Public Relations

Stetson University's Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center houses the university's extensive collection of art by Modernist painter Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938).

The 5,000-square-foot art center includes two galleries – one to exhibit rotating selections from the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection and the second to display other works from the university's permanent art collection or for special shows. The $2.2 million building also has a foyer gallery/reception area, a vault, a preparation area and an art study/seminar room.

Longtime trustee and alumna Dolly Hand '49 and her husband, Homer Handmade thelead gift for the art center, located between Sampson Hall and the duPont-Ball Library.

Stetson's Bluemner collection, which contains more than 1,000 pieces, was bequeathed to Stetson in 1997 by the artist's daughter, Vera Bluemner Kouba. Selections of the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection have been exhibited at the university and at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.

"This is what we dreamed of," said Art History Professor Roberta Smith Favis,curator of the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection. "The Hand Art Center is a secure, permanent, state-of-the-art facility for the collection. We now have a place where we can judiciously exhibit the works of Oscar Bluemner, both academically and artistically...a place where we can share it withart historians, scholars, students and other art lovers."

Dolly Hand is a 1949 graduate of Stetson's College of Law, which was located on the DeLand campus until the mid-1950s. She was the only woman in her class and, at age 20, was the youngest student ever to complete the law program.

"I was much, much younger than any of the other students," she said. "Most of them were returning veterans (of World War II). But everyone was very kind to me."

Dolly Hand has served on the Stetson University Board of Trustees since 1994. The couple provided permanent funding for the Homer and Dolly Hand Award for Excellence in Faculty Research, which is given annually to recognize Stetson faculty members involved in significant research. They also give for student scholarships each year.

The Hands live in Belle Glade, where they own and operate Hand Enterprises, the management company for their land holdings. They are active in civic affairs in the Belle Glade/Okeechobee area, and both are former members of the Palm Beach Community College Board of Trustees. They have received numerous awards, including the Champion of Higher Independent Education in Florida (CHIEF) Award from the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida in 1996.

The couple do not consider themselves serious art patrons, she said, but they were touched by Oscar Bluemner's daughter's gift to Stetson. They hope the Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center will increase recognition for both Bluemner's talents and the excellence of Stetson's Art Department.

"This is a tribute to Oscar Bluemner and a way to help Stetson," she said. "Stetson is so rich with opportunities. We have an unbelievable School of Music, School of Business Administration and College of Arts & Sciences, and I don't think enough people know about us. This will provide another opportunity for people to learn more about Stetson, its programs and its history."

A one-story building with tall ceilings, the center features a brick and stucco design with a large portico finished in Arriscraft stone. The portico has large columns and overlooks a plaza. Art classes will use the high-tech seminar room, and the permanent collection space will provide a second venue for the annual spring Senior Thesis Exhibition.