Hudson County Community College Foundation Art Collection Receives Major Donation of 35 Works by Prominent Women Artists
February 5, 2026
February 5, 2026, Jersey City, NJ – The Hudson County Community College (HCCC) Foundation Art Collection proudly announces the major gift of 35 works of art from prominent collector Douglas Maxwell, significantly enriching the flourishing Collection that now features over 2,200 pieces. Maxwell’s donation focuses on works by women artists, including many of local and national prominence.
A psychoanalyst by trade, Maxwell also worked as a professor of contemporary art at
New York University for several decades. While at NYU, Maxwell was curating an exhibition
called “Development of the Female Self.” He explained that the project “inspired me
to think about many of the second-generation feminist artists who were making work
where the woman became the muse for the woman artist. This also said so much about
the development of the self; as a psychoanalyst, this greatly interested me.”
Summit by Emily Eveleth, 2000, Oil on canvas, 28” x 28”
The Hudson County Community College Foundation Art Collection offers a platform for women artists – an especially important mission given that artwork by female artists represents only 13% of works in U.S. art museums according to data from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. At HCCC, women’s artwork is interwoven throughout the Foundation Art Collection. Of the Collection’s more than 2,200 works, at least 767 are known to be by women. As Collection coordinator Dr. Andrea Siegel states, “Artwork by women is inextricable, integrated, and everywhere.”
While this donation consists primarily of large-scale photographs by notable artists, there are also works in other scale and media including sculpture by New Jersey artist Kiki Smith; a smaller-scale portrait by renowned photographer Cindy Sherman; and a painting by acclaimed artist April Gornik. One particular highlight is Summit (2000), an oil-on-canvas painting of two donuts by Emily Eveleth. The whimsical painting now has a prominent home in the Gabert Library at 71 Sip Avenue in Jersey City. Part of an ongoing study of donuts, Eveleth’s work bestows a sense of presence and seriousness to this unexpected subject matter.
For this major donation, HCCC also collaborated to contribute works to other institutions, including Bergen Community College and Rutgers University. This work builds on the Foundation Art Collection’s unique model: rather than keeping artwork under lock and key or in an isolated storage closet, the Collection has transformed HCCC’s Journal Square and North Hudson campuses into vibrant, living art museums, a dream championed by former HCCC President Dr. Glen Gabert and carried forward by current President Dr. Christopher Reber.
Through Dr. Siegel’s efforts, this approach to exhibiting art in the collegiate environment is gaining traction on a statewide and national level, and HCCC has helped other community colleges build their collections including Bergen Community College, Ocean County College, County College of Morris, and Camden County College in New Jersey; Nassau Community College and Suffolk Community College in New York; and other institutions in California.
Every day, HCCC students walk among works by prominent artists, significantly enriching the student experience for the entire college community. HCCC students benefit from this immersive artistic environment, which inspires learning, pride, and invites a sense of belonging. This approach was especially meaningful to Maxwell, who shared, “What drew me to HCCC was the understanding that these works would be used not only to teach art, but also to teach curation – and that they would be displayed for all to enjoy. Teaching people about art and how to interpret it was my second profession, and a strong passion of mine.”
“The HCCC Foundation Art Collection is one of the College’s great sources of pride,” said HCCC President Dr. Christopher Reber. “Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of partners like Douglas Maxwell, our students and community have daily access to world-class art that educates, inspires, and uplifts.”
As the Foundation Art Collection continues to grow, so does the importance of long-term stewardship. Caring for a Collection of this scope requires sustained investment in conservation, installation, and preservation so that future generations of HCCC students can continue to learn from and engage with these works. The HCCC Foundation is committed to building support for the ongoing care of the Collection, alongside gifts of art, to ensure the Collection’s vitality in perpetuity.
Visit the Hudson County Community College Foundation Art Collection for more information.