The RISD Student Alliance hosted a long-awaited discussion on the relationship between the RISD Museum and the college's undergraduates Wednesday night. Major issues discussed included the lack of professional-quality student gallery space on campus, ways in which RISD students could use the Museum as a commercial outlet for their work and the lack of publicity for Museum events. Museum Board of Governors Chair Peter Weiss was on hand to answer students' questions.
RISD students present at the meeting expressed the desire for an increase in student gallery space at the museum and generally on campus, in order to exhibit their work at a more professional level. A major construction project slated to begin sometime in the next two to four years includes plans for the multipurpose Chase Center (formerly referred to as the RISD Center project) as well as expansions to the museum.
Both buildings will provide new student exhibition spaces, Weiss said.
Nelson Chan RISD '07 said for the current student galleries, "Promotion just isn't there. (These galleries) aren't as official and aren't that meaningful." A transfer student from William Patterson University in New Jersey, Chan said the museum is one of the reasons he came to RISD. Along with many other students at the Alliance meeting, Chan said he would love to be able to "use (a museum exhibit) as resume material."
Alliance President Suzannah Park RISD '05 agreed, supporting any opportunity by which "the RISD world helps your career or development as an artist." Access to gallery space at the caliber of the RISD Museum would provide budding student artists with a place to earn name recognition, several students said.
Students at the meeting were split in their reaction to Weiss' proposal that RISD exhibitions could serve as marketplaces for student art. "We want people to know that if they're taken by something of yours, they can buy it. That's how you attract (visitors)," Weiss said.
Chan said, "That's why we're making art," and later added that as an aspiring professional artist, the galleries would allow him to "make money off of art. That's the dream of all of us."
Some students, however, questioned the appropriateness of the college commodifying student artwork. One student said there are "huge technical issues" involved in students' selling work through museum galleries, including "problems with commission," and said that the Museum Board should start by providing undergraduates with exhibition space.
Park, too, said, "Any place selling your work brings up a lot of questions for an artist," such as the artist's degree of control over his or her exhibit, from choosing the curators to the pricing of work.
But student work currently exhibited through the Student Gallery Board is often sold, pointed out Director of the Office of Student Life Blair De St. Croix. "The system is already in place," St. Croix said, for students wishing to sell their work. Now, it is simply a matter of "creating a meeting spot for the public."
Weiss said although the Board "wants the changes to work for the students," he believes that there is "a pent-up population of people" who want to see RISD students' work. "But they don't know how to access it, or who (these students) are." Though he doesn't want the museum to become "too commercial," Weiss said he sees such an opportunity as providing an invaluable head start for novice artists.
The Alliance also addressed the issue of a general lack of Museum event publicity. "There's amazing things going on, and we don't know about them," Park said. Some students in attendance said they had been previously unaware of some of the museum events mentioned at the meeting and blamed a lack of advertising. Concerns were also expressed that the public remains unaware of museum events designed to target the community, such as free admission on Sundays. One student suggested that if the museum board wants to bring the Providence community closer to RISD, the museum should host an open gallery night with food, music and a social atmosphere.
In reflecting on the museum's role over the past few years, Park told The Herald the museum has responded inadequately to students' needs "for the amount of money we've put in"; the museum is partially funded by undergraduate tuition costs. She added, however, that the steps the board is now taking better reflect the money that students are putting into the museum. "I'm very excited that the museum is this excited about talking about student galleries," Park said.
The remainder of the Student Alliance meeting was devoted to updates from Student Department Representatives, nominations for executive committee positions and the approval of two new clubs, the RISD Mountain Biking Club and the RISD Musicians.
