School of Art gallery
ready for rebirth

by Mark McGowan

Ann O’Brien, a former Sotheby’s employee who was working on her doctorate in New York City, feels at home among exciting artists who teach and exhibit their latest works in on-campus galleries.

It’s that vibe O’Brien plans to bring to the NIU School of Art’s Jack Olson Gallery, where she is acting coordinator.

“My long-term goal for the gallery,” said O’Brien, who came to NIU in August 2003 and has transferred her doctorate work here, “is to use it as a teaching laboratory for museum students to learn about curating and exhibiting works of art by leading contemporary artists as well as providing an exhibition space and forum for our faculty and students.”

Operation of the gallery space on the second (and main) floor of the Art Building recently returned to the School of Art from the NIU Art Museum, which has managed the space since 1995. Staff at the Art Museum, which is returning to Altgeld Hall, programmed the gallery’s events through the spring semester.

This fall’s schedule marks the change in management, something O’Brien along with the Olson Gallery Faculty Committee has been preparing for with a new logo (created by Andrew Byrom, a professor of design), a new Web page (still under construction), new mailers and new strategies.

She works with the Olson Gallery Faculty Committee, which includes professors from every division of the School of Art, and is buying advertising space in national art publications to invite artists to display at the Olson.

“We’re establishing a separate identity. We want a more active identity,” said O’Brien, who also was a visiting assistant professor who taught life drawing and beginning painting last year. “Many people don’t realize there is a gallery in the School of Art.”

Events scheduled for the fall include the Biennial School of Art Faculty Exhibition (Aug. 23 to Sept. 17), Design Events (Sept. 27 to Oct. 15), the High School Invitational (Oct. 27 to Nov. 7), the Black Box Special Exhibition (Nov. 8 to 12) and the BFA Show (Nov. 18 to Dec. 12).

January will bring The Art of Tommy Simpson (Jan. 10 to 28). Simpson, an NIU alum, is a woodworker, sculptor, furniture maker, painter and poet. Other exhibitions include the Graduate Group Show (Feb. 7 to 25), the Ars Nova Show (March 14 to April 1), another Black Box Special Exhibition (April 4 to 8) and another BFA Show (April 18 to May 7).

“The Black Box is whatever the faculty and students want to do. They can make a proposal,” O’Brien said. “We want to make the gallery more accessible. We want more people to attend the receptions. Everyone is welcome, and you don’t have to be an art major. It’s a party.”

An exhibition of contemporary Latin American art already is planned for fall 2005, featuring a solo exhibition of Paul Sierra and a group show titled “Memorias,” which commemorates the work of Mexican printmaker Francisco Mora.

School of Art Director “Adrian Tio and I are both very into Latin American art,” O’Brien said. “Chicago is a good source for Latin American artists. We want to show the students and the NIU community how exciting contemporary Latin American art is.”

For more information, call 753-4521.

7-26-04