Hood Director Named

Art historian Jacquelynn Baas has been named director of the soon-to-be-opened $7-million Hood Museum of Art. An expert on 19th-century French art and the history of prints, she has been acting director of the Hood for the past year and came to Dartmouth three years ago as chief curator.

Chosen after a lengthy nationwide search, Baas holds a B.A. from Michigan State and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan, where she was assistant director of the art museum prior to coming to Dartmouth. Provost Agnar Pytte, who announced the appointment, stated that both he and President McLaughlin "are certain Jackie's leadership at the new museum will reinforce the strength and quality of the liberal arts here at Dartmouth."

Baas expressed pleasure at assuming the directorship at such an auspicious time for art at Dartmouth. She noted that while the College's art collection is impressive in both its size and quality, it has been sadly underutilized because of facility limitations. Only a tiny fraction of the 40,000 pieces in the collection have been on display, scattered among three different buildings. "Now we're getting this wonderful new building that is worthy of the collection," she said. For the first time, she noted, students studying art will actually be able to work with pieces in the collection. Faculty will also, she projects, make extensive use of it. In addition, she would like to see the museum serving two additional constituencies the community and the alumni.

Organizing exhibitions to fill the new museum's galleries is a major project for Baas and her staff now, and another one is the publication for the first time of a comprehensive catalogue of 150 of the most important works from the College's collection. "It is a good collection and a diverse one," Baas concluded of the treasures over which she now has oversight.