Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Join us for a trip to the BOLLI-favorite Davis Museum at Wellesley College for a 90 minute private tour of two new exhibitions: Better on Paper and Sovereign Memory.  We will meet in the museum lobby at 11 am for this free tour.  After the tour, our group will join for lunch at the Lulu in the Student Center, next to the museum.  There is no charge for this tour but you must register by contacting Mark Seliber mseliber1@gmail.com.

You will find background on the two exhibits as well as directions and parking information further down this page.

Better on Paper is a new exhibition that spotlights more than 100 works of art on paper, including prints, drawings, photographs, books, and other objects previously unseen or acquired over the last decade. A collaboration between the Davis and the Wellesley College Library's Special Collections, the exhibition calls attention to Wellesley’s decades-long leadership in the field of the study of photography from around the world.   Click here to learn more.

Sovereign Memory: Photography, Remembrance, and Displaced Histories explores photography as a strategy for healing from what has described as the "colonial wound." The artists in this group exhibition each employ the photograph as a connective tissue, stitching together individuals, families, and communities to severed histories and identities. All share a concern with how images profoundly shape the stories of where we come from–and who we are.  For a preview, click here.

About the Museum   Modeled after the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Davis's collection dates back to the College's founding in 1875. The founding director began a campaign to acquire original paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs, as well as plaster casts of classical sculpture, in service of a liberal arts education for women.  The collections received a huge boost in 1993, when the Davis Museum and Cultural Center opened its doors in a new building designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, Rafael Moneo. This facility, Moneo’s first North American commission, immediately distinguished the Davis among its academic museum peers, and among the art museums and cultural institutions of the Greater Boston area.  

In the town of Wellesley, just west of Newton, the Davis Museum is situated within Wellesley College's campus. Free parking, open to all, can be found at the Visitor Parking Facility. The parking is a 2 to 3 minute traverse on a paved path from the parking garage to the museum. Please use Davis Parking Facility and 106 Central Street, Wellesley MA 02481 in your search engine of choice to identify your best route.

The Davis and Wellesley College is located 1.5 miles south and west of Route 9 and Weston Ave. From Boston, the closest exit is MA-30 off of I-90 and MA-16 off of I-95. From Worcester, the closest exit is number 117 by Framingham and the Natick Mall. From there, your search engine of choice will direct you via Route 9 and Oak Ave or Spleen St. and MA-135.

While some accessible parking is located adjacent to the museum, guests may be dropped off in the Davis Plaza area adjacent to the building. More accessible parking is available at the Davis Parking Facility, which is a 2 to 3 minute traverse on a paved path from the parking garage to the museum. While the front door is closest to a set of stairs, guests who prefer ramp access can travel adjacent to the building where there are sidewalks on either side of the buildings. Additional questions about accessibility can be answered by calling the Museum's main number 781-283-2064.

Parking

Parking is free and available in the Visitor Parking facility located directly off of the Route 135/Central Street entrance to the College (see map below).

To access the gated parking garage, press the call button on the intercom and inform the security officer that you are visiting the Davis Museum. Visitors will be able to enter and exit the parking facility free of charge. 

Parking for visitors with disabilities is located in the parking lot directly behind the museum and can be best reached from the Route 135/Central Street entrance to the College.

To reach the museum from Visitor Parking

Upon exiting the parking garage, walk towards the Wang Campus Center and follow the main road through campus past the Wang Campus Center via the sidewalk. The Davis Museum is located on your right (see map below). The entrance can be found by turning right, before reaching the Davis Museum parking lot, and ascending the short flight of stairs on your left.