For Art’s Sake

Luce Foundation Grant Will Fund  New Collections Study Space

The University Art Museum will use a new grant from the Luce Foundation to create a place to house its collection, open to classes and the public for study. (Photo courtesy of the University Art Museum)

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 27, 2018) — The University at Albany Art Museum has been awarded a $75,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation’s American Art Program. This generous funding will be used to maintain the activities and educational initiatives of the Museum’s newly created Collections Study Space, which houses the University at Albany Fine Art Collections.

The Collections are comprised of over 3,000 objects and reflect 50 years of modern and contemporary art, including paintings, photographs, prints, drawings and sculpture by many of the most prominent artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The University Art Museum is committed to the idea that first-hand encounters with works of art play an integral role in teaching and learning across the disciplines. The new Collections Study Space, located near the Museum, is designed to safely house the Collections and serve as a viewing and study gallery for fine art, archives and special collections in a classroom context.

“We are extremely appreciative of the support that the Henry Luce Foundation is providing for this project,” said Corinna Ripps Schaming, interim director of the University at Albany Art Museum. “The realization of this new multi-purpose space is a great opportunity to share the University Fine Art Collections with our students, faculty and the community. We are looking forward to offering a wide variety of innovative educational programing that will further enhance this wonderful resource.”

A range of registrarial functions will be performed on site, including cataloguing, photographing and conditioning works of art. A designated teaching area in the Collections Study Space will accommodate classes of up to 20 students or small community groups.

Professors from across the disciplines can bring classes to the new space, and develop coursework and curatorial projects based on artwork in the Collections. University faculty members and Museum staff will continue to work together to further new best practices in museum-based pedagogy across the disciplines.

The Collections Study Space will also serve as a site for discussions, talks, small panels, readings and informal conversations related to the artists and artworks in the Collections. Future plans include inviting artists, curators, writers and scholars to develop innovative programs and original research linking the Museum’s exhibition program and the Fine Arts Study Collections.

“The Luce Foundation is pleased to support institutions that value their American art collections and that seek to share them with audiences in fresh and meaningful ways,” said Teresa A. Carbone, program director for American Art at the Henry Luce Foundation.

As part of a comprehensive, public, research institution, the University at Albany Art Museum is committed to providing spaces for creative, rigorous, interdisciplinary inquiry that can actively transform higher education. Thanks to the Luce Foundation grant, the Museum will strengthen its service to the University by offering a range of behind-the-scenes experiences that inform current museum best practices and foster an environment in which contemporary art can be experienced through multiple perspectives.

The Collections Study Space will be free and open to the public during designated hours and will offer opportunities to schedule guided tours, view focused curatorial projects, and browse selected books and periodicals from its library.

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