The McIninch Art Gallery
Collection Spotlight
The McIninch Art Gallery presents "Collection Spotlight". A newsletter exploring works in the McIninch Art Gallery Collection, written by our gallery assistants.
Yoav Horesh ,"Rosh Hashanah Dinner Israel”, 2008
Archival pigment print
My name is Joyce Saghbini. I am currently a Junior at SNHU studying Early Childhood Education along with Special Education. I have been a McIninch Gallery assistant for almost a year and a half and constantly enjoy the meaningful pieces of art that we showcase. This photograph, "Rosh Hashanah Dinner", by Yoav Horesh, captures all the moments passed during a setting at a dinner table in a blur. He depicts movement and passage of time. In this picture, the traces of a lively dinner party are portrayed. This photograph concerns time, change, growth, and evolvement. The main intent of this piece is to create a visual diary and capture the memories of the holiday dinner into a single image. 

This piece of art is unique and stands out to me because it depicts those small moments of life that occur in a setting. One might not see a setting or place as very significant, but this piece reminded and magnified the significance that does come of out of them. Whenever I revisit places of my childhood or past, I would become a little nostalgic and remember all of the moments and memories that were held there. With this photograph only showing the moments passed at a dinner table, it leaves me with appreciation of the life and joy that a setting as small as that can have. Overall, this piece reminds me to appreciate the small things, just like the smallest moments and memories made in a special setting. 

Joyce Saghbini
Education Major
Junior at SNHU
Anne Dufresne, "Lane Road”
Oil on Panel
My name is Rachel Willoughby, and I am a Psychology major in my last year of obtaining my bachelor’s degree at SNHU. I have been working at the McIninch Art Gallery for four years now and have loved every experience and opportunity working with them has given me. For this week’s collection spotlight, I have chosen the work, titled "Lane Road", by artist Anne Dufresne. It is a piece that is meant to represent a glimpse of twilight, of a quiet moment between night and day. The artist achieves this melancholic atmosphere by repeatedly layering oils over one another, creating the rich, dark colors shown in the image. The canvas texture itself adds depth and variation. While her works often depict minimalist landscapes and forests, this piece is of an empty highway surrounded by trees. The road is deliberately meant to further the symbolism of being in a state of ‘in between’. No matter how the viewer wishes to interpret the perspective, they will always remain caught between coming and going, whether they are traveling up or down the road.

When this piece was first displayed in the McIninch Art Gallery, many had opposing views on it. People found the sharp contrasts and dark hues eerie and unsettling. This work disturbed them. I, however, find it to be intriguing and captivating. I believe the colors are a perfect representation of the twilight sky and can easily picture myself driving down this road. As a psychology major and avid reader, I enjoy works that have rich interpretation and narrative potential. This work seems to me to be one such piece. It instantly raises several questions- where does the road lead? Is one traveling towards the observer? Or away from them? It is a very inspirational piece that motivates each observer to form their own opinions and thus creates a very unique, individual experience for each person.

Rachel Willoughby
Psychology major
Senior at SNHU
Jesse Burke "Diamonds in the Rough" 2013
Archival pigment print
My name is Morgan Vespa, I am currently a Junior at SNHU working on my degree in Communications. I have been a McIninch Gallery assistant for about a year and a half and have seen many works of art and shows come into the gallery that I love. One of the pieces of artwork from our permanent collection that resonates with me is called “Diamonds in the Rough” by Jesse Burke. This piece is from his series titled the “Wild and Precious” where he explored the connection between his child and the natural world around her.

I really enjoy the simplicity of this piece and the overall tones. Jesse Burke's daughter is literally connecting and exploring the physical world around her in a way that is very innocent and precious. I connect with this piece on a personal level because I feel like since the world has “slowed down” this year due to quarantine and being encouraged to stay inside/outside not around people, it has forced me to find joy in the little things in life and really explore my inner peace. At first, it was a huge adjustment for me, because I was used to the constant contact with my friends in the dorms. I was very comfortable in the noise of school, but once I was forced to take a step back and really check in with myself, I realized that I had put my own mental health on the back burner. Over quarantine I was able to relearn how to put myself first, and rediscover what my inner peace felt like.

Morgan Vespa
Communications Major
Junior at SNHU
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