Over 100 members of the Amherst College community gathered in LeFrak Gymnasium Sunday, April 4, to celebrate the culmination of "Collecting 101: Acquiring Art & Building Community, A Partnership of Scholar Athletes and the Mead Art Museum."
Amherst College students, faculty, and staff were invited to view a special art display in a gym setting, to hear student cohort presentations about their research of the contemporary art scene, and to vote on their favorite art pieces the Mead should acquire for its collection!
The scholar athletes involved in the program were placed into two "teams" and each team presented an argument for its piece of art and why it should be purchased and displayed in the Mead.
Those teams and the work of art they chose were:
Team 1: Tomashi Jackson "Mrs. Mary Joseph Lyons"
Carter Hollingsworth '25, Charlotte McGuire '25, Cassidy Duncan '25, Jordan Gomez '25, Sarah Edelson '23, and Zion Hawkins '23
Team 2: Trenton Doyle Hancock "Exchanging Variables"
Jay Lassiter '24, Kayla Holloway '25, Margaret McNamara '23, Ryan Gomez '25, and, Tariq Muhammad '23
At the conclusion of the event, over 70 people voted. The artwork that received the most votes and will enter the Mead's collection was the piece from artist Trenton Doyle Hancock.
In addition to the two art pieces displayed and voted on, art works created by scholar athletes and coaches from their respective athletic programs were on display as part of the "Love, Serve, Set" component of the program.
Original source can be found here.