Our Galleries
Our Galleries
In addition to the countless spaces in meeting rooms, hallways, and eateries throughout the building in which we display art, the Davis Center has two main galleries for robust exhibitions:
Scarlett Oak Lounge — A smaller exhibition space, located on the third floor in the space adjacent to the stairwell leading to the fourth floor.
Fireplace Lounge — Our main gallery space, located at the entry way of the fourth floor.
We also host events and community art shows in Brennan's Pub, located on the first floor. This space is home to the UVM Book Nook, a small lending library in the heart of campus.
Display Your Art in the Davis Center
Have a piece of artwork that you'd like to display in the building? We're always looking for more student, alumni, staff, and/or faculty work to help keep the Davis Center vibrant and exciting!Submit Artwork
Host a Solo Exhibition
We're looking for students, staff, faculty, and community members to host solo exhibition in our gallery spaces! Do you have a cohesive body of work that you're ready to show the world? Learn more about the application process and timeline below.
Solo Exhibitions
Involvement Opportunities
Davis Center Art Curator
Looking to pursue a career in curation or gallery management, or simply have a passion for the arts? The Davis Center Art (DCART) student curators receive hands-on experience working with artists, curating and installing exhibitions, managing events and receptions, and more. These positions are paid and not dependant on work study awards. They are open to any current undergraduate student.
Overview
Working in a small team, this position coordinates both short-term exhibits and curates single/series work in the student center, ensuring that the building is full of vibrant and exciting artwork that speaks to the University and Davis Center's mission. The DCART team also supports the management of the Book Nook, located in Brennan’s Pub on the first floor of the Davis Center. In addition to helping to maintain and curate the literary collection, Art Curators are responsible for coordinating several Book Nook events (author talks, poetry slams, etc.) each year.
Duties & Responsibilities
Curators will create, plan, and organize a number of exhibitions for gallery spaces in the building throughout the academic year, including working directly with artists, Davis Center operations, and interested parties (academic units, clubs and orgs, etc.) to fully realize an exhibition. In addition to exhibit planning, Curators also:
- Manage the receiving, installation, and deinstallation of artwork.
- Make detailed space reservations and order food for openings.
- Implement a marketing strategy to increase attendance at art openings.
- Seek out new artistic relationships both on-and-off campus.
- Manage individual submissions to install throughout the building.
- Serve as a liaison with local partners to coordinate donations for the Book Nook.
- Curate and restock the Book Nook’s literary collection weekly.
- Host a minimum of two events per semester in connection with the Book Nook, including poetry slams, story readings, author talks, etc.
Minimum Qualifications
- Experience making, handling, or displaying artwork.
- Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
- Effective communication and interpersonal skills to collaborate with diverse partners.
- Experience managing logistics and/or events.
- Interest in and desire to learn about art handling, installation, and curation.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience managing and curating art exhibitions.
- Strong written communication and/or copy-writing skills.
- Experience working both independently and collaboratively within a team.
- Creativity and willingness to explore themes of academics, sustainability, social justice.
Time Commitment
Average commitment of 5-10 hours per week, including occassional evening/weekend hours.
The typical hiring timeline for positions is mid-Spring semester to start in the fall semester, though occasionally open positions are available in the fall and early spring. Feel free to reach out to see if we have any current openings!
Exhibition Committee
Are you passionate about art, design, and creative expression? Apply to be a member of the Davis Center Art Exhibition Committee and play a key role in curating artistic work in the heart of campus! Apply now! Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Overview
The DCArt Exhibition Committee plays a vital role in shaping the culture and visual experience within the Dudley H. Davis Center. Along with 6-8 peers, members serve as jurors, reviewing exhibition proposals and selecting work to be displayed in the building throughout the academic year. Jury members collaborate to curate diverse, engaging artwork that reflects the creativity and values of our campus community.
Responsibilities
- Participate in a ~1.5 hour Jury Training
- Review proposals once per semester
- Evaluate proposals based on artistic merit, feasibility, relevance to the campus community, and alignment with exhibition space capabilities
- Participate in thoughtful, constructive discussions about artwork and exhibition concepts with fellow jury members
- Vote on which exhibitions and/or artistic works will be featured in the Davis Center gallery spaces
- Attend periodic walkthroughs of installed exhibitions and provide feedback on the program
Qualifications
- Current undergraduate or graduate student at UVM
- Strong interest in visual arts
- Ability to evaluate artwork thoughtfully and articulate perspectives respectfully
- Commitment to promoting diverse artistic voices and perspectives
- Reliable attendance and ability to meet established deadlines
No prior curatorial experience required—we welcome students from all majors and backgrounds!
Time Commitment
Approximately 4-6 hours per semester, including training, meetings, and proposal review time. Selection Meetings will typically take place in April and November.
What You'll Gain
- Hands-on experience in curatorial decision-making
- Professional development in critical thinking, deliberation, and collaboration
- Networking with artists, professionals, and fellow students who are passionate about art
- Opportunity to influence the culture of campus through art
While serving on the DCArt Exhibition Committee is a voluntary role, meals are provided at all training and Selection Meetings.
Upcoming Events
Virtual Exhibitions
Staff Art Show 2026
The Davis Center Art program in collaboration with Staff Council, hosted the annual Staff Art Show in the Livak Fireplace Lounge from February 6 - March 6, 2026. This exhibition featured works from staff and faculty across UVM's vibrant campus community. Those who were unable to attend the exhibition in person are invited to view the virtual gallery.
Permanent Installations
Self Portrait at the University of Black Vermont
1987 • David Bethuel Jamieson
David Bethuel Jamieson, a black American painter and printmaker, was born in 1963 in Washington D.C. In 1983, Jamieson received his G.E.D. and enrolled at the University of Vermont, majoring in American History and taking courses in the art department while he pursed his art independently in a studio in Burlington.
Jamieson's last series of work chronicles the 1991 student takeover of the UVM President's offices and Waterman Building in protest of institutional racism and lack of diversity on campus. His Self Portrait at the University of BLACK Vermont uses a dark palette, harshe brush strokes, and rigid blocks to convey the anger and frustration he and his peers were experiencing at the time.
David Jamieson's paintings are compositionally, texturally, and emotionally complex. Incorporating a variety of artistic traditions and techniques, the work is driven by emotion - revealing, in turn, pain, playfulness, anger, sadness, and hope.
Jamieson died in 1992 from AIDS-related complications. His self-portrait is a testament to the importance of creative expression, hope, and beauty despite the struggles that exist within.
In addition to the Dudley H. Davis Center, David's work is held in many private and public collections, including The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Carter G. Woodson Institute for African and African American Studies at the University of Virginia, The Robert Hull Fleming Museum, and The Provincetown Art Association and Museum.
Related links
Flukes
Gordon Gund P • ’91 • ’93
Gordon Gund’s interest in sculpture traces to his childhood, attending Saturday morning art classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art. He would study water color in college, become an avid photographer during four years in the U.S. Navy, and eventually find his way to sculpture when a friend introduced him to wood carving some thirty years ago. Gund increasingly turned his attention to art after retiring from a successful career in business and his family’s continuing philanthropic work, including support of UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment.
The sculptor, who is blind after losing his sight to retinitis pigmentosa in 1971, says, “While with my eyes I can’t see the shapes I create, I feel them over and over again with my hands and my mind, and the result is in my mind forever... It takes me more time and patience than most with sight and letting go is generally felt with more uncertainty. So, it is extremely satisfying to finish something that I have doubted along the way, woken up with in the middle of the night, spent a lot of time on and given a lot of love.”
The “Flukes” bronze at UVM is rooted in Gordon Gund’s experience helping to free pilot whales beached on Nantucket several years ago.
Areté Blu
Richard Erdman • ’75 H’16
Sculptor Richard Erdman has a long relationship with UVM, dating back to his undergraduate days when he worked with two legendary mentors—artist Paul Aschenbach, who helped him find his calling, and varsity ski coach Chip Lacasse, who helped develop him into a two-time All-American in alpine.
Post-graduation, apprenticeship with stone carvers in Carrara, Italy, would also be key to Erdman’s development as an artist. Today, his work is on display in museums, and corporate and private collections worldwide. His monumental sculpture “Passage” sits at the entrance to the Donald M. Kendall sculpture gardens at PepsiCo in Purchase, New York. Carved from a 450-ton block of travertine, the 25- by 16-foot “Passage” is the largest sculpture in the world carved from a single block of travertine.
Erdman says the gift of “Areté Blu” completes a full circle with his UVM experience, a symbol of what the university gave him as a student—“where individualism and risk-taking were encouraged, where education was not just an assimilation of facts, but the training of the mind to think and dream.” Describing the particular work, the sculptor says, “Its emotive and energetic stance beckons visitors to live
actively, live dangerously, live passionately—and in its contiguous form, live in continuity.”
“Areté Blu” joins Erdman’s “Primavera,” a gift of the Class of 2010, situated outside Jeffords Hall. Erdman also recently gave the university two more pieces, “Confluence” and “Belladona,” that will go on display at a later date.