LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell University alumni Doreen Bolger ’71, retired director of the Baltimore Museum of Art; Bridgette Mayer ‘96, a Philadelphia gallery owner; and Le’Andra LeSeur ’10, multimedia artist, will participate in the Samek Distinguished Lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. in the Gallery Theatre, Elaine Langone Center (Room 301). The event will include a panel discussion with the alumni as they share their unique perspectives and address current issues in art with Samek Art Museum Director Rick Rinehart. A reception in the Samek Art Museum’s Campus Gallery will follow the free, public event.
Bolger has worked for 50 years as a curator and administrator in the museum field. She retired in 2015 after 17 years as director of The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), which is recognized nationally and internationally as a center for 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. There she redefined the Museum’s artistic focus, placing greater emphasis on its world-class collection, initiating major traveling exhibitions, expanding educational programs, and in 2006, eliminating general admission fees. As an author and editor of multiple books, she currently continues to write essays on American art and serves on the boards of such Baltimore-based organizations as the Creative Alliance, Maryland Citizens for the Arts, and Charles Street Development Corporation.
Mayer is the author of three books and is an art dealer and consultant with locations in Philadelphia and Orlando. She opened Bridgette Mayer Gallery on Philadelphia’s historic Washington Square in 2001. Bridgette Mayer Gallery has been featured on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 as a small business “On The Rise” and was recognized as a recommended Philadelphia arts destination in The New York Times Magazine. The Mayer Gallery was also named one of the “Top 500 Galleries” in the world by Boulin ArtInfo, and Mayer was also featured in the Tory Burch Foundation’s “Women To Watch” series.
LeSeur is an artist working primarily with video, installation, photography, painting and performance. Much of her work celebrates blackness, contemplates the experience of invisibility, and seeks to dismantle stereotypes surrounding black female identity. Awards include Leslie-Lohman Museum Artists Fellowship (2019), the Time-Based Medium Prize, as well as the Juried Grand Prize at Artprize 10 (2018). Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in top galleries across the nation. Residences include NARS Foundation, Marble House Project and Mass MoCA. LeSeur is represented by Microscope Gallery.
For more information about the Samek Distinguished Lecture, please contact Tiffany Demmon, public programs & outreach manager, Samek Art Museum, at 570-577-3981, or tiffany.demmon@bucknell.edu.
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CONTACTS: Tiffany Demmon, 570-577-3981, tiffany.demmon@bucknell.edu; Mike Ferlazzo, 570-577-3212, 570-238-6266 (c), mike.ferlazzo@bucknell.edu