Rice Gallery cutting back

By Ruby Gee     9/2/10 7:00pm

Add the Rice Gallery to the long list of recession casualties piling up this fall. In the midst of the KTRU sale controversy and the reality of budget limitations in various academic departments, the Rice Gallery is experiencing a 27 percent decrease in university funding for the Fiscal Year 2011. Gallery Manager Jaye Anderton said that steps have already been taken in an attempt to offset some of the budget cuts. The Gallery has asked for and subsequently received an undisclosed amount in donations from Gallery members and patrons.

"We were advised by [History Professor] Allen Matusow that budget cuts were made across the campus," Anderton said. "We hope that when the university's financial situation improves, the Gallery's budget will be restored to at least the FY10 level."

Matusow, who served as interim dean until Dean of Humanities Nicolas Shumway's appointment, said that the university cut the permanent budget of the Rice Gallery in light of the deep cuts made in Humanities in general, which resulted in the loss of 11 faculty members. He noted that the Gallery has not had to cut any of its six staff members.

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"The total budget of the Gallery is only five percent less than last year," Matusow said. "That means the Gallery will continue to mount four shows a year."

Matusow said that in two years, the gift money keeping the Gallery in its current state will dry up. He said that the university will try to help make up the difference when the time comes.

Baker College senior Greer Tedford, who works at the Gallery, said student attendance at the Gallery has not been suffering.

"From my experience, students have been showing up in impressive numbers to the openings," Tedford said. "From installation to installation, I have seen community excitement increase."

The Rice Gallery is the only university art gallery in the nation that focuses solely on installations. The Gallery serves as a source of jobs, and hosts everything from study breaks to workshops for the student body.

Hanszen College senior Amy Lanteigne, who also works at the Rice Gallery, stressed its value to the campus.

"I think the Gallery is really important because it brings in spectacular, internationally acclaimed artists for the Rice students, who create original work based on the space they're given in Sewall Hall," Lanteigne said.

Visual Arts student Delphine Zimmern visits the Rice Gallery exhibits every month. Zimmern, a Hanszen senior, said that the Rice Gallery made her proud to be a visual arts major.

"The Gallery shows non-art students the impact that art can have, and is a way for Rice to show support for their art students," Zimmern said. "I do think that it'll affect the amount of exposure that Rice will get to the art world."

Anderton and Tedford said that while the quantity of installations may decrease, the quality will not. Tedford noted the inevitability of budget cuts in these times.

"Of course the financial downsizing is unfortunate, but I doubt it is targeting only the Gallery," Tedford said. "It is everywhere, and we are just starting to feel it."

Despite the decrease in budget, exhibits such as Sara Oppenheimer's D-17 installation will run as planned. The Rice Gallery website describes Oppenheimer's D-17, which will run from Sept.16 to Dec. 5, as an architecturally innovative endeavor that uses a system of holes to change the way light passes through space.

Tedford encouraged the Rice community to be more proactive in demonstrating their appreciation for the arts on campus.

"[The Rice Gallery is] one more thing that makes Rice unique, and enhances the arts at a school with a reputation for engineering," Tedford said. "As the Gallery experiences budget cuts, show your support now, rather than letting it be too little, too late.

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