New College President Is Appointed

By Cheryl Keffer, Kent County News Staff Writer

Kent County News, February 26, 2004 — As the snow melted on the historic brick sidewalks of Washington College, a new season began that will change not only the campus vegetation, but also the administration. Baird Tipson, president of Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, was appointed Feb. 21 by the Board of Visitors and Governors to be Washington College's 26th president. Tipson, 60, was chosen from four finalists who visited the college in January and February, hold-ing open forums, speaking and meeting with various members of the college community.

A self-proclaimed “obsessive gardener,” Tipson first visited the campus on Feb. 4, while the grounds were still covered with a layer of wintry precipitation.

“It's a bit slushy right now,” Tipson said with a laugh, when asked what he thought of the college grounds at an all-campus forum that day.

He went on to speak favorably of the “attractive location” of Washington College and the suc-cessful blending of the college's buildings within the Chestertown community, which he saw both on tours with college officials and during his daily jog.

During his eight years as president and professor of religion at Wittenberg, Tipson and his wife, Sarah were involved extensively in the Springfield community, something they plan to do upon moving to Chestertown.

“We have a lot to learn about Chestertown,” he said. “With the size of the town, we can only imagine the impact Washington College has on the community.”

His presidential accomplishments at the liberal arts college of approximately 2,000 students, comparable to Washington College's current enrollment of approximately 1,400, included significant investments in information technology, the construction of a humanities complex and a major addition to the science center.

Under Tipson's direction, Wittenberg completed a $75 million campaign, which quadrupled the school's previous campaign record.

Before Wittenberg, Tipson served as provost at Gettysburg College for eight years and was associate dean at Central Michigan University for nine years.

Tipson earned his Bachelor's Degree in religion and history at Princeton University and his Ph.D. in religious studies at Yale University, “two very old, well-respected private research” colleges, he said.

“Almost 40 years later I am still drawing on what I learned there,” Tipson said.

His college experience, combined with his career in academia, made Tipson an excellent choice for the position of president at Washington College according to Tuck Maddux, trustee and chair of the presidential screening committee, which reviewed 135 nominees during the eight-month presidential search.

“In Baird Tipson we found a proven leader and true champion of the liberal arts,” said Maddux in a Feb. 21 press release.

Tipson was “overjoyed” when he got the call, he said in a candid phone interview from Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Saturday.

“Before I left on Feb. 6, I had a final interview with Tuck Maddux and Jack Griswold. I explained that we couldn't let ourselves get too attached (to the college), since there were other candidates, but we had a really hard time doing that,” said Tipson.

He and his wife loved Chestertown and the small-town environment and have made the “right decision,” he said. “It feels really good to be coming to Chestertown – part of me would like to start tomorrow,” Tipson said with a laugh. “But we do have strong feelings and emotional ties at Wittenberg. It will be difficult saying goodbye, but I think it's better to leave when people are sorry to see you go, not when they're relieved.”

The Tipsons have family up and down the East Coast, including two grown children, so the move to Maryland “makes us closer to our families, which is very important to us,” said Tipson. “We're very happy. We loved our time in Ohio and even in Michigan, but we felt the same kind of pull to the east.”

Tipson said he didn't see the need to make dramatic changes from what was happening at the college, but was ready for one more challenge before he retired.

“I feel in good physical health and I hope I still have the mental capacity,” he said with a laugh. “I am willing to make a commitment to (Washington College) – I hope to give nine years at the same energy level and dedication that I gave Wittenberg.

“When I was in Chestertown, I felt a new surge of energy – I'm pumped.”

Potential goals for the college were discussed at the all-campus forum Feb. 4, including increasing diversity, the future of the school library, arts facilities upgrades, and differentiating Washington College from other schools in the Centennial Conference.

Chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors Jack S. Griswold said in a letter to the Washington College community, that Tipson “will build upon the unparalleled success the college has enjoyed during John Toll's presidency and will provide leadership for the college as we move to define and secure our future.”

Tipson will begin his job as president July 1, with inauguration in October. John S. Toll's presi-dency will end June 30, but he will be on hand as president emeritus for another year.

Toll, 80, announced his retirement last June, after nine years as president of Washington College.

“I am pleased to hand the leadership of Washington College over to such an eminently qualified individual,” Toll stated in the college press release. “I applaud the extraordinary efforts of the search committee and stand ready to ensure a smooth transition for Baird Tipson.”

Cheryl McDaniel Keffer is a 2001 graduate of Washington College.

Goodfellow Lecture Puts Globalization In Historical Perspective, March 17 At Washington College

Chestertown, MD, February 25, 2004 — The Washington College Department of History's annual Guy F. Goodfellow Memorial Lecture welcomes Louis Galambos, professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, speaking on “The Global Workplace in Historical Perspective,” Wednesday, March 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Dr. Louis Galambos serves as professor of economic and business history at Johns Hopkins University and is the editor of The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower. He has taught at Rice University, Rutgers University and Yale University, and has served as President of the Business History Conference and the Economic History Association. A former editor of The Journal of Economic History, he has written extensively on U.S. business history, on business-government relations, on the economic aspects of modern institutional development in America, and on the rise of the bureaucratic state, giving him a long and deep historical perspective on the phenomenon of economic globalization. His books includeCompetition and Cooperation: The Emergence of a Modern Trade Association, The Public Image of Big Business in America, 1880-1940, America at Middle Age, The Rise of the Corporate Commonwealth and Anytime, Anywhere: Entrepreneurship and the Creation of a Wireless World. Galambos is president and a principal of the Business History Group, a consulting organization, and has been an historical consultant to Merck & Co., Inc., Pacific Telesis Group, AT&T, and the World Bank Group. In addition to editing The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, he has edited (with Robert Gallman) the Cambridge University Press series Studies in Economic History and Policy: The United States in the Twentieth Centuryand is currently co-editor (with Geoffrey Jones) of the Cambridge Studies in the Emergence of Global Enterprise.

The Guy F. Goodfellow Memorial Lecture Series was established in 1989 to honor the memory of the late history professor who had taught at Washington College for 30 years. The intent of the endowed lecture series is to bring a distinguished historian to campus each year to lecture and to spend time with students in emulation of Dr. Goodfellow's vibrant teaching style.

For more information on upcoming lectures and events at Washington College, visithttp://calendar.washcoll.edu.

The War Or Terror: Myths And Misconceptions, Lecture March 2 At Washington College

Chestertown, MD, February 24, 2004 — Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience presents Townsend Hoopes, Senior Fellow at the Starr Center, in a presentation, “Misconceptions in the War on Terrorism,” Tuesday, March 2, at 4:30 p.m. in the Custom House Library. Hoopes will discuss the effect of September 11 on U.S. foreign policy and the global war on terrorism. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Townsend Hoopes was a staff aide to three Secretaries of Defense—James Forrestal, General George Marshall and Robert Lovett—and also served as principal deputy for International Security Affairs at the Pentagon and Under Secretary of the Air Force. He has been co-chairman of Americans for SALT and director of the American Committee on U.S.-Soviet Relations, and is the author of several prize-winning books on foreign policy.

The talk is sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, an innovative forum for new scholarship about American history. Drawing on the special historical strengths of Washington College and Chestertown, the Center is dedicated to exploring the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape American culture. News about upcoming events is available online athttp://starrcenter.washcoll.edu/, or by calling Program Manager Kees de Mooy at 410-810-7156.

Renowned Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra To Perform At Washington College, March 4

Chestertown, MD, February 23, 2004 — The Washington College Concert Series welcomes the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra to the College's Tawes Theatre, Gibson Performing Arts Center, Thursday, March 4, at 8 p.m. Single tickets can be purchased at the door, $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for youth 18 and under. Season tickets and sponsorships are available from the College. Since its formation in Budapest in 1963 by a group of former students from the famous Franz Liszt Music Academy, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra has been widely acknowledged as one of Hungary's foremost ensembles. Although Franz Liszt did not compose any works for string, the Orchestra adopted his name to pay homage to the genius composer whose name became inseparable with the establishment and appreciation of Hungarian music in the symphonic world.

Touring extensively throughout Europe, Japan, and the Americas, the Orchestra comprises 17 virtuoso string players in repertory from the baroque through the modern era, lead by Janos Rolla, a founding member of the Orchestra and one of Hungary's and Europe's foremost violinists. The Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra has been featured on more than 200 recordings on the Sony Classical, CBS, Teldec, EMI, Harmonia Mundi, Erato, Hungaroton, and Denon labels.

For ticket information and a 2003-2004 season brochure, call 410-778-7839 or 800-422-1782, ext. 7839. Season tickets are available for $50.00 per person. Individual tax-deductible patron memberships at $500.00. All membership packages include two tickets, and all donations over the price of the tickets are tax-deductible. Season tickets and memberships can be purchased by check or money order through the mail from the Washington College Concert Series, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620-1197.

From Monticello To Mulan: Lecture Examines Communicating Values Through Culture, February 26

Chestertown, MD, February 20, 2004 — Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the Washington College Department of Art present Cynthia Schneider in a presentation, “From Monticello to Mulan: Communicating Values through Culture,” Thursday, February 26, at 4:30 p.m. in the Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Cynthia Schneider was the Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1998-2001, and is currently Assistant Professor of Art History at Georgetown University. She was also Assistant Curator of European Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In addition to her academic endeavors, Ambassador Schneider was named by President Clinton as Vice-Chair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

As Ambassador to the Netherlands, Schneider led initiatives in the fields of biotechnology, education and public diplomacy, and culture. Through the State Department's Art-in-Embassies program, she assembled at the Dutch embassy residence a museum-quality collection of American art. In the full-length catalogue of the collection, Another Salute, Ambassador Schneider explored the relationships between American and Dutch artists illustrated by the works of art. Schneider has published several books and numerous articles on Rembrandt and Dutch art of the seventeenth century, including Rembrandt's Landscapes(Yale University Press, 1990).

The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience is an innovative forum for new scholarship about American history. Drawing on the special historical strengths of Washington College and Chestertown, the Center is dedicated to exploring the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape American culture. News about other upcoming events is available on-line athttp://starrcenter.washcoll.edu/, or by calling Program Manager Kees de Mooy at 410-810-7156.

Chestertown's African-American Civil War Veterans Hall Topic Of February 23rd Lecture

Chestertown, MD, February 16, 2004 — Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience presents “With Sacred Vigilance: Chestertown's Charles Sumner Post,” a lecture by Kees de Mooy, Program Manager at the Center. The talk will be held Monday, February 23, at 4:30 p.m. in the College's Casey Academic Forum. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Few may know that on South Queen Street in Chestertown stands one of only two African-American Civil War veterans' halls left standing in the United States. Decaying and abandoned since 1985, the hall was built in 1908 by local African-American veterans of the Civil War, and named for the famous abolitionist Senator from Massachusetts, Charles Sumner. The Charles Sumner Post #25, Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) lodge, served a vital function in the local community. Members of the Sumner Post, including the Women's Relief Corps #1 (the first in Maryland), provided aid to fellow veterans, and the widows and orphans of Civil War soldiers. Army Hall, as it was commonly known, was used primarily for meetings and functions related to the veterans group, but was also rented out for graduation parties, weddings and musical performances. In 1937, Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb traveled by steamboat from Baltimore to perform on its second floor stage, and many other jazz notables passed through its doors. In 1955, the building was sold to the Centennial Beneficial Association, a group of men and women who formed themselves into “a society for the purpose of soothing the sorrows and softening the pillows of the sick and drying up the tears of the children.” Gradually, the building became known as Centennial Hall, and the structure's original name and function were all but forgotten.

The Charles Sumner Post is a living monument to African-American Civil War veterans and a vitally important part of local, state and national history. The C.V. Starr Center at Washington College and Preservation Incorporated—a local non-profit group dedicated to the building's restoration—raised the money to purchase this local treasure and save it from demolition. Restoring the building to its former glory will be a challenging but worthwhile undertaking.

De Mooy, a board member of Preservation Incorporated, will talk about the history of the post and its members, and discuss the restoration work that is planned. Funding and assistance for the project are provided by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Maryland Historical Trust, Preservation Incorporated, Kent County Heritage Trust, Historical Society of Kent County, C.V. Starr Center, Kent County Arts Council, and the many Friends of the Charles Sumner Post.

Poet Billy Collins Visits For Annual Sophie Kerr Weekend

Public Reading March 19-20 in the Norman James Theatre

Chestertown, MD, February 16, 2004 — Washington College's Sophie Kerr Committee,O'Neill Literary House and Admissions Office welcome the 2001-2003 United States Poet Laureate, Billy Collins, to campus for the College's annual Sophie Kerr Weekend for high school students interested in creative writing. Collins will give a public reading from his works Friday, March 19, at 4 p.m. in the College's Norman James Theatre. The event is free and all are invited to attend.

A phenomenon in the world of contemporary literature, Collins is a poet who has stepped out of chapbook obscurity into popular success. Accessible, humorous, and contemplative, Collins has been called “an American original” and “a metaphysical poet with a funny bone.” The author of seven books of poetry, including Nine Horses (2002), Sailing Alone Around the Room (2001), Picnic, Lightning (1997), The Art of Drowning (1995), and Questions About Angels (1991)—selected by Edward Hirsch for the National Poetry Series—Collins also has recorded a CD audiobook of poetry, The Best Cigarette (1997). His poetry has appeared in anthologies, textbooks, and periodicals, including Poetry, The American Poetry Review, The American Scholar, Harper's, The Paris Review and The New Yorker. Collins' works have been selected for The Best American Poetry anthology in 1992 and 1993 and have garnered him the Bess Hokin, Frederick Bock, Oscar Blumenthal, and Levinson prizes from Poetrymagazine. Collins has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation, and for several years he has conducted summer poetry workshops at University College-Galway. He is poet-in-residence at Burren College of Art in Ireland and professor of English at Lehman College (CUNY).

The Sophie Kerr Weekend is named in honor of the late writer from Denton, MD, whose generosity has done so much to enrich Washington College's creative writing program and literary culture. When Kerr died in 1965, she left the bulk of her estate to the College specifying that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most “ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor,” and the other half be used to bring visiting writers to campus, to fund scholarships, and to help defray the costs of student publications.

Three Alumni Join Washington College Board

Chestertown, MD, February 11, 2004 — Washington College's Board of Visitors and Governors has announced the appointment of three new alumni trustees: Thomas Crouse, Class of 1959, appointed through the Alumni Council; Edward Nordberg, Class of 1982, appointed by Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich in accordance with the College charter; and H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., Class of 1985, appointed by the Board. Nordberg will serve a full six-year term, and Crouse and Culp will serve five years, replacing outgoing Trustees John Flato '69 and Libby Cater Halaby H'90.

Thomas C. Crouse '59, is chairman and founder of CIG International, LLC, a venture capital and investment firm headquartered in Washington, DC, with regional offices in New York, Chicago and Orlando. Prior to establishing CIG in 1985, Crouse worked for Citibank for 15 years, 10 of which he spent in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Jakarta. After an additional six years with a West Coast Bank and DC-based trading company, Crouse launched the venture that became CIG. He holds an MBA from Columbia University.

For Crouse, Washington College is a family affair, the college of his father, sister and several aunts and uncles. As an undergraduate, he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order, ODK, a track star, and the Clark-Porter Medal winner his senior year. Over the past several years, he has played increasingly important leadership roles. Serving as 40th Reunion Chair with classmate Ellen Reilly, he generated record levels of class giving that paid for the restoration of Norman James Theatre. He served as the first Chair of the Visiting Committee, is a member of the Milestone Council and the Greater Washington, DC, Campaign Cabinet, and this year serves on his 45th Reunion Committee. He and his wife, Kay, reside in Washington, DC.

After graduating from Washington College in 1982, Ed Nordberg continued his education and received an MBA from Loyola College in 1985 and a J.D. from Georgetown University in 1989. Formerly an attorney with the Washington, DC, firm of Williams & Connolly, he co-founded Health Care Financial Partners in 1993, serving as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and a Corporate Director. In 1999, Health Care Financial Partners was sold and Nordberg went on to co-found Medical Office Properties, Inc., a real estate investment trust, where he currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer.

During his career at Washington College, Nordberg was a member of the lacrosse team and president of the senior class. Before joining the College's Board, he served on the College's Visiting Committee. He is also a member of the 1782 Society and Milestone Council and has made a leadership gift to the lacrosse endowment and established a scholarship that honors his grandmother, Helen Adams.

Nordberg is active in community service and is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Advisory Board for Rebuilding Together, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the living conditions of low-income, elderly and disabled individuals. He also is a supporter of the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is given each year by the University Club of Washington, DC, to the most accomplished men's and women's collegiate lacrosse players. He and his wife, Carolyn, and daughter Charlotte, reside in Washington, DC, and in Easton, MD.

Larry Culp is a 1985 graduate of Washington College and received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990. While at Washington College, Culp was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. Since May 2001, Culp has served as President and CEO of Danaher, a Fortune 500 company with a $14 billion market capitalization that is a world leader in the development and manufacture of process and environmental instrumentation, electronic test equipment, precision motion controls, product identification systems and medical technology. Culp is credited with developing the successful Danaher Business System (DBS) philosophy and management process that guides the Danaher group of companies.

In 1990, Culp joined Danaher subsidiary Veeder-Root and progressed to Vice President-Marketing and Sales before being appointed President in April 1993. In 1995, he was appointed Danaher Group Executive and Corporate Officer, overseeing Danaher's Environmental and Electronic Test and Measurement divisions. In 1999, he was appointed Executive Vice President of Danaher and in 2001 CEO. Culp is also a member of the Board of Directors of GlaxoSmithKline. He and his wife, Wendy, have three children and live in McLean, VA. “Tom, Ed, and Larry are highly talented, highly motivated individuals whose energy and ideas will be essential as we guide this College into the twenty-first century,” said Jay Griswold, Chairman of the Board of Visitors and Governors. “I welcome them back to their alma mater and greatly look forward to working with them.”

Author Ben Yagoda On Developing Style And Voice In Prose Writing, February 17

Chestertown, MD, February 9, 2004 — Washington College's Sophie Kerr Lecture Series presents “The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Prose Writing,” a lecture by Ben Yagoda, author of About Town—the recent omnibus history of The New Yorker—and Director of the Journalism Program, University of Delaware. The lecture will be held Tuesday, February 17, at 4:30 p.m. at the O'Neill Literary House. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Yagoda is the author of the critically acclaimed booksAbout Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made(Scribner, 2000) and Will Rogers: A Biography (Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), and he is the co-editor of The Art of Fact: A Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism(Scribner, 1997). He has contributed articles, essays and reviews to more than 50 national publications, including Esquire, GQ, New York Times Magazine and the New York Times Book Review, and has been a regular columnist for Philadelphia Magazine and The Chronicle of Higher Education. A graduate of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, Yagoda is an associate professor of English at the University of Delaware, where he teaches courses in journalism, literary non-fiction and non-fiction writing. He lives in Swarthmore, PA, with his wife and two daughters.

The talk is sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Lecture Series, named in honor of the late Sophie Kerr, a writer from Denton, MD, whose generosity has done so much to enrich Washington College's literary culture. When she died in 1965, she left the bulk of her estate to the College, specifying that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most “ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor” and the other half be used to bring visiting writers to campus, to fund scholarships, and to help defray the costs of student publications.

Trends In Contemporary Theatre Subject Of Tea & Talk, Feb. 16

Chestertown, MD, February 6, 2004 — The Rose O'Neill Tea & Talk Series presents “Contemporary Theatre: New Voices, New Trends,” a talk by professional dramaturg and Washington College alumna Michele Volansky, Monday, February 16, at the O'Neill Literary House. Volansky will discuss emerging playwrights and directors, trends in contemporary American drama, and the challenges and rewards of working in professional theatre. The event is free and all are welcomed to enjoy tea, conviviality and discussion. Tea served at 4 p.m., talk begins at 4:30.

A 1990 graduate of the College, Volansky is now in her fourth season as dramaturg for the Philadelphia Theatre Company. She has worked on over 100 new and established plays in her 12-year career, developing new works by writers such as Sam Shepard, Daniel Stern, Warren Leight, Jeffrey Hatcher, Bruce Graham, and Tina Landau. Her work on Shepard's rewrite of Buried Child (directed by Gary Sinise) and Dale Wasserman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (directed by Terry Kinney and starring Gary Sinise) earned her two Broadway credits and participation in the Tony Award for Best Revival of Cuckoo's Nest. She also has served as a guest dramaturg at South Coast Rep, the Atlantic Theatre Company, Victory Gardens, and Next Theatre, in addition to her staff time at Actors Theatre of Louisville (1992-95) and Steppenwolf Theatre Company (1995-2000). Her own play, titled Whispering City, was produced as part of the Steppenwolf Arts Exchange Program in Fall 1999. She is the 1999 inaugural recipient of the Elliot Hayes Award for Dramaturgy and is the president of LMDA, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. In addition, Volansky is a member of the Advisory Board for Theatre Forum magazine and an artistic advisor for the Chicago-based Serendipity Theatre Company and Chicago Dramatists. She has served as an artistic consultant for the TCG playwright residency program, a reader for the Eugene O'Neill Center's National Playwrights Conference, and grants review panelist for the Five-County Arts Council.

Volansky earned her B.A. in English from Washington College—where she works as a lecturer in drama—and her M.A. in theatre from Villanova University.

The Rose O'Neill Tea & Talk Series showcases the research, writing and talent of Washington College's faculty and is held in the College's O'Neill Literary House. Established in 1985, the Literary House was acquired and refurbished through a generous gift of alumna Betty Casey, Class of 1947, and her late husband Eugene, in memory of his mother, Rose O'Neill Casey. Now approaching its 20th anniversary, the O'Neill Literary House is a large, eclectic Victorian home that reflects the spirit of Washington College's creative writing culture.

In Memoriam: Madeline Howell

Chestertown, MD, February 3, 2004 — It is with great sadness that Washington College has to announce that Madeline Howell, one of the College's longest-serving employees, passed away Tuesday, February 3, 2004.

Madeline was secretary to 19 deans at Washington College, retired from the College in 2003, after 47 years of exceptionally loyal and effective service. For two generations of faculty Madeline was the firm and reliable rock in the Dean's Office, loved and respected for her fairness, her discretion, and her unflappable good humor. Madeline will be greatly missed by all of us.

Madeline is survived by her husband, Henry Howell, two stepsons, three grandchildren, a nephew, three brothers and one sister. Our thoughts and condolences are with them at this time.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, February 6, 2004 at 11:00 AM at Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., 130 Speer Road, Chestertown, MD, where relatives and friends may call on Thursday, February 5, 2004 from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM.

Interment will be held in Wesley Chapel Cemetery, Rock Hall, MD.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Delaware Chapter, 500 Duncan Road Suite A, Wilmington, DE 19806.

- Joachim Scholz, Provost and Dean of the College

The Secret Lives Of Portraits: Exhibition Opens February 13

Chestertown, MD, February 3, 2004 — The Washington College Department of Art presents “The Secret Lives of Portraits,” an exhibition of paintings by Carrie Ann Baade, visiting lecturer in art at the College, that explores the whimsical side of traditional portraits. The exhibition will be open daily to the public, Monday-Friday, noon to 5 p.m., February 13 to March 4, in the Tawes Gallery, Gibson Performing Arts Center. An opening reception will be held Friday, February 13 at 4 p.m. with remarks by the artist at 5 p.m. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

“This exhibition takes a different approach to many of the icons of our artistic heritage,” says Baade. “With a playful rearranging of images, my paintings attempt to reveal the secret lives of what are often viewed as static icons.”

Baade is currently a visiting artist at Washington College and teaches beginning drawing. She received her B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997 and a Masters in Painting from the University of Delaware in 2003. Her paintings start with the premise that there is more to portraits than meets the eye. If the subjects were animated and had free will, she asks, would they tire of their centuries-old identities and opt for change, or alter their appearances while we momentarily looked away? Through collage and trompe l'oeil painting techniques, Baade layers these whimsical possibilities on “serious” art.