The University of Alaska Anchorage has had a student art gallery for more than 40 years, and since 2017, that space existed as the Hugh McPeck Gallery.
But as it stands currently, this semester will be the last for the gallery named after the prominent former UAA art professor.
The school announced that due to budget cuts and decreases in revenue garnered from enrollment-based fees, the gallery will be shuttered.
Kim Morton, UAA’s executive director of Student Engagement, wrote in an email to ADN that the gallery ”has historically been funded through consolidated student fees, which include support for efforts to maintain an engaged community on campus through events, student organizations, student facilities and more.”
Funds that traditionally operated the gallery have dwindled, necessitating “Student Affairs leadership to make tough decisions about funding and staffing.”
But UAA’s art students and advocates are trying to keep the gallery open. Students have started a petition on change.org that had just over 800 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.
At last week’s opening reception for the Juried Student Art Show, some art students wore black to support maintaining the gallery.
Deborah Hansen said the gallery has been instrumental in her path to becoming a professional artist. After dropping out of the UAA art program more than 30 years ago, she returned to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts two years ago. She earned the Best in Show award.
“This is an incubator for artists,” she said. “If I hadn’t had this gallery to learn on, I wouldn’t be here.”
She called the news about the closure a huge shock with no forewarning from Student Affairs. She also expressed disappointment in the university shuttering a space dedicated to McPeck, who began teaching at UAA in 1996 and died in 2014.
“He was an amazing professor here and helped so many students,” Hansen said. “Plus he was an artist in his own right. And to close it when it was dedicated to him, is really a slap.”
Tia Allen won the pottery category at the Juried Student Art Show, with a piece that she said represents her Samoan culture. It was the biggest work she’s ever completed.
Allen, who studies graphic design and is also on the UAA volleyball team, said it’s been frustrating to see a facility closing that she said has been “well used” during its 40 years of existence.
“This space is so important to so many people,” she said. “It’s hard to be able to showcase your work in places, and so this being here is really a stepping stone and tool for all the artists that come to UAA.”
Kimberly Roth is a senior who is getting a Bachelor of Arts degree at UAA. She said her piece in the earthenware and glaze category at the juried contest was about inclusion and identity. She cited a lack of communication prior to the announcement of the gallery’s closure as a source of frustration.
“The first people that we heard from was our educators, not the actual school itself,” she said. “And just to kind of brush under the rug something that is so important is ridiculous.”
Morton, in an email, said “there are ongoing internal conversations about possibilities for staffing the space moving forward, but there is no news to share on that front at this time.”
She also said is “actively exploring additional space to display and showcase student art” and that more information would be available before the fall semester.
Students plan to continue to advocate for keeping the space open and said last week that they have unsuccessfully tried to get more information on operating expenses and alternative funding options.
Morton said Wednesday in an email that “we have offered to meet with students about this issue and are always open to hearing their concerns.”
Art student Ashley Jones spoke at the opening reception last Thursday, and said the gallery has value to those outside of the department.
“This gallery is important to not just art students,” she said. “A lot of people in my classes, they’re not just artists. They’re psychology majors, they’re in business. This is a way for all of us to be able to come together and display our works — pieces that we’ve worked days, weeks, months, preparing.”
Although there are two other galleries on campus — the Kimura Gallery and the Arc Gallery — neither are dedicated to students’ work.
Taylor Bailey-Parsons, who studies ceramics at UAA, earned the award for best in sculpture. She’s working toward a minor in art and plans on getting a BFA. She said not only is the McPeck Gallery the best opportunity for students, it’s both public and prominent as a walk-in space on the second floor of the Student Union.
“This is it,” she said. “We have the Kimura Gallery in the Fine Arts Building that’s for guest artists to show their work that we bring to campus. This is the only one, really, for the students. This is only one that I’ve ever got to show my work in, and I’ve won this juried show this time and once before. It’s just an opportunity for students to show their work to people that walk in off the street. Anyone could see it.”
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