A community mural where students are encouraged to paint their hopes and dreams for the new ESC outside of the VU gallery. Ella Banken//AS Review
Wilson Library opens up space for exhibition while VU gallery remains closed
By Brooklin Pigg
Traditionally used as a place for Bachelor of Fine Arts students and semi-professional art exhibitions and performances, the Viking Union gallery was closed last year due to construction of the Multicultural Center. It’s future is still up in the air.
VU Gallery Director Keiko Scott said they are working towards preservation of the space. Right now, they are navigating around the absence of physical space, so discussions of future plans are on the backburner.
“[AS staff and arts community] personally find it important to keep the space and for there to be a physical gallery,” Scott said. “We want it.”
However, Scott sees no point if the gallery isn’t accessible to everyone. Previously situated on the fifth floor, they said the VU gallery was hidden away and not very many people were aware of its existence or whereabouts.
“Even art students didn’t know [where it was],” Scott said.
Julia Sapin, chair of the art and history department, was quoted by The Western Front about the gallery coming back to the sixth floor. She still upholds this position.
“I realize that the primarily focal point of the sixth floor, besides dining and the bookstore, will now be the Ethnic Student Center, which is a fantastic addition to our campus,” Sapin said in an email. “What I would like to advocate for is a space within the Ethnic Student Center that can be used as an exhibition and performance space, in other words a multi-use space that is open to artists on campus.”
However, unlike Scott, she said that many people beyond BFA students were affected by the closure of the gallery. Referring to the petition that had more than 1,000 signatures, Sapin said that there were remarks from alumni about attending shows and performances there.
“From [the VU staff] perspective, the gallery was always empty. This is because the openings tend to occur in the evening when staff has left for the day. That is when it became the vibrant place of meeting and experience that the alumni remember,” Sapin said.
The Wilson Library offered to showcase the current BFA exhibitions while there is no physical gallery. Scott said working within the nooks and crannies of the library has more exposure, but it detracts from the professionalism of the big, blank walls of a gallery. A sentiment Sapin echoed.
An option for students right now is to host their own exhibition at the B Gallery, the student-run gallery in the Fine Arts building. They have a call for art every quarter, except summer, and the application is on a google form connected to their Facebook page. The BFA team reviews it and then chooses which ones they want to show.
Lindsey Hammerle, one of the B Gallery preparators, said this is a fairly easy process. They get more applicants than spaces but about a dozen get accepted each quarter.
“It’s like an independent study, where you have a project then you execute it under minimal guidance,” Hammerle said. “In the real world, preparators will hang your art for you, curators will decide which art you’re hanging. But in the B Gallery, you as the artist are helping hang your art and you are curating your own art. We are just here to take care of the gallery and make sure nothing gets too crazy.”
The Western Front article also mentioned the possibility of using VU Gallery funds towards the B Gallery. Scott said that has not been discussed this year.
“I have been supporting different clubs here and there especially because I don’t have a gallery,” Scott said. “I’m definitely helping out where I can, but in terms of very direct, large amounts of funding…the VU Gallery already has enough going on.”
The current BFA exhibitions can be found scattered around Wilson Library. The VU Gallery are also looking for art submissions for the white wall on the sixth floor of the VU. Posters will be printed soon with application details.
The B Gallery is hosting a young entrepreneur program “Why Do You Create?” Thursday, Nov. 29 5:30-7:30 p.m. There will be a fashion show and an art exhibit.
“It’s just going to be a crazy party, I guess,” Hammerle said.