Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Fine Arts Update

Hey guys, sorry it took so long for me to get this up here. The Fine Arts group met recently with Professor Carol Calo and we learned a ton of great information. She definitely agrees that it should be a work study or endowed position (preferably endowed so we don't have the issue of the job being offerend soley to students with that financial aid package first), but that it could definitely start out as an internship until funding is sorted out. She thinks that it should be a full year position under the supervision of the acting gallery director for Cushing Martin. This position is responsible for art outreach and our project would fall under that duty. There are also gallery assistants who would be able and encouraged to help our curator set up exhibits.

Here are some other great pieces of advice from Professor Calo that we need to keep in mind :
-Security/Insurance:
We need to make sure that we have insurance coverage for our space, especially if we are going to invite community artists to display their work. Could the space be locked?

-We need to make sure there are plenty of electrical outlets where we set up our gallery, and the lighting would preferably be adjustable such as the spots in the Cushing Martin Gallery.

-If we are going to have art outside, we need to have a written contract with facilities to avoid work being taken down/damaged/not being able to be mowed around/etc.

-The Fine Arts department is starting a new program called "Friends of Art" that involves alumni with art projects and programs on campus. Professor Calo said that this would be a great program that alumns could donate to, and she had no problem designating it as a certain portion of the program.

Ok guys, sorry for the novel, but we definitely have some good information here. See you all next week!
~Melissa

5 comments:

Jess said...

Thanks for the update!

Blogs from a non-blogger said...

Why is it that a gallery has to be locked, but we have art hanging on the walls of Duffy and other buildings? Just curious what makes the difference, because I don't think we have a space that we can lock. And how do we go about insuring art?

Melissa said...

I think the difference would be if that the work we have hanging in academic buildings as far as I know is work the school has purchased. I think artists that are loaning work for a semester or specific exhibit would want to ensure their work was taken care of and safe. I'm not sure we definitely need a locked space but I do think it is something that should be discussed.

Ms. Kiernan said...

I think we'd be hard-pressed to find a locked space in the building that isn't a closet or a classroom-- that is, unless the atrium has doors that plan on being locked after hours.

This is really a stretch, but maybe there could be a student who sits with the work for a certain period of time, like a security guard. Ludicrous, I know, but I'm just thinking of those students in the cardio room at the gym who get paid to sit there and essentially do their homework.
Just a thought. :)

noahcurtis said...

Would it be possible to rope off the areas of art we have at night and have a video camera monitoring the spot. I know it would be expensive but its the only thing I can think of right now. Also won't the science center need to have some heightened security if there are going to be animals being held in there. I'm sure that the Science Center committee has probably discussed this before.