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The Emerson Gallery is featuring three new exhibitions, Selections from the Samuel Hopkins Adams Collection of Prints by Currier and Ives, Christmas with Thomas Nast, and The Mother of God; Iconographic Representations of Mary, all which will be on view through December 21. Related programs will include a special Gallery Talk by Hamilton Religious Studies Professor Jay G. Williams, curator of Christmas with Thomas Nast, on November 30 at 4 p.m.  A reception will follow.  All events are free and open to the public.

North Gallery
Christmas with Thomas Nast
Thomas Nast (1840-1902), best known as America's first great political cartoonist, either created or refined many of America's most popular icons.  The Republican elephant, the Democratic donkey, Uncle Sam, Columbia and, perhaps most significantly, Santa Claus are all his creations. Starting with "A Visit from Saint Nicholas," usually attributed to Clement Moore, he fleshed out the story of Santa Claus by adding several new details and providing a set of visual images of Santa, which have permanently shaped the American imagination.  The Emerson Gallery exhibition, drawn from the private collection of Professor Jay G. Williams and the gallery's own holdings, gathers together some of Nast's most famous Christmas woodblock prints along with works celebrating the holiday season by some of his predecessors and contemporaries.

South Gallery
Selections from the Samuel Hopkins Adams Collection of Prints by Currier and Ives
This exhibition features 35 outstanding examples from the comprehensive collection of Currier and Ives lithographs bequeathed to the Hamilton College Collection in 1959 by the novelist Samuel Hopkins Adams, class of 1891. In addition to an important group of sporting prints by A. F. Tait, the selection includes a number of familiar and well-loved winter scenes such as Skating in Central Park, and New England Winter Scene.

West Gallery
The Mother of God; Iconographic Representations of Mary
The centerpiece of this exhibition is The Schwaz Nativity, a polychrome limewood relief, c. 1500, originally created as part of the altarpiece for the church of St. Mary in the Northern Tyrolean town of Schwaz.  The first in a series of events to showcase this important new extended loan from the Emily Ludwig Collection, this exhibition presents the carving within the context of a group of 10 prints from the Hamilton College Collection representing scenes from the Life of Mary. The exhibition was curated by Hamilton professor of Russian Frank Sciacca.

The Emerson Gallery is located on the Hamilton College campus, in Christian Johnson Hall, directly behind the college chapel. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m., during scheduled exhibitions when school is in session.  For further information, including information on parking and wheelchair accessibility, please contact Emerson Gallery at 315-859-4396.  Admission to both the exhibition and special programs is free and the public is cordially invited to visit.

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