Walsh Art Gallery
The Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery of Fairfield University is committed to fostering engagement and education through the arts. It achieves these ends by providing visitors from across Fairfield County and beyond with opportunities to engage directly with original works of art. The Gallery, which mounts up to four temporary exhibitions each year, is a dynamic forum, providing a place for people of all ages and backgrounds to experience art and innovation while simultaneously creating new opportunities for inspired learning, creativity, and collaboration.
History
The Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery opened its doors to the public in April of 1990 with Founding Director and Professor of Art History, Dr. Philip Eliasoph at the helm. The spacious contemporary gallery is housed in the Quick Center for the Arts, which since its inception has welcomed tens of thousands of visitors with a full array of art, music, dance, theater, and film programming. With its soaring ceiling and dramatic visual axes and site lines, the gallery has become an exceptionally appreciated venue by artist and art lovers alike.
Its inaugural exhibition was, "Defining Modernism: Art of the 20th Century," which was reviewed by the New York Times. Vivien Raynor wrote: "With this exhibition, the Walsh assumes a missionary role that is not inappropriate for a Jesuit campus, even though the word brought is not of God." Eliasoph served as the gallery's director for six years. He passed the mantle to Dr. Diana Mille in 1996 - she in turn served as Director until 2011. After Mille's departure, the Director of the Quick Center, Gary Wood, stepped in, and in 2013, Dr. Jill Deupi, (also Director of the Bellarmine Museum of Art at Fairfield) took over the responsibilities. The gallery is now run by Carey Mack Weber (Interim Director, University Museums) who looks forward to continuing the strong tradition, built over more than twenty years, of exhibiting modern and contemporary art for the greater Fairfield community.
