanities.
Let's be honest; college life does get a bit repetitive. My favorite ways of coping are to catch movies, or watch live events at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
The Hopkins Center, also known as the Hop, has some great chances for watching and listening to the arts! I had my first experience with the Hop during my first week of classes.
In case you needed further proof that almost everyone on this campus is a major nerd about at least one thing, and I mean that in the most positive way possible, here is me being unreasonably enthusiastic about my fall term classes.
My latest trip to the Hood Museum was for a business fellowship I'm participating in called the Paganucci Fellows program. Now you may be wondering, what does business have to do with art? More than you would expect!
African and African American Studies (AAAS) encourages people to think about how history shapes the present and engage with the past to envision a more just and equitable future collaboratively.
Well, it is that time of the term again where everyone hides in the library for a few day, but I first had an amazing weekend to celebrate this term before I get started on my finals!
