An Arts Ecosystem

Lulu Chow Wang ’66 vividly remembers sitting in the Jewett Arts Center auditorium, watching Professor of Art John McAndrew cut a grapefruit in half to illustrate how the dome of the Hagia Sophia could support the weight of that enormous Byzantine structure.

“We learned a lot from him: physics, art, and passion,” Wang says of the distinguished architectural historian. “He was a legendary figure, and I think that’s what makes Wellesley special. … We’ve kept that kind of culture at Wellesley. It’s infectious, the faculty’s passion for sharing knowledge.”

Wang’s experiences in Jewett helped fuel her own lifelong passion for the arts. The investment manager and philanthropist is an art collector herself, and a trustee emerita of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Now, Wang and her husband, Tony, have made a $25 million gift to the College to help enable the renewal of the Jewett Arts Center. The hope is that Jewett, the Davis Museum, and Pendleton West, which was renovated in 2017, “will form a new ecosystem for the arts that will draw in all students,” Wang says. The couple’s gift is a significant step toward a $100 million fundraising goal, with the project’s timeline tied to fundraising progress.

When Jewett opened in 1958, a masterpiece of modernism designed by Paul Rudolph, it was a radical experiment in bringing all arts disciplines under one roof. It created a “permeability among all of the disciplines,” says Patricia Berman, Theodora L. and Stanley H. Feldberg Professor of Art. “Students could easily move from the museum to an instrument lesson, lecture, or studio practice, all in one building.”

While that is still true, much has changed. The Davis Museum now holds the College’s art collection, and the theatre studies program is housed in Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall. “[Jewett] has been retrofitted again and again to accommodate transformations in art teaching and art study,” Berman says.

The renovation will allow for the reimagination of how space is allocated and enable more cross-disciplinary teaching, Berman says. And flexibility is a central theme. A multidisciplinary gathering space—the Wang Arts Commons, named in recognition of the couple’s support—will constitute the heart of Jewett, creating room for exhibitions, seminars, performances, and, of course, a café.

The Jewett auditorium will be made “acoustically inspiring” and accessible, Berman says. A new glassed-in entrance opposite the Davis Museum will house an elevator, making the building far more accessible and adding exhibition space visible from the Davis Plaza. The plaza itself—which Berman says is “dying for activation”—will be enhanced as an outdoor learning and social space. “We want to balance the historical aesthetics of the building with forward-thinking planning,” she says.

This focus on the arts comes at a critical moment, Wang says. “We are all concerned about AI, but it actually underscores the advantage of a strong and broad liberal arts education. Employers are looking for human beings who understand the lessons of history, science, and art; who can think critically; and who are curious to understand and ask the unexpected questions.”

Additionally, in a time of division, “There is nothing like art to bring people together,” Wang says. “We recognize our commonality as human beings—in the way we respond to art, and the emotions that art evokes in all of us. I do hope that this emphasis on an arts ecosystem will bring art into our lives and also bring us all together.”

Berman and Wang stress how grateful they are to have a college president so devoted to the arts. As President Paula A. Johnson told alumnae during reunion in May, “This is a critical priority for Wellesley—to elevate creative expression and articulate a bold vision to sustain and enhance Wellesley’s strength in these disciplines as an essential part of a strong liberal arts education.”