{{short description|American sculptor}}
{{Infobox artist | name = Dorothy Mayhall | image = Photo of Dorothy Mayhall (1925–1995).jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth year|1925}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death year and age|1995|1925}} | death_place = | education = University of Iowa | field = Sculpture, Museum Administration | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards = | spouse = | partner = }}
'''Dorothy Mayhall''' (1925–1995) was an American museum director and sculptor. She worked at art museums in New York and Connecticut, primarily exhibiting contemporary art.
== Early years == Mayhall hailed from Oregon. She went to high school in Omaha, Nebraska, where she was an honors student and worked on the yearbook.<ref>[http://www.omahachsarchives.org/archive/register/1943-02-05_11.pdf "It Always Happens – Gals Lead Guys Again"] (PDF) ''Central High School Register'', Omaha, Nebraska (February 5, 1943), p. 1. Retrieved November 7, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.omahachsarchives.org/archive/register/1943-02-24_13.pdf "Lulu Gets to Heaven; O-Book Sales Top 1200"] (PDF) ''Central High School Register'', Omaha Nebraska (February 24, 1943), p. 1. Retrieved November 7, 2011</ref> She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa.<ref name="evenews">Judy Werley, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1982&dat=19741112&id=CpBRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mTMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1418,2275365 "Dorothy Mayhall: Cornwall's Sculptor, Curator"] ''The Evening News'' (November 12, 1974). Retrieved November 6, 2011</ref>
Unable to make a living from her sculpting, she went back to college and got a master's degree in art history. She was awarded a Fulbright scholarship and went to Paris, France. When her funds ran out, she returned to the United States and got a job at the University of Omaha. Determined to escape what she felt was a "cultural desert", she enlisted in the Women's Army Corps for two years. After the period was over, she was told that if she remained in the Corps, she could be sent to the place of her choice, anywhere in the world, so she re-enlisted and went to Japan. While there, she visited museums, learned about oriental art and met Japanese artists, calling the time a "fabulous experience".<ref name="evenews" />
== Career == Once released from active duty in the army, she moved to New York and got a job at the Museum of Modern Art after working briefly at Time-Life.In the mid-1960s, Larry Aldrich offered her the job of director at his new museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. She was the first director of the "Old Hundred", as the museum was briefly called. The name was changed to the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art<ref>[http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-larry-aldrich-12596 "Oral history interview with Larry Aldrich, 1972 Apr. 25 – June 10"] Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved November 6, 2011</ref> before being changed again to its present name. Mayhall stayed at the Aldrich Museum for six years<ref name="evenews" /> before leaving to work at Storm King. She later returned to the Aldrich.
Through a mutual friend, she met Ralph E. Ogden and his wife, who had built Storm King, and they became friends. Mayhall became the director of the Storm King Art Center in 1972.<ref>Vivien Raynor, [https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/24/nyregion/art-putting-it-all-together-at-the-aldrich-museum.html "Putting It All Together At the Aldrich Museum"] ''The New York Times'' (July 24, 1994). Retrieved November 6, 2011</ref> Located in upstate New York, about an hour north of New York City, it had few galleries, but had extensive grounds suitable for displaying monumental art. Part of Mayhall's job was to organize the installation of art that weighed tons.<ref name="evenews" /><ref group=note>One of the pieces in the sculpture garden at Storm King stood {{convert|50|ft|m|sp=us}} tall, another weighed 44 tons (40 metric tons).</ref>
Mayhall had a solo exhibition of her own work at the Sachs Gallery in New York in 1972.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8uYCAAAAMBAJ&dq=dorothy%20mayhall%20sculptor&pg=PA21 Art listings] ''New York Magazine'' (June, 1972), p. 21. Retrieved November 7, 2011</ref>
Mayhall's last job was director of art at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center in Stamford, Connecticut, where she worked for 12 years. At the Stamford Museum, she had successful solo exhibits with the work of Cletus Johnson, Reuben Nakian and Nicholas Krushenick,<ref>Vivien Raynor, [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/04/nyregion/art-words-and-images-the-works-of-15-connecticut-artists.html "Words and Images, the Works of 15 Connecticut Artists"] ''The New York Times'' (June 4, 1995). Retrieved November 6, 2011</ref> the last two, former residents of Stamford. Her last studio space was with the Loft Artists Association,<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19941118&id=ICBJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aAYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4759,2985047 Advertisement for studio open house] ''The Hour'', Norwalk, Connecticut (November 1994), p. 17. Retrieved November 7, 2011</ref> at the former Yale and Towne factory in the South End of Stamford.<ref>[http://www.loftartists.com/about.php About the Loft Artists Association] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130125611/http://www.loftartists.com/about.php |date=2018-01-30 }} Loft Artists Association. Retrieved November 7, 2011</ref>
== Legacy == There is a folder of Mayhall's papers at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.<ref>[http://collections.si.edu/search/results.jsp?q=record_ID:SILAF_75685# Dorothy Mayhall (Folder)"]{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved November 7, 2011</ref> A year after Mayhall's death, the Stamford Museum's "New Art Annual '96", a show and competition, gave an award in Mayhall's honor. The piece that won the award was by painter Joan Wheeler and was titled, "I Always Wanted to Be a Redhead".<ref>William Zimmer, [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/14/nyregion/art-in-stamford-a-decorous-annual.html "In Stamford, a Decorous Annual"] ''The New York Times'' (April 14, 1996). Retrieved November 7, 2011</ref>
== Publications (selected list) == ; Catalogues * ''Highlights of the 1965–66 art season''. Exhibition: July 10 thru September 11, 1966. Larry Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield Connecticut<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dWpitwAACAAJ ''Highlights of the 1965–66 art season''] Larry Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield Connecticut (1966). Retrieved November 7, 2011</ref> * ''The Minimal Tradition''. Exhibition held April 29 through September 2, 1979. Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=w5lHAQAAIAAJ ''The Minimal Tradition''] Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut (1979). Retrieved November 7, 2011</ref> * ''American Art: American Women 1965 through 1985''. Exhibition dates: December 15, 1984 – February 23, 1985. Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford, Connecticut * ''Beverly Fishman: Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture''. Exhibition dates: November 4 – December 6, 1985. Housatonic Museum of Art * ''American artists at the turn-of-the century''. (1988) Stamford Museum and Nature Center
== See also == * Jacqueline Moss
== Footnotes == {{Reflist|group=note}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayhall, Dorothy}} Category:Directors of museums in the United States Category:American women museum directors Category:University of Iowa alumni Category:University of Nebraska Omaha alumni Category:Sculptors from Oregon Category:1925 births Category:1995 deaths Category:20th-century American sculptors Category:20th-century American women sculptors