On Thursday evening, November 7, we dedicated a new art gallery to the late Vernon R. “Rod” Tate ’57, a longtime devoted member of the Cushing family as an alumnus, Trustee, and Trustee Emeritus. Rod’s wife Lynn and members of their family were in attendance, as were many current and former Trustees, and members of the Cushing administration and faculty.
The Vernon R. Tate '57 Gallery, located on the lower level of our Main Building, is a wonderful addition to our dynamic Visual Arts program. This gallery provides an additional space outside of the Emily Fisher Landau Center for Visual Arts to showcase the abundance of talent from current students and alumni. The Gallery will impact our community each day as people pass by this central space. It will also serve to introduce visitors to additional works by the amazing artists shaped by Cushing.
Following welcoming remarks by Head of School Randy Bertin, Trustee Emeritus and past Board Chair Mark Tuller P'02 and Trustee Liz Akers P'10, '13, '17 shared remembrances of Rod's friendship and service to Cushing. Colette de Labry, Chair of the Board of Trustees, introduced Lynn Tate, who spoke of Rod's love for Cushing.
After the unveiling of the dedication plaque and portrait, Dr. Bertin and Ms. de Labry presented Mrs. Tate with a Cushing penguin created by James Breidenbach ’03 while he was a student at Cushing. This casting was made from the original penguin James sculpted, and it was the model for our sculpture of penguins installed outside the art center, Penguins on the Rocks.
The inaugural exhibition showcased 30 outstanding works by alumni and former faculty, including works by: Cal Bingham ‘07, James Breidenbach ‘03, Betsy Bruning Caplan ‘52, Sarita Chen ‘16, Tian Chen ‘12, Meghan Chenausky ‘12, Dan Cutrona ‘97, Will Day ‘89, Yuhong Ding ‘17, Brian Drourr ‘91, Lucy Jaime Garza ‘16, Patience Haley ‘44, Andrew Hobson ‘93, Seungyong Kim ‘14, Peter Law ‘09, Amanda Lee ‘18, Sooji Lee ‘14, Katherine Lemieux ‘15, Kevin Liao ‘18, Breton Lorway ‘17, Chongyi Lu ‘16, Alex Novak ‘08, Ken Park ‘99, Saera Park ‘03, Wonhee Rhee ‘11, Richard Whitney - former faculty, Jenny Wu ‘19, Simba Xu ‘19, and Hannah Yom ‘98.
The Cushing community looks forward to enjoying art in this special space and remembering Rod Tate’s deep love of the Academy for years to come.
