The DePaul Art Museum is on the move. But don’t worry, the precious art won’t be far. And, with the move, a few more pieces will be picked up along the way.
The recent construction on the building has come to an end, and the new museum is set to open Sept. 17 with the “Re: Chicago” exhibition.
The prime benefit of the new building is space. With more than 15,000 gross square feet over three floors, it beats the 4,000 square feet of the former museum located in the Richardson Library.
“Now we’re able to always have something new on display,” said Laura Fatemi, the assistant director of the museum.
The added space will allow for 2,500 pieces of art in the collection. There will be one gallery holding the permanent collection with the rest of the works of art coming and going. The museum will host works done in a variety of media with several artists from time periods ranging from 700 C.E. to the present.
A preview of the new building for DePaul faculty and staff was held on May 23 to show off the completed building and allow the attendees to vote on which of the three pieces on display will be added to the permanent collection.
“[The preview was] a chance for faculty and staff to see the building empty and come up with ideas for the exhibitions,” said Louise Lincoln, the museum director.
Lincoln emphasized the importance of the staff’s ideas and opinions. Voting on the addition to the permanent collection was one way of garnering their input. All three pieces are notably different, but they have one thing in common: they are all works by Chicago artists.
“This is fabulous, very exciting,” said H. Jean Bryan, a senior instructional technology consultant at DePaul. “It gives the museum the space it needs to do a good job supporting the arts.”
DePaul plans to keep up the support with new exhibitions for next year. The first exhibition, “Re: Chicago,” will display pieces from 40 artists chosen by people on the Chicago art scene. It will carry the theme of “who’s famous, who used to be, and who ought to be” in the spirit of establishing Chicago as more than just the second city. The exhibition will be followed by Studio Malick (featuring photographs by artist Malick Sidibé) and Drawn from Photography (featuring photographs translated into drawings).
As a way to encourage the DePaul community to support the arts, the museum will also allow teachers to plan visits as part of the class curriculum.
“We really want faculty and staff to think that they can use it as their museum,” said Amy Tyson, a History teacher and member of the Faculty Advisory Board for the museum.