By Anna Catherman
The Ortlip Gallery is one of the highlights of Houghton University’s campus. For years, the gallery was managed by the art department. It gained new leadership, however, when Linda Knapp took on the role of Gallery Director in August 2022. As the Gallery Director, Knapp has taken a huge burden off the art professors and helped the gallery thrive post-pandemic.
Each academic year, five different shows are held. Each show requires planning, advertising, lighting, set-up and tear-down work, and more. This fall, Knapp worked with acclaimed painter Nick Blosser and alumnus Craig Proulx, who collects valuable mid-19th century David Roberts lithographs. In the spring, the Faculty Art Show, Student Art Show, and Senior Show are all packed in. Each gallery opening is a labor of love, reflecting the creativity of the artist(s) and hard work of the gallery crew.
Knapp is aided by three gallery assistants, including junior Aubree Niles, sophomore Aubrey Armes, and senior Danae Jarrett. Niles noted that getting “[t]o work with Linda and the other gallery assistants has been incredible. We have bonded so well and so quickly.”
Knapp echoed similar statements, praising her assistants for their great work. “They kinda taught me,” she chuckled, explaining she hadn’t had much experience with running art shows before starting her position.
While Knapp is new to curating gallery experiences, she isn’t new to Houghton or the art world. A fourth-generation “Houghtonite”, Knapp’s grandmother, Aileen Ortlip Shea, was the first art professor in Houghton’s fledgling art department.. Knapp grew up in the art world, but wasn’t trained as an artist or curator until recently. “I wasn’t an art major,” she explained. Instead, she majored Bible and Intercultural Studies at Houghton before completing graduate studies in Anthropology at Colorado State University. Still, she has a love for art. While she dabbles in a bit of sketching of her own, she focuses on uplifting others’ works.
Former Gallery Director and Professor of Digital Media and Photography Ryann Cooley was very appreciative of the work Knapp has done with the gallery. He shared that previously he was juggling the gallery alongside his normal class load and chairing the art department. “I couldn’t give to the gallery what it needed to be.”
Knapp, he noted, “is doing a great job.”
“She’s bringing in a level of professionalism that’s very welcome,” Cooley said.
One of the highlights has been the emphasis placed on opening receptions. Exhibits that include gallery talks have been able to grant Around the Table credits, and have been drawing larger crowds than gallery openings have in years. Refreshments have also been a crowd-pleading addition.
Knapp has been overwhelmed by the campus community’s responsiveness to the art gallery’s events. With the gallery openings at capacity or even overflowing, she noted that it has been so meaningful to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in “a sacred place” to support artists and learn about their work. ★
