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In opening remarks before a filled Hubbard Hall Reading Room, President Safa Zaki welcomed Clayton and Julianne Rose back to ���ϳԹ�������վ and highlighted three of what she called Rose's most important legacies—his commitment to expanding opportunities for students from all backgrounds, his commitment to the teaching and study of the environment, and the importance of living and learning in spaces that enhance both.

Wurzel, who attended ���ϳԹ�������վ for one year in 1999 before transferring to Brown University, spoke next. The artist shared with the crowd that her foundation in portraiture was learned from A. LeRoy Greason Professor of Art (now Emeritus) Mark Wethli, who was also in attendance, and explained Rose's desire—and hers—to do something a little different than the presidential portraits of the past.

She spoke of the influence of Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, the artists behind the portraits of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama and how she used various hues and tints of blues and greens to capture Rose in a decidedly casual pose and in his favorite color.

Rose was gracious in his praise of Wurzel's work and thanked President Zaki for welcoming him back to campus and for the work she is doing to further the mission of the College.

"Being part of the ���ϳԹ�������վ community is the privilege of a lifetime," Rose said, adding that despite the challenges, a reference to an earlier mention of his leadership of the College through the pandemic, his eight years in office were among the most important and satisfying of his life.

Rose also took the opportunity to share his appreciation for the friendships he and Julianne have made among faculty, staff, students, and others in the Brunswick community, saying it's the love that has made their ���ϳԹ�������վ experience "so very special."

Wurzel completed Rose's portrait in 2023. A late spring snowstorm delayed the official reception of the portrait from April 4 to September 19. 

Wurzel's bright, contemporary painting represents a departure from previous ���ϳԹ�������վ portraits, perhaps most prominently by showing Rose outside. ���ϳԹ�������վ’s fifteenth president stands before a quintessentially midcoast Maine landscape evocative of the College’s Schiller Coastal Studies Center. He wears a blue blazer but no tie, and a relaxed but attentive expression, with his head slightly titled to one side.

Anne Collins Goodyear, codirector of ���ϳԹ�������վ College Museum of Art, said that every ���ϳԹ�������վ presidential portrait—starting with Joseph McKeen, the College's first president in 1802—reflects its historical moment, often with deliberate innovation. Rose's likeness is just the latest to take a creative turn. “Clayton's portrait offers an expansive view of the College. It conceptualizes ���ϳԹ�������վ as part of the larger state of Maine, suggesting the breadth of our campus and its coastal setting.”

Continuing with her analysis, Goodyear commented on the style of the painting, noting that while it captures the likeness of Rose, it also contains beautiful abstract qualities. She pointed to the ripples in the water, the wispy blue clouds, a narrow strip of green land.

“I love the linearity, I love the way the jacket looks like it could be waves on the water, the cloth could be the sky. There is a conscious and strategic harmonizing of Wurzel’s representation of her subject with the environment that he inhabits,” she observed.

Goodyear said she also appreciates how the artist captures Rose's “warmth, his interest in engaging with people. Clayton seems to greet us as if we're in front of him.” With its bold lighting and colors, Goodyear said the painting “feels like an approachable portrait,” much like Rose, himself.

While the Rose portrait is at first glance striking in its uniqueness, the president did follow precedent in one way: he selected an artist based in the Northeast. “Wurzel is someone who has an affinity for light, coastal scenes, and New England in particular,” Goodyear said. “She follows in a long line of New England artists who have been called in to depict ���ϳԹ�������վ presidents.”

A Tour Through Past Painted Presidents

Past portraits of ���ϳԹ�������վ's presidents—all fifteen of them—hang on the second floor of Hubbard Hall. Moving from one to the next offers viewers a chance to stroll through College history.

Goodyear, who was a curator at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery before coming to ���ϳԹ�������վ, said portraits accomplish several tasks—they say something about their subject, as well as comment on the era in which they were created.

Even more so, “There are particular genres of portraiture that are intended to do particular work for us,” to open insight into individuals, our society, and our institutions, “and there is no question that the category of presidential portrait is one of those very special sorts of images,” she said.

Each of ���ϳԹ�������վ's presidential paintings, like Wurzel's, also contains a deviation from its predecessors that modernizes the piece. While some of these are more subtle than others, they're all noticeable if you look closely enough.

The portrait of Barry Mills (2001–2015) is the first to depict the president without his academic robes. In his portrait, Bob Edwards (1990–2001) is the first to smile, and also the first to be shown in a relaxed standing position (he is leaning against his office desk).

Goodyear said the Rose painting, while quite distinct, “will be a wonderful addition to presidential portraits in Hubbard Hall...Like its predecessors, Rose's portrait says something about the moment in which it was depicted and the particular interests and proclivities of the subject that inspired it.”