VCU deserves a gallery to match its students’ status

VCU’s ascent into its current status as one of Virginia’s most unique and thriving universities was a multi-step equation that juxtaposed a game-winning basketball shot in March 2007, a student population boom that made the school the largest public university in Virginia, and a nationally recognized medical center.

However, at the summit of the school’s strong points is the school’s art and design program, which ranked No.1 in public art and design graduate program in the nation once again by U.S. News and World Report magazine, which has specialized in ranking the nation’s best colleges since 1983.

While such rankings bear fruit for VCU as a whole, thanks to the positive publicity they put out, they also put a burden on the art school itself to keep its buildings, classes, and exhibitions ahead of the curve. That notion was underscored when the university dropped to fourth in overall rankings, with private universities Rhode Island School of Design, Yale University and the School Art Institute of Chicago finishing above VCU.

All three of the aforementioned universities renovated old galleries or opened up new art galleries by September of 2008 while VCU’s only art gallery as of right now is the out-dated Anderson Gallery on West Franklin Street. A fact that conceivably could have resulted in VCU’s drop in the ratings.

Not helping matters, construction on the new gallery originally planned to be placed parallel to the Jefferson Hotel, was put on hold after the hotel’s co-owners, who donated the land to VCU, evoked their right to not allow the building to be built on-site if designs weren’t up to their standards.

While delays on new buildings are hardly a rare commodity, a significant hold up on the gallery could lose the school valuable time in its attempt to maintain its supreme status. Thought to be too modern by some, the designs called for far too much of what the hotel’s owners didn’t want to see (brick) and not enough of what they did want to see (zinc paneling and limestone walls).

With no agreement struck, the gallery will now be relocated to the southwest corner of Broad and Belvidere streets where the focus remains squarely on bringing a gallery that is a showcase itself on top of being a showcase for theatre and art.

“The architecture of the gallery needs to reflect the quality and national stature of the School of the Arts since it will become our most significant public face to the community,” said Richard Toscan, the dean of VCU’s School of the Arts.
Further complicating the situation was the death of one of the chief architects designing the building, Charles Gwathmey on Aug. 2nd because the new plans are not completely finished yet.

The architectural firm Gwathmey co-founded the prestigious Gwathmey & Siegel, which recently renovated the Guggenheim art museum in New York and also built lavish houses in the Hamptons for celebrities such as Steven Spielberg and Jerry Seinfeld. While Gwathmey & Siegel’s web site currently lists the gallery’s completion date as 2011, Toscan said that status will be re-evaluated in the coming months.

“The architecture (of the building) is important but students are missing out on opportunities due to an argument over something so surface,” senior and communication arts major Aaron Woodard said, ” If people are just slowing down progress over personal preference then they are turning the new gallery into a personal issue. That sort of sucks.”

Once the building is constructed, art majors can expect a state of the art facility that will hold classes, meetings and lectures for all of the School of the Art’s areas of study. The gallery itself will be a breath of fresh air to some of the school’s upper classman who have been dealing with the paradox of attending one of the nations’ top ranked schools for art while having space to display their work.

“The School of the Arts is very well known, however, our facilities are really small compared to other departments. The new art building will help expand our department and allow VCU art students to have the necessary building space (they) need,” junior and communications art major Don Di Fiore said.
The site will also encompass an auditorium that seats 200 people for music events, film festivals and plays all on top of the galleries that will be used to showcase artwork itself.