Art at Yale: treasure in mothballs

You might think those nudes on the walls of the Yale University Art Gallery are hot, but wait till you hear what's going on behind those walls. Top-notch art galleries such as the YUAG tend to have only a fraction of their collections on display.

Following a national trend, Yale galleries are currently attempting to make their collections more accessible to the public. Through opening up their storage facilities, expanding floor space, creating more public-friendly programs, and lending out work, art museums are attempting to bring their art to a much larger audience. The days of dead storage are over. Both the YUAG and the Yale Center for British Art (BAC) now employ ready-access storage where practically anyone with an appointment can access pieces not on display.

The bulk of the YUAG's major works are on display on the first three floors. Van Gogh's Night Café and Manet's Young Woman Reclining in a Spanish Costume are always there for the public's admiration and appreciation, but now the large percentage of the collection that doesn't appear on the walls can be accessed.

According to YUAG Registrar Lynn Addison, the majority of the works the museum owns are not on display, and because the collection is of such high quality, important works are rarely seen by museum patrons. The gallery, for instance, owns a Sol LeWitt sculpture that's in storage right now. The YUAG has extensive storage on-site and also keeps works off the premises in rented storerooms. The general public can request to see any work in storage by contacting the appropriate curator, though only scholars and professors typically take advantage of this generous relationship. Addison emphasized that interested students can also request works from storage.

The BAC has difficulty fitting the majority of its works in its exhibition space. Registrar Tim Goodhew estimates that less than 20 percent of the permanent collection is on view, at a collection of British Art unrivaled outside Great Britain. He was quick to add, "98 percent of our art is available behind the scenes." Like the YUAG, one can view any piece by contacting the center. In addition to its study storage program, the BAC maintains the Long Gallery on the fourth floor, where works are hung tightly in an effort to display as much work as possible.

Rather than hanging thematically, the Long Gallery presents a survey of the BAC's collection that is not currently on display part of another exhibition at that time. Like the YUAG, BAC has an incredible number of interesting works that aren't on display—many of the collection's multimedia works, such as an installation of table and boxes by Damien Hurst and a large work by Bill Woodrow, simply do not fit in the gallery.

The storage facilities themselves are fascinating. Shelving and locked storage cabinets house sculpture, and paintings hang side-by-side on huge metal frames that extend from the wall. One can literally slip in-between these metal grids laden with precious works. Paintings are hung according to available space so that modern works nestle right up against old masterpieces on these frames. The walls are also covered with pictures hanging nearly one on top of the other. The blank wall space within the gallery is startling in contrast to the storage room.

The trend of expanding facilities to increase public access to art has not been lost on the YUAG. According to a recent financial report, the art gallery faces a shortage of space to house and exhibit collections. Plans are in the works for a renovation and expansion into Street Hall. The new buildings will include continuous access from the second and third floors, a new Yale Art Study Center, object study classrooms, a teaching gallery, and an expanded lobby.

Renovation on the building is set for next year, during which the Gallery will remain open, but with a reduced number of works on display.

YUAG has also attempted to make its collection more readily accessible to students through volunteer programs and the recent addition of "College Nights"—a program that allows Yale students to view the art gallery in conjunction with special performances—to their already busy evening schedule. Recent events have included tours of the sculpture hall with a live performance by Jazz Dialect. "Life Dreaming," a choreographed piece by Yale graduates Mimi Yin, PC '99, and Ya-Hsuang, is next on the schedule on Thurs., Oct. 18.

A governing board of student gallery guides has just been formed with the express purpose of connecting students more directly to the art galleries' leadership programs. One example of such a program is Artful Tales, which allows Yale students to lead tours for children and then help them with a related art project. Governing board member and volunteer Laura Palese commented, "The program is a lot of fun, and it's a great opportunity to work with kids."

Borrowing and lending of art is also a means by which art facilities share their resources. This lending occurs on a modest scale within the Yale residential college system. Jonathan Edwards College rents art from its collection out to students for modest prices of around $10 per piece.

John Morse, class of 1934, started the JE collection in 1972. He donated the collection (which has grown to include over 100 pieces) and the funds to maintain the program, to which various JE Masters have since added. The collection consists of photographs, drawings, paintings, and prints by artists as well as students.

The program had been discontinued until current Master Gary Haller arrived and reinstated it by opening the basement of his house to students at the beginning of the year and allowing them to select works for their rooms. He has added to the collection with limited-edition works by Walker Evans and Paul Strand. Haller also used college funds to purchase prints of Richard Haas's Manhattan Twilight.

Haller estimates that some pieces, such as the photograph "Ferns" by Emma Gene Cunningham, are worth over $75,000. This piece, not surprisingly, is not lent out to students and instead hangs in the Master's house. Although there has never been any damage to a piece, "We sometimes have trouble getting them back," Haller said. As of yet, the program only runs in JE and there are no plans to extend the lending to other colleges.

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