Posters Placed at University Place
News Date: 2005/08/30 00:00:00 US/East-Indiana
Over the past few months, the University Visual Arts Committee has worked together with University Place to install its first ever off-campus poster collection. Barbara Pinzelik, a former UVAC member and current University Place resident, is the driving force behind the project that places artwork in the hallways of the West Lafayette senior living community.
LENDING COLLECTION
Barbara Pinzelik joined the UVAC in 1976 while a librarian at Purdue. Pinzelik had recently visited a poster store, and thought that posters would be a wonderful addition to Purdue’s campus. The first UVAC poster collection was hung soon after in the Underground Gallery, located in the tunnel between the Union and the Grant Street Parking Garage. The collection consisted of eighteen prints from museums advertising shows by the likes of Chagall, which were framed under glass. After the Underground Gallery collection had been on display for a year, the UVAC decided to replace the existing posters with a fresh set. The original collection of posters was then lent to ten Purdue employees who hung the artwork in their offices. Thus began the Lending Collection. Each year eighteen posters were added to the Lending Collection as the Underground Gallery was updated. A large set of posters was added to this Collection when Pinzelik realized the Polish government was giving away free Circus posters that were made during the Depression. These “Cirque” posters made up a substantial portion of the original Lending Collection. When the collection and the demand for posters began to grow, the UVAC developed the Poster Exchange to lend posters to Purdue faculty and staff throughout campus.
In 1982, a collection of Olympic-themed posters was hung in Lambert Fieldhouse. This was the first collection to be hung in a Purdue building outside of the Underground Gallery. The displays caught the attention of many Purdue faculty and staff members who wanted posters to brighten their hallways as well. The majority of the artwork now hanging in buildings throughout Purdue’s campus belongs to the UVAC.
UVAC PAST
Pinzelik remembers a very different Visual Arts Committee. During the 1980’s, one of the Committee’s largest projects was the Clothesline Art Show. The show accepted donations of personal artwork, which it sold at a yard sale. The proceeds from this show would be used to fund art scholarships. Pinzelik continued to be involved in the UVAC as both Chairperson and as a permanent member until her retirement in 1993. When Pinzelik left the UVAC, her pet project was put into the hands of Purdue Galleries. However, the Galleries staff found they had little time to devote to the Poster Lending Collection. In 1998 Pinzelik suggested that long-term donor Marian Delp be invited to run the Poster Lending Collection. Delp was happy to help, and has been an active UVAC member and coordinator for the Lending Collection and Poster Exchange ever since.
The Poster Exchange has changed dramatically since its original incarnation. The Exchange is now held in the Patti and Rusty Rueff Gallery in the new Visual and Performing Arts Building, an improvement over the original location in the Stewart Center West lobby. A major problem with the original Poster Exchange was record-keeping. Due to lack of information about the posters and their whereabouts, approximately six percent of the Lending Collection’s posters were lost each year. The Poster Exchange now uses a computer database system to track the posters.
UNIVERSITY PLACE
After years of being surrounded by artwork, Pinzelik found the blank walls of her new residence unattractive. Pinzelik decided to take the matter into her own hands, and contact the Committee she had been working with for over twenty years. Through Pinzelik’s efforts, University Place senior living community entered into an agreement with UVAC to allow posters to be placed at the non-campus residence. The UVAC had accumulated many posters that had been matted, but funding ran out before the posters could be framed. University Place agreed to give these posters a home, and to do the framing themselves. Twenty-six of the matted posters were then chosen by the University Place decorator to match the existing décor. The posters, frames, and supplies were purchased through the UVAC. A committee of University Place residents then volunteered to assemble the posters for display. This group was involved in the decisions of which posters to frame and where to place them within the community.
The posters have received a warm welcome, although there have been a few complaints from the residents about certain posters they find displeasing. Pinzelik hopes to minimize this problem in the future by further involving residents in the selection of artwork. Individual residents will be allowed to exchange the artwork from their hallways this November at the annual Print and Poster Exchange. The residents are looking forward to the opportunity to be more involved in the selection of artwork.
In the future, Pinzelik hopes to further the collaboration between UVAC and University Place. Additional posters are planned to be added to the University Place collection with funding from private donations, most likely from University Place residents.