Taiye Idahor, Ekundayo, 2018, Photo paper collage, ink, and color pencil on paper, Museum purchase, Marjorie Schechter Bronfman '38 and Gerald Bronfman Endowment for Works on Paper 2019.948

Press release available here.

The Davis and the Wellesley College Library Special Collections join together to celebrate acquisitions of works on paper from the last decade that represent Wellesley’s commitment to inclusive excellence. Often collaborating with Wellesley faculty, staff, and students, curators have acquired the objects in Better on Paper to support and expand the Wellesley College curriculum. With books and works on paper that connect to every department on campus, Wellesley continues to enhance its renowned collections through purchases, gifts, and bequests. The prints, drawings, photographs, books, and other objects in Better on Paper originate from around the globe, spanning diverse makers and approaches, and dating to many periods. The Davis and Special Collections each host around 100 class visits annually.

The majority of the Davis’s collection consists of works on paper, including prints, drawings, collages, photographs, and more. In addition to displaying them in special exhibitions and the long-term galleries, Davis staff and Wellesley faculty frequently select artworks for class visits to the Print Study Room. Better on Paper includes just a fraction of the over 4,000 works on paper collected by the Davis between 2014 and 2024, highlighting many previously unseen artworks. This exhibition emphasizes contemporary art, while also showcasing many new acquisitions of art from past centuries.

Special Collections stewards rare books, manuscripts, contemporary limited editions, and non-traditional artists’ books. Through gifts and purchases over the last decade, over 2,000 acquisitions have been added. These include an instructive geography game for children, a satirical fan, and other objects of cultural history–in addition to many printed and manuscript books. Faculty, students, and independent scholars can request to view materials in Special Collections for individual research and class visits. In Better on Paper, curators highlight objects that support study in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

Building these collections supports today’s Wellesley Method: object-based and human-centered learning across the disciplines. We invite you to study, learn, and teach in this exhibition–and to find out more about the many other works on paper in the Davis Museum and Special Collections.

This exhibition was co-curated by Amanda Gilvin, Interim Co-Director, Sonja Novak Koerner '51 Senior Curator of Collections, and Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, and Ruth R. Rogers, Curator of Special Collections and Visiting Lecturer, Art Department, with contributions from Nicole Berlin, Associate Curator of Collections, Alicia Bruce, Friends of Art Curatorial Project Manager and Researcher, Yuhua Ding, Kemper Assistant Curator of Collections and Academic Affairs, L. Goins ‘26, 2024 Summer Curatorial Intern, James Oles, Adjunct Curator of Latin American Art and Senior Lecturer, Art Department, Mariana S. Oller, Associate Curator of Special Collections, and Semente, Curator of Education and Public Programs.

Better on Paper is presented at the Davis with generous support from the Anonymous '70 Endowed Museum Program Fund, Marjorie Schechter Bronfman '38 and Gerald Bronfman Endowment for Works on Paper, and Wellesley College Friends of Art at the Davis.