The DePaul Art Museum was founded in 1985, with collections housed in classrooms and then the DePaul library. Fifteen years ago, the DePaul Art Museum building that stands today opened its doors to the curiosity of a culturally hungry DePaul and Chicagoland community. On June 30, 2026, those doors will close as the university continues to shrink culture as an answer to budget woes.

When I toured DePaul University as a potential transfer student, DPAM was my last stop and the stop that sealed the deal. I clearly remember leaving the museum and excitedly turning to my mom and saying, “I want to work there.” DePaul made that dream happen as I became the museum’s communications and outreach intern in 2025.

As a senior, on the precipice of my career, I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked for an institution that has received national accolades and an international reputation in the museum world. It has launched many successful careers for DePaul students. All the current DPAM interns have felt the surprise sting of the news of the museum’s closure. It is, without question, disheartening to professionals emerging in the fields related to the arts and culture.

My experience at DPAM has strengthened my understanding of why arts education is more important than ever. It has compelled me to share with you more about this treasure that is evolving into a relic status and what opportunities might emerge from the tomb to save the arts.

Under the Trump administration, we have seen a shift in institutional attitudes towards the value of arts and culture as a government expenditure. The trickle-down impact is at our door. Budget cuts and censorship in museums and arts organizations are the hallmarks of a crumbling cultural foundation nationwide. DePaul is clearly not exempt from these authoritarian pressures.

So, where is the opportunity in all this cultural mayhem? With the current volatile political landscape, now, more than ever, is the time to support arts and culture. Government funding has historically proven to fall short when it comes to these disciplines. This opens an opportunity for investors and philanthropists to step in and champion the arts.

What could be more important to this value proposition than the reason to believe in the human spirit expressed through the arts?

By pulling back on its funding for the arts and culture, DePaul University’s reputation as a liberal arts university is weakened. This is more than a building that displays art on its walls. It is a hub of inspiration for students studying various aspects of art. It is also a resource for the multiplicity of colleges within DePaul that utilize the museum’s collection for their studies. Countless professors bring students to DPAM to engage and inspire students beyond what is found in their laptops and history books.

The DePaul Art Museum’s commitment to accessibility, political engagement, and diversity in its range of artists is inspiring and irreplaceable. DPAM has been a beacon of support for underrepresented artists and the home to many artists’ first solo gallery shows.

Take, for example, the DPAM exhibition “Remaking the Exceptional: Tea, Torture, & Reparations | Chicago to Guantánamo”. It was ranked third among Hyperallergic’s Top 50 Exhibitions of 2022. This exhibition, among many others, showcases how DPAM’s reluctance to shy away from political content has brought global attention to the university.

Its success in these initiatives is a testament to the extraordinary staff who have made my work — and that of so many other interns — both enriching and transformative. The DePaul community is indebted to the expertise and wisdom of: collections and exhibitions manager Phoebe Collins, former curator Ionit Behar, former communications and outreach coordinator Mariah Joyce and director Laura-Caroline de Lara.

DPAM’s collection was built by generous donors and carefully curated works to reflect the museum’s mission and the “dynamic, varied populations and communities within Chicago” that are mentioned in its vision statement. The future of this collection is now uncertain. Donors entrust artworks to museums because they believe those institutions will preserve, protect, and publicly share the works in alignment with the museum’s mission and values. It is their understanding that the works will remain part of a stable, permanent collection, not treated as a financial asset.

When a museum closes, it raises concern around ethical dilemmas about the intentions behind its acquisitions and the new context they take on as pieces to be deaccessioned.

We’re also losing a connection to community. In addition to the educational resource that is the collection, there will no longer be public programming that, over the years, has brought together individuals from various walks of life to connect, create together and discover local history.

With the loss of the museum, various stakeholders in the community lose access to an institution that could give them a space to pause, recognize, feel and empathize with history and humanity. Being stripped of resources that are instruments of reflection and expose us to our human condition is detrimental to our ability to understand and communicate with one another.

We cannot overlook the financial benefit that will be lost. Beyond the critical thinking skills fostered by the arts, they are responsible for a large amount of residual economic impact. While it may not result in a direct profit on DePaul’s ledger, a university art museum is an amenity that attracts students and, therefore, is tied to a bigger picture revenue. Cutting arts programming and resources is seemingly a short-sighted decision made for an uncertain pursuit of long-term financial security.

The question I ask myself is whether we did enough to save this treasure? I did not hear about a capital campaign. I did not hear about leadership engaging philanthropists. I did not hear that it was even on the chopping block.

In the letter sent out by DePaul University president Robert L. Manuel, it was stated that, “we have no plans to sell the museum building or leave it vacant. The building occupies a prominent location on our Lincoln Park Campus, and we believe it holds significant potential to be transformed into a space that continues to enrich the student experience.”

Calling on the integrity of DePaul University leadership, it is my sincere hope that this transformation and “reimagining” of the museum space will continue its legacy as a catalyst for arts education.

To keep the doors open to art and culture at DePaul, we need community support. Now is the time that we don’t let “economic constraints” suffocate creative expression and access to displays of artistic skill and imagination.

Instead, we look for ways to reignite that spark.

You can add your signature to a letter opposing DPAM’s closing here.