<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4UUmbN_0vjrMV8n00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4UUmbN_0vjrMV8n00" width="1703" height="1216" ><figcaption>Photographer Pedro Henrique</figcaption></figure>SIUE houses a large collection of artifacts managed by two full-time staff members at the University Museum. Out of the 37,000 total pieces, more than 1,700 are currently on display across the Alton, East St. Louis and Edwardsville campuses, even without a rotational exhibit. Executive Curator Erin Vigneau-Dimick works at the SIUE Museum. Since she started, she has taken on the responsibility of managing all the artwork and artifacts that come through the University Museum. Vigneau-Dimick said the University Museum serves as both an archive and research center, with comprehensive collections that include two- and three-dimensional objects of fine art, architecture, history, ethnology, archaeology and the natural sciences.“I think art has the capacity to enrich everyone’s everyday life. Art [is] not just for decoration, it’s really to make us think about the ideas that the artist put in place,” Vigneau-Dimick said. Art for the campus began being collected prior to the campus being built. Vigneau-Dimick said this was because the founders wanted to make art a part of students’ everyday lives, which is why they prioritized it from the start. The museum collected funds from donors and accepted donations of artwork from local collectors and museums. One donor from Belleville, Milton and Dorris Harrington, donated a collection of 18,000 items to SIUE. The museum also has a collection of all the masters of fine arts candidates, which is currently up to 200 pieces. While there isn’t a current rotational exhibition space for art on campus, there used to be one on the second floor of the MUC. In 2014, this room was repurposed first as a meeting room and now serves as the Multicultural Center.“We kind of miss having a space right in the center of campus where we can have rotational exhibits,” Vigneau-Dimick said. “We are still lobbying different aspects of the university to see if we can find a space that can be centralized for students and faculty to see new artworks [and] changing artworks.”Adding space for students would allow for more students to be exposed to the artwork the university has. Director of the Museum Studies Graduate Program Laura Fowler said that exposure to the artwork would help spread awareness of the museum’s existence.“I think it’s a major deficiency, and I really feel like it would help the awareness of the museum for people to be able to see their collections out in a central place where people pass through,” Fowler said.The museum currently has one gallery that they share with the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability, where they host about one to two rotating exhibitions a year. Fowler said that Lovejoy Library holds the Sullivan Collection, but that does not rotate. “There’s more that has to happen at the museum than just an exhibit,” Fowler said.According to Fowler, there is a museum studies exhibits class that is taught by Vigneau-Dimick in the museum that allows the students to help curate an exhibit. However, these exhibits are usually not on campus because of the limited gallery space. When Chancellor James T. Minor first came in, he inquired about getting new artwork for his conference room. Vigneau-Dimick was able to use funds from the SIUE Foundation in the Museum’s Acquisition Fund to purchase artwork from an artist in Detroit named Amos Paul Kennedy.One of the five prints purchased from Kennedy features Katherine Dunham. Dunham pioneered the field of dance anthropology as a dancer and choreographer. The rest of the artwork consists of colorfully-printed proverbs about education, learning and courage. Vigneau-Dimick said that she selected Kennedy’s works because she believed Minor would appreciate his style. The museum gets a budget from the university that consists of state and tuition dollars. Vigneau-Dimick has helped allocate funds for the museum by applying for grants. She successfully won three different rounds of federal grants and has won grants for over $150,000 every two years. The museum has used awarded funds to bring in professionals to assist with the artwork inventory. Vigneau-Dimick said that graduate assistants from the art, history and museum studies departments are able to work alongside these professionals, gaining valuable experience to help them decide if they want to pursue a career in museums.“Of the grad assistants who have been there, I think three or four have been hired on as formal, short-term employees of the museum,” Fowler said. “[Some] have gone on to do other professional work in the field because of the experience they gained there.”Vigneau-Dimick said that it is a lot of work to maintain all the artwork and that she is examining ways for the university to put money towards additional funding for staffing.“Even though budgets are tight, it’s still important for us to care for the artwork,” Vigneau-Dimick said.Vigneau-Dimick said that the museum does not solicit donations and is not purchasing at this time. While the museum has some foundation funds, there is still not much.Fowler said that she believes Vigneau-Dimick has done tremendous work despite the limited resources she has. She said that museums often have to resort to grants to do long-term projects. However, they still have people who are able to manage the day-to-day tasks at the museum.Vigneau-Dimick said that there are only two full-time staff members who maintain the Architectural Arts Program. These staff members are responsible for installing, uninstalling, maintaining and monitoring the more than 1,700 artworks that are displayed across the three SIUE campuses, both internally and externally.“Really, for a collection of this size, [that] is probably not adequate,” Vigneau-Dimick said.Fowler said that staffing is a top issue for the museum.Fowler said that the person who is in the director and executive curator position should be focused on external public relations, grant writing, reports and accountability. However, this person ends up doing more than this. Fowler also said that Laura Mullen Vermilye, the museum’s preparator, should really be focusing on managing and caring for the exhibits out in the campuses, but she ends up having to do a lot of the collections management work.“There really needs to be somebody, at the very least, who can manage incoming accessions and deaccessions and help oversee the inventory project,” Fowler said.“I think it’s horribly understaffed,” Fowler said. “I think that comparable museums at other universities have a much bigger staff.”While there isn’t one specific museum building on campus, there are pieces everywhere. To learn more about the museum you can visit The University Museum page on Facebook.</div></body>

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Hidden in plain sight: University Museum manages artifacts amid staffing, funding shortages

SIUE houses a large collection of artifacts managed by two full-time staff members at the University Museum. Out of the 37,000 total pieces, more than 1,700 are currently on display across the Alton, East St. Louis and Edwardsville campuses, even without a rotational exhibit. Executive Curator Erin Vigneau-Dimick works at...