Art Museum to create new community gallery

By Olivia Biagi
Collegian Editor
February 13, 2008

Deep in the bowels of Olney Hall resides a hidden treasure at La Salle: the La Salle University Art Museum. In an attempt to enhance the experience of students, faculty and other outside visitors, the curatorial staff has been working to renovate the museum. In November, work began to refurnish the Special Exhibitions Gallery as well as to create a brand new Community Gallery.

Olivia Biagi - The hallways in the basement of Olney Hall, to the left of the staircase,
will house the new gallery.

“[It was a] series of circumstances [that led to the renovations],” Madeleine Viljoen, director and chief curator, said.

Viljoen, who has held her position for approximately two years, stated that since the museum opened in 1975, not much work had been done to it.

“An outside review of the collection confirmed it needed upgrades, ways we could store and display the art better,” Viljoen said.

After she received the confirmation, Viljoen began working with Director of Physical Facilities Robert C. Kroh to renovate the Special Exhibition Gallery, which showcases various collections throughout the year on rotation.

“The Special Exhibition Gallery is being totally renovated: new walls, new floors, with an artwork storage room behind it,” museum assistant Michelle Mesisca said.

The original gallery had been part office, part library, according to Viljoen.

“Visitors didn’t really know what that space was,” she said.

Now, the office and library have been moved to create what Viljoen called a “clearer space.” The new gallery, which is the first room on the left side of the museum, is of modern style with four plain walls and a wooden floor. Behind it is a locked storage room.

“As we strive to get more and more attention from other outside visitors… [we want to] improve their experience of the art museum in general,” Viljoen said.

The first exhibition in the refurnished Special Exhibitions Gallery is set to begin March 5, titled “The Buffoonish Bourgeois: Caricatures and Satire of the Upper Middle-Class Businessman in 19th-Century France.”

Along with the renovated gallery is the new Community Gallery, which will be located in the hallway to the left upon descending into the basement.

“[The Community Gallery is an] opportunity for outside groups to display there,” said Mesisca.

“Our first exhibition there starts Feb. 23. [It is] the Archdiocese of Philadelphia High School Student Exhibition.”

“Last year, the Art Museum received funding from the Connelly Foundation to bring in high school students,” said Viljoen.

According to Viljoen, area schools responded well to the venture. The current renovations will allow high school students to exhibit their works at La Salle, as well as others.

“[The Community Gallery] is not going to be art museum stuff, but an extension of what we do here,” Viljoan said.

“[It’s] basically for non-professional artists, students and faculty [as well as community members outside La Salle] who aren’t exhibiting artists [to exhibit their works].”

The Connelly Foundation, a Philadelphia organization that supports non-profits in education and the arts, as well as other areas, also donated money to install track lighting in the new gallery. The expected completion of the renovations is the end of February.

In a final attempt to bring the museum up-to-date and more modern, outside professionals re-hung all of the galleries. The art museum has five permanent collections displayed regularly: Renaissance, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century and Modern and Contemporary. The art has been obtained through purchases and donations. For Viljoen, the collection at the art museum may rival that of some major museums, which is why the renovations are necessary.

“We need to be striving for those kinds of standards,” said Viljoen. “Not to be snobby, [but] we have a great collection.”

biagio1@lasalle.edu