By Grant Terwilliger
Many students walk by the museum without walls everyday at SUNY Plattsburgh, the pictures faded from age, faded into the background of time.
Museum faculties on campus seek to update the collection and find a new way to manage the gallery.
The Museum without Walls was a program started by Edward and Bette Brohel in the late ‘70s early ‘80s. Ed was the director of the Plattsburgh state art museum for 30 years and Bette was an academic advisor for 20 years. Ed and Bette cared greatly about having art across campus and started creating the museum without walls. During his tenure, the museum’s collection expanded to over 8,000 art pieces.
Without their work SUNY Plattsburgh would not have the art that it has today around campus. Although, such a large collection of aging art can be hard to maintain.
Museum Preparator and Volunteer Coordinator, Walter Early, said that he is thankful to have such a large gallery of art across campus, but finds that it comes with challenges.
“The university has been collecting for more than 60 years and representing art from antiquity to yesterday. Though this method of display does present some difficulties for the long term care of our objects, museum staff are constantly trying to keep things in the best shape possible,” Early said.
A lot of the artwork around campus was put up in the ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s. As a result the art has been damaged by light, marred by backpacks in the hallways and damaged.
Museum Collections Manager, Kara Jefts, finds that taking things down and responsibly taking care of the huge collection of artwork on campus can be challenging and that the gallery needs an update to change the engagement of the collection.
“There hasn’t been a process for taking things down and putting them away, so the galley just continued to grow and grow and grow. So it started with four buildings in the 80s, and it grew to 19 buildings. So, it’s large, and it’s hard to take care of responsibly,” Jefts said. “I’ve had so many people on this campus that work here now say ‘Oh, that was up when I was a student in the ‘90s; and that just doesn’t set a good precedent for engagement with the artwork.”
Early manages Museum Without Walls art installation and removals and has been working with offices and departments since he arrived in Plattsburgh in 2016. Cycling of artwork is a key part of museums, most museums only show a small fraction of the artwork they have in storage. Early focuses on making the Museum Without Walls more personal with students.
“I frequently get to work with offices and departments to identify artworks to be on display,” Early said. “Ideally, when working with departments, we can identify art in our campus collection that aligns with topics or themes covered in the range of classes offered on campus.” Early said.
Everything in storage is also a part of the Museum Without Walls. One of the first steps of addressing the artwork that has been displayed and damaged over time is to work to make storage more functional behind the scenes. This allows for change in the gallery across campus.
“The amount of space that’s being taken up can be minimized by taking things out of frames and storing them differently. I’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes and my hope is that as I continue to make progress in the storage spaces, that we can then work to cycle things out of exhibition and install new things,” Jefts said.
Jefts’ vision is to create spaces across campus where art is more intentional and is presented in a thoughtful way that allows students to sit and admire not only the artwork but the space it is presented in.
“Collecting and preserving art is important: it exposes us to varied viewpoints and connects us to shared histories,” Early said. “Keeping this collected artwork visible reinforces the message that the university believes in and supports those voices.”
