Dowd finds inspiration in art he protects

Behind the Name tag: Hutton joins digital, physical in her work

If you’ve ever walked through the hallways and galleries of the Robert H. and Blythe Bickel Edwards Center for Art and Dance, you’ve probably seen Visual Arts Technician Tara Hutton installing artwork or training students on how to use a bandsaw.
While working as a studio assistant for the art department for her alma mater, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Hutton searched for opportunities to relocate to New England.
“I’ve lived in Maryland my whole life, up until now. But I always wanted to move up here,” said Hutton. “Almost all of the schools I looked at when I was applying to undergrad were in New England. I think this is kind of fulfilling high school Tara’s dream.”
Hutton arrived at Bowdoin during the renovations of the Edwards center in 2013. During her first few weeks, she was responsible for consolidating all equipment and supplies for the Visual Arts and Dance departments from the many places on campus into the new facility.
“Nobody knows this building the way I do because I’ve set up everything in here,” said Hutton.
With this extensive knowledge, Hutton manages the maintenance of the studios and galleries, purchases and repairs equipment, and assists with exhibitions like the Senior Studio and end-of-the-semester shows.
Working in an artistic environment is not new for Hutton. As an undergraduate studying art and art history, she made digital artwork, designed web pages, constructed sets for theater productions, and helped manage several exhibitions at the Boyden Gallery at St. Mary’s. And although her responsibilities revolve around helping others showcase their art, Hutton continually creates her own works as side-projects.
“In undergrad, I was interested in sexual identity politics,” said Hutton. “Now, I think ultimately I’m mostly interested in art that is displayed and accessed through the web.”
Her most recent work (which can be viewed at tnhutton.com) explores Hutton’s move from Maryland to Maine and how it has affected her memories.
“I’ve been interested in exploring memory and how memories inform each other,” said Hutton. “Biologically, every time you access a memory it rewrites it. You’re kind of being continually informed by your current experiences, so there’s never a pure memory.”
To convey these ideas, Hutton creates a moving digital image that overlays pixels of colors between two photos of Maryland and Maine. Creating this artwork is made easier with the Edwards Digital Media Lab, which has the software Hutton uses to manipulate photos.“Coming up here, the lab’s been super nice,” said Hutton. “It’s the nicest lab I’ve ever seen.”
Having always lived in coastal areas, Hutton appreciates Brunswick’s proximity to nature.“It was really important to be so close to the water,” Hutton said. “I remember asking that in my first interview with the [Dean’s Office], ‘How close am I to the ocean?’ My partner Laura and I are really into hiking and I love having Bradbury Mountain ten minutes away.”
This spring marks Hutton’s second year at Bowdoin, and she said that the best part of her job has been working with students and trying new kinds of materials or helping them to set up installations. The creative atmosphere of the Edwards Art Center enables her to be surrounded by what she enjoys the most.
“I’ve always been kind of a maker, even at home,” said Hutton. “I love building things for the house, making jewelry or knitting…The act of creation that leads into an object, I really like that.”

Behind the Name tag: Paul Joyce: hitting the waves for Bowdoin

Paul Joyce wears many hats on Bowdoin’s campus. He works for the Office of Safety and Security, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) and drives boats for the Department of Earth and Oceanographic Science (EOS).
Joyce is a retired marine patrol warden for the state of Maine, and has been working at the College since 2011.
Born in Brookline, Mass., Joyce has lived and worked all over the coast of Maine, from the Canadian border to Downeast. He graduated with a degree in biology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. After graduation, he went to work for the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in Maine.
“I didn’t have the patience to sit in the lab,” Joyce said. “I had to move and be outside.”
As a supervisor in the DMR, Joyce was in charge of a 47-foot boat—set up like a lobster boat—with a team of six. Their biggest task was oversight of fishing off the coast of Maine.“Fishing itself is so highly regulated that in order to comply with all the rules, you have to have some sort of regulatory body, although we look for voluntary compliance,” Joyce said.
The DMR is also tasked with handling issues of pollution and public safety. They are responsible for all of Maine’s waters, which are quite extensive due to the miles of coastline and numerous bays and islands that extend the state’s water boundaries.
Following retirement, he came to Bowdoin through his connections to Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols, formerly a major in the state police, and David Mercier, who runs the boat for Associate Professor of Earth and Oceanographic Science Emeritus Edward Laine. These days, Joyce does security at the BCMA on weekends, drives boats for classes and teaches van certification classes on campus.
“It’s a fun job, being retired,” Joyce said. “The campus is busy, very vibrant with students. It makes for a very interesting day or evening.”
“I’m always shifting gears. It’s really good. Working with the coastal studies [classes] is probably the part I enjoy the most,” said Joyce. “I get to see the latest and greatest with the sciences that they’re coming out with in schools and hear some of the lectures.”
Outside of Bowdoin, Joyce leads recreational tidewater fishing groups on his own boat. He has permission from the state for all kinds of guiding except whitewater rafting.
In addition to his nautical interests, Joyce gardens extensively at his home. In his raised-bed garden he grows cucumbers, garlic, tomatoes, zucchini and sunflowers.
“If you can eat it, I’ll grow it. And if you can grow it in Maine, I’ll eat it,” he said.Joyce has two children—a son studying illustration and concept art in Sweden and a daughter graduating from the UC Davis School of Law in four weeks.
With all of his work, guiding, gardening and keeping in touch with his family, he hardly has a minute to rest.
“Retirement is busy,” he said with a laugh.

Behind the Name tag

Dowd finds inspiration in art he protects

February 27, 2015

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For Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) security guard Dan Dowd, guarding the museum’s collection is more than just a nine-to-five job; it’s brain food for his own creative aspirations.

A Mass. native, Dowd moved to Maine in 2001 to pursue art. In 2007, he joined Bowdoin’s new security staff after the BCMA reopened following its renovation.

After taking studio art and art history courses during his undergraduate years at Framingham State University and immersing himself in a project to renovate a 19th century home, Dowd discovered his passion for found materials and objects since moving to Maine.

“I’m really interested in objects—why they were made, how they were used, how long they were used, and ultimately why they were discarded,” said Dowd.

Dowd draws inspiration from his local transfer station—where waste is deposited—collecting materials, fibers and random objects to use as fodder for his work.

“Documentation of items, events, people and places is the driving force behind my found object and installation work,” Dowd writes in his artist statement.

His work aims to highlight parallels between the lives of humans and the lives of objects.

Dowd analogized the “patinas that objects develop and [the] wrinkles that humans develop and how people change through their lives.”

According to Dowd, patinas—the thin layer, such as rust oxidization, that materials acquire over time—may convey a variety of emotions, from comedy to tragedy to drama. His goal in rescuing these forgotten items and giving them a “second chance” is to depict and show the beauty and history of items that wouldn’t normally be praised for their aesthetic value.

In addition to his current Gallery Framing exhibition on Pleasant Street, Dowd has been showcasing his artwork predominantly across the Northeast for over 10 years. Past solo exhibitions of his include "Anna Hepler's Head" at the Coleman Burke Gallery in Brunswick and "Born Again" at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. He has also been featured in several group exhibitions.

As a museum security guard, Dowd is constantly exposed to new artwork, which continuously gives him new ideas.

“I’m certainly influenced by the works on the walls,” Dowd said. “As soon as new work goes on the walls, I can’t wait to eat it up and find out about it.”

Dowd said he is particularly excited to see new pieces from the museum’s upcoming exhibit: “PAST FUTURES: Science Fiction, Space Travel, and Postwar Art of the Americas.”
According to Dowd, the best part of his job is meeting people and learning about new artists.
As far as aspirations for the future, Dowd hopes to continue showcasing his work in the community.

Dowd’s work will be included in Art in the Park in Worcester, MA, this summer, in addition to a solo installation at the Masonic Temple in Portland this July.

“I would love to eventually be affiliated with and be represented by a gallery,” Dowd said. “My ultimate goal is to be a working artist that survives solely through my artwork.”

Dowd’s work is on display through Saturday at the Gallery Framing in Brunswick as part of the “Paired Devices” exhibition—a gathering of the work of five mid-coast Maine artists surrounding tools, hardware and everyday objects.

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