Dear friends,
Welcome back to campus for another wonderful year of learning, dialogue, and collective growth. As we kick off this semester, I am delighted to introduce some major new developments in our evolution as Kenyon’s world-class teaching museum. When I arrived two years ago, we celebrated The Gund Gallery’s 10th anniversary—a milestone that inspired us to begin the process of reimagining our role on campus, in the Gambier community, and beyond. Now, with a clear vision for how our institution can provide pivotal arts learning experiences for every Kenyon student and all who visit Gambier, I’m excited to embark on our next chapter together. This is an exciting moment for Kenyon, one that holds incredible potential for our school and for the museum field.
Over the last year, we embraced a rigorous and collaborative strategic planning process to explore who we are and what matters to us, and developed a roadmap for amplifying our impact on campus, in our community, and in the field. This work would not have been possible—or nearly as transformative—without our advisory committee, composed of staff, students, and members of the Knox community, who generously shared their insights, ideas, hopes, and concerns. I'm pleased to announce that we have adopted Kenyon's Values and personalized them to our role as a nexus for modern and contemporary art:
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Intellectual Empowerment and Creativity: Through our engagement with art, artists, and lifelong learners, we foster a creative community that is both welcoming and intellectually courageous, inviting dialogue, curiosity, and critical thinking.
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Embracing Differences: We believe that including all voices contributes to a more complete and compelling understanding of art and ourselves. We look at who is absent within the art field as an opportunity to embrace diversity in all aspects of our work: our collection, exhibitions, programs, partnerships, operations, and culture.
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Kindness, Respect, and Integrity: In our efforts to engage and collaborate with Kenyon students and colleagues, artists, and the arts and culture community, we will model kindness, respect, integrity, and inclusion.
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Enduring Connections to People and Place: We embody a “people-centric” approach in the ways we share and interpret our collection and exhibitions, ensuring ease of access and encouraging deep reflection, self-discovery, exploration, and a sense of belonging through art.
Perhaps the most significant outcome of our strategic planning work, we have decided to shorten our name and adopt a brand identity that reflects the breadth of our initiatives, spaces, and programming—on campus and beyond. From this point forward, we will be known as The Gund at Kenyon College (shortened to The Gund). This nomenclature distinction acknowledges us as a single institution with multiple locations: The Gund Gallery remains our primary office, gathering, and exhibition space on campus, and its architecture continues to inspire us to connect, learn, and experiment with new ways to experience art. As we expand our programming to new locations, evolve our Gund Associates program, and reflect on our stewardship of a robust public art collection, The Gund becomes an overarching name for all that we do.
Over the next few weeks, you’ll begin to see The Gund’s new identity expressed through an updated logomark, design aesthetic, and website. These communication tools will help us convey a renewed clarity of purpose—fueled by the strategic values noted above—and share our collection and programming with the broadest audience possible. Tomorrow, we are excited to launch our new digital home (thegund.org)—please take a moment to explore this updated experience, and let us know what you think.
Finally, I am so excited to welcome you to The Annex, our new programming space in Mount Vernon, which officially opens this weekend. Located in a restored storefront in downtown Mount Vernon—easily accessible by a free shuttle from campus—we’ll explore what it means to “learn with art” as a community through programs informed by our permanent collection. The Annex provides a safe space to create and express yourself, no matter your academic focus or experience with art. We look forward to inviting neighbors, families, students, and lifelong learners to discover new connections to art, ideas, and each other through free workshops, creative activities, and events. I take this opportunity to extend my gratitude for the generous support received from the Mellon Foundation, Ariel Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, Kenyon College and The Gund Board of Directors in making this initiative possible.
With so many new things to celebrate and discover about The Gund, I encourage you to consider how our experiences and programming can enrich your Kenyon experience. Check out the new site tomorrow, attend a workshop at The Annex, and explore our collection digitally—you’re sure to discover new perspectives and connections among the topics that interest you and within the Knox County community.
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Thursday, Sept. 7: Fall Exhibition Opening Reception at The Gund Gallery, featuring works by Christine Sun Kim, Beverly Buchanan, and William E. Jones (Learn More)
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Friday, Sept. 8: The Annex Opening Day & Official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony (Learn More)
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Saturday, Sept. 9: Discovery Day at The Annex (Learn More)
Wishing you a joyful start to the semester.
Avec amitiés,
Daisy Desrosiers
Director and Chief Curator of The Gund