The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Art Gallery has opened a new exhibition honoring the life and legacy of longtime art patron and collector David Hitchcock. Titled Selections from the Carl and Alice Hitchcock Collection: A Tribute to David Hitchcock, the exhibition opened Aug. 1 and will remain on view throughout August.
This special showing highlights the breadth and depth of the Carl and Alice Hitchcock Collection, which features more than 400 works of art by significant Maine, American and international artists. Included in the exhibition are paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures by both celebrated figures and emerging talents whom Hitchcock supported throughout his life.
Notable artists featured in the collection include Maine icons such as Eric Hopkins, Frederick Lynch, Natasha Mayers, Edwin Gamble, Ellen Gutekunst, Margaret Leonard and Richard Baron. The collection also includes works by major American and international artists such as Leon Golub, Andy Warhol, Robert Longo, Jack Beal, Amedeo Modigliani, Gaston Lachaise and Maurice Sterne.
A native of Mars Hill, David Hitchcock was a passionate and discerning art collector. In an extraordinary act of generosity and vision, he initially placed the Carl and Alice Hitchcock Collection at the University of Maine at Presque Isle on loan—wanting it to be accessible to the community he cherished. In 2024, he officially gifted the entire collection to the University. Mr. Hitchcock passed away in April 2025.
“David Hitchcock’s unwavering dedication to the Fine Arts and his community serves as a testament to the profound impact one individual can have in nurturing and preserving cultural heritage,” Frank Sullivan, Director of the Reed Art Gallery, said. “It was an honor and a privilege to have gotten to know him over the past five years, and I will always be immensely grateful for his immeasurable contributions to the Fine Arts program at UMPI and to the arts in general.”
This tribute exhibition includes many of Hitchcock’s favorite artists and pieces he continued to acquire until the final months of his life. His commitment to supporting emerging Maine artists was unparalleled, with many of the young artists he championed going on to enjoy national and international recognition.
The Reed Art Gallery is located on the upper level of the Center for Innovative Learning on the University of Maine at Presque Isle campus, 181 Main Street in Presque Isle. Summer gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Frank Sullivan at (207) 694-1920 or frank.sullivan@maine.edu.
