By Gerry Boyle '78

Before Daniel Rosenfeld was named director of the Colby College Museum of Art, he made a clandestine tour of the galleries in Waterville and came to two conclusions: that the museum's collection is extraordinary, that the Colby museum is "a little less known than it should be."

The first new director of the Museum of Art in nearly 40 years, Rosenfeld follows Hugh Gourley, who saw the museum grow prodigiously in both size and stature during his tenure. Calling Gourley "exceptional," Rosenfeld said he sees the museum as a resource of great potential for both the College and the community. He also noted the commitment of the museum's Board of Governors. "What I find at Colby I found at RISD [Rhode Island School of Design]," Rosenfeld said. "The sub board was composed of people who are very knowledgeable and very serious about collecting."

Daniel Rosenfeld

He served as curator of painting and sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1984 to 1995 after stints as research associate and acting curator at Yale University Art Gallery .

A native of Philadelphia, Rosenfeld earned his undergraduate degree at The Johns Hopkins University and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Stanford University. He held faculty and visiting faculty appointments at Boston University, Wellesley College, Brown University and the University of Chicago before turning to museum administration at Yale in 1981. After Yale and RISD, he was director of the museum of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1996-2000), the oldest arts institution and museum in the nation.

"His dedication to art and to higher education makes this appointment a perfect fit for Colby," said President William D. Adams.

And the museum is a perfect fit for Colby, too, Rosenfeld says.

He referred to its "layers of audience," including the College and its students and faculty, the trustees and the national art world, and the outlying community, beginning in central Maine and widening to New England. "Each of these constituencies requires different kinds of attention," Rosenfeld said.

He said his goals include making the museum "a very important player" nationally, but also expanding its use as an educational resource for faculty and students. "It's very important to make the museum a vital resource that contributes aggressively to the educational mission of the College," he said.

Rosenfeld said he can envision the Museum of Art as not only a place to display art but as a stage where art can be produced. He noted the evolution of art forms that is ongoing, pointing to the Whitney Museum biennial exhibition in which only three of 60 artists were painters. Other forms included computer-generated work, installations and video. "You can dislike the stuff at your pleasure, but it's where the culture's at," he said.