Faculty, staff, students, and President Garry W. Jenkins participated in the first Bates Curates event in March to choose a new piece for the Bates College Museum of Art’s permanent collection.
The event aimed to involve the campus community in decisions about art acquisitions and to foster engagement with the museum’s holdings. Carrie Cushman, director of the Bates Museum of Art, said she hopes this will be the first of many such events. “This program enabled us to start a conversation with the community about what it means to be a collecting institution in the 21st century,” Cushman said. “We were able to educate students, faculty, and staff on the strengths of our own collection and to build communal investment in its future.”
The gathering centered around Shellburne Thurber: Full Circle, an exhibition running from October 2025 through March that featured photographs by New England-based artist Shellburne Thurber. Samantha Sigmon, assistant curator at the museum who worked with Thurber on curating this show, explained that “Thurber is known for crafting photographs of interior spaces that capture people’s personalities and presence.”
Before Bates Curates began, museum staff had chosen three works from Thurber’s exhibition as candidates for acquisition: “Phantom Limb: My Dresser Top at Night,” “Newtonville, MA: Blue Couch with Multiple Portraits of Freud,” and “Self Portrait Sitting on the Porch in New Hampshire.” The selection was made possible by funding from the Barbara Morris Goodbody Collection Endowment Fund. Attendees toured these works before voting on which one should join more than 8,000 objects already held by the museum.
“Everyone was visibly excited to take part in voting and hearing more about the artist and each of the three works,” Sigmon said. She added that involving attendees provided insight into how collections are built: “I’m thrilled that we could lift the curtain regarding how our collections are built and include our audience in such an integral museum responsibility.” Krystie Wilfong, associate college librarian for collection management and scholarly communications said: “Bates Curates was an inspiring and creative way to connect the campus community with the art museum while showcasing its exhibitions… Hearing Samantha speak about identified works offered a fascinating behind-the-scenes perspective.”
Charles Nero noted his appreciation for efforts addressing colonial practices shaping art collecting: “I appreciated Carrie’s explanation that events like Bates Curates were meant to be part of an intervention in colonial practices that had shaped art collecting.” Ultimately attendees selected “Self Portrait Sitting on the Porch in New Hampshire” as their choice.
Sigmon described why this photograph stands out among Thurber’s work: “The artist sits on her family lakehouse porch… She is not looking directly at camera… It is as if we are right there next to Thurber.” She added it complements existing self-portraits within their collection while being unique among Thurber’s typically interior-focused pieces.
Wilfong summed up attendee sentiment saying: “Knowing that an artwork I voted for will become part of permanent collection makes experience feel especially meaningful.” Sigmon concluded: “As curator I love that we get keep photograph sets us apart from previous exhibitions elsewhere.”
