D. E. May: Postcards from Islandsalem
January 24 – March 21, 2026
Maribeth Collins Lobby and Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery
D. E. May (American, 1952-2019), Untitled, 1997, mixed media, 6 x 4 1/2 inches, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Maribeth Collins Art Acquisition Fund, 2001.029.001. Photo credit: Frank Miller.
I look at much of what I do as preliminary and resolved simultaneously.—D. E. May
From January 24 to March 21, 2026, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon will present D. E. May: Postcards from Islandsalem, a forty plus year retrospective exhibition for this important Salem mixed media artist who passed away in 2019 from pancreatic cancer just as he was emerging onto the national art scene. Organized by independent curator Linda Tesner, the exhibition will feature a range of objects created over the past four decades including collages, drawings, paintings, sculptures, templates, testbeds, and mail art, among others.
Dan was born and raised in Salem and spent his entire life here, referring to it as “Islandsalem.” The exhibition will feature objects on loan from May’s archive, private collectors throughout the United States, and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, which has a large body of the artist’s work. In addition to the objects on display, the exhibition will be accompanied by text panels, chat panels, photomurals, labels, and a full color, 208-page book, The Art of D. E. May, by Tesner that explores Dan’s creative process and innovative mind. The latter will be distributed by the Oregon State University Press, assuring worldwide distribution and readership.
Exhibition-Related Events
In order to broaden the scope of the exhibition, a wide variety of education programs have been planned, including a lecture by Tesner on the artist on Saturday, January 24 from 5-6 pm in the Paulus Lecture Hall in the Willamette University College of Law; gallery talks/walk-through tours of the exhibition led by Tesner on Tuesday, February 10 and Tuesday, March 10 beginning at 12:30 pm at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art; and a panel discussion with May’s friends and moderated by Tesner on Thursday, February 26 beginning at 7:30 pm in the Paulus Lecture Hall. Admission to the lecture, gallery talks, and panel discussion is complimentary.
In addition, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art will offer free admission on Saturday, March 21—the final day of the D. E. May exhibition—and host a free open house of Dan’s studio/workspace in downtown Salem from 12 noon—4 p.m.; space and times are limited for the open house and available on a first come, first served basis. To make a reservation, please call 503-370-6855 by March 20 at the latest.
About the Curator
Linda Tesner is an independent curator and writer living in Portland, Oregon. She served as the director and curator at the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art at Lewis & Clark College for two decades and was formerly the assistant director of the Portland Art Museum and the director of the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Washington. She received her BA from the University of Oregon and her MA from Ohio State University in the history of art.
Financial Support
D. E. May: Postcards from Islandsalem has been supported by a gift from Pamela Johnson ‘76, through the Roger Hull Memorial Fund; with funds from the HFMA Exhibition Fund and the Maribeth Collins Art Exhibition Fund; by advertising support from The Oregonian/Here Is Oregon; and by general operating support grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.
Further Information
For further information contact:
John Olbrantz, The Maribeth Collins Director
Phone: 503-370-6854
Email: jolbrant@willamette.edu
Vanessa Hopt, Assistant to the Director,
Phone: 503-370-6856
Email: >vjhopt@willamette.edu
