DURHAM, NH.-The Art Gallery at the University of New Hampshire announced that it has changed its name and street address to the Museum of Art, Paul Creative Arts Center, 30 Academic Way. The new name was chosen with the unanimous support of the Museum’s Board of Advisors and approval from Dr. Mark Huddleston, president of the University, to more accurately reflect the Museum’s mission to collect works of art, support academic teaching and scholarship, and present outstanding exhibitions and public programs for the University community and residents of New Hampshire. The road name change (formerly College Road) was instituted by the University’s Office of Campus Planning as part of a larger effort to improve traffic flow and visitors’ experience on campus.

The Museum of Art cares for a permanent collection of 1,500 works of art, including works by artists of world renown—Rembrandt, Picasso, and Andy Warhol—as well as artists important to New Hampshire—John Hatch, Edwin and Mary Scheier, and Lotte Jacobi. The majority of the Museum’s collection—paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, ceramics, and sculpture—has been donated by artists, University alumni, faculty emeriti, members of the Museum’s Board of Advisors, and others. The collection emphasizes nineteenth- and twentieth-century prints and drawings, including nearly two hundred Japanese woodblock prints, and art from the New England region.

Its changing exhibitions span a range of periods, styles, and media, featuring works by art faculty members, alumni, and students, as well as works drawn from private collections, other museums throughout the Northeast, and the Museum’s permanent collection. Notable exhibitions have included a major series focusing on New Hampshire’s artistic heritage (Isles of Shoals, White Mountains, art colonies of Cornish and Dublin, NH Folk Art, and NH traditions in wood), as well as exhibitions of the etchings and engravings of Rembrandt and Dürer, 16-century Italian prints, and Japanese woodblock prints.

Since 1960, the Museum of Art has been housed in the Paul Creative Arts Center on the Durham campus of the University of New Hampshire, where, according to director Vicki C. Wright, “the Museum has been an integral part of the University’s commitment to a broad liberal arts education. For almost 50 years, it has served as a valuable resource for students, scholars, and visitors alike. The name change will help to clearly define our identity as an educational institution that collects, cares for, exhibits, and interprets works of art. It is also in alignment with our goal to make our collections, exhibitions, and public programs more widely known.”

The Museum’s 2008-09 exhibition season will begin on September 5, from 5-7 p.m., with a public reception for the exhibitions, Conley Harris: Lyrical Tableaux and Art Faculty Review: Benjamin Cariens, Brian Chu, Craig Hood, and Maryse Searls McConnell. Beginning September 6, regular museum hours will commence: Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.; closed Fridays and during exhibition changes. Admission is free.