Tracking the state of Harvard's art.
With one of the largest university art collections in the world, Harvard art museums have a lot to offer. Unfortunately, a large part of the collection currently on view will not be around for long. On June 30, the Harvard University Fogg Museum will close its doors to visitors in order to undergo a 5-year renovation. The main building will close and a greatest-hits exhibition will be mounted in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum across the street. The rest of the collection will be moved into off-site storage facility.
Needless to say, this concept has been met by mixed reviews and a surge of questions from the student body. Now I’m the first person to support endeavors that protect and promote art on campus — I agree with the when and the why — but was concerned with the how.
Luckily, Director of Communications for the Harvard University Art Museums Daron J. Mangoogian was on hand to put my mind at ease. Manoogian explained that the current Fogg building is in “serious need of updating for the protection of the collection.” The renovations will include installing climate control and elevators, revamping study spaces, and potentially adding a café as well as more display space. Mangoogian also noted that the renovation has three main goals: increased access to the collections (thanks to added space and more display areas), more multidisciplinary work in the curatorial departments, and the opening up of the museums to the Harvard community.
What, you ask, does that leave us with in the meantime? Co-President of the Organization of Undergraduate Representatives of the Harvard University Art Museums (OUR HUAM) Kaley Blackstock ’10 sat down with me to sort this out. Despite being a relatively new student group on campus, OUR HUAM has substantially increased student interest in the Harvard art museums through a series of nighttime events featuring student tours, food, and live music. Blackstock hopes that in future these events will “focus on the Sackler” and give students a “more behind the scenes view of how museums work.”
So far, so good. Buildings, like paintings, need to be touched up once in a while, and if, five years from now, students have access to a larger and better equipped museum space, what’s not to like? And with only a tiny fraction of the collection on view, the more and the greater space, the better. Indeed, in the long term, the Harvard administration has brought up the idea of creating a new modern and contemporary gallery in the new Allston campus to house more of the collections not currently on view. For example, as of right now, there is no permanent African art exhibition space. A new museum would help to fix that.
And yet, I continue to wonder. Closing the Fogg for a few years is a temporary loss for a long-term gain. But looking ahead, moving art museums across the river runs the risk of separating students from the artworks entirely. If three museums exist on this side of the river, why should a fourth exist across it? A new museum, or a revamped one, benefits thousands of students and visitors, but shouldn’t artworks be displayed where they will be seen and appreciated the most? I suppose only time will tell. For now, be sure to stop by the Fogg while you still can — even though reading period is just around the corner, everyone needs a night off once in a while to paint the town red.
Allegra Richards ’09 (amrichar@fas) sees a red door and paints it black.