 "Photo: Miles Wisniewski")
Take some time and visit the Crown Center Gallery — it may be gone before you know it.
As reported in our cover story this week, the number of floors in Damen Hall were miscounted, and consequently there is no longer enough space on campus to absorb several classrooms and offices after Damen is torn down in the summer of 2010. As a result, Loyola has decided to turn the Crown Center ino a building solely for the Humanities department. Starting in January 2010, what is now the Crown Center student gallery will be converted into a seminar room, for the Humanities Department faculty.
Loyola fine arts students are especially unhappy with the change, and the Phoenix Editorial Board can’t blame them. The Crown Center Gallery plays an enormous role in the Fine Arts curriculum, and it is also used to showcase the works of faculty and visiting artists, which bring prestige to the department and to Rogers Park. More importantly, the gallery showcases the Fine Arts Senior Show at the end of each academic year. Exhibition in the Crown Center gallery is the culmination of every fine art student’s undergraduate career, as well as an event they anticipate for years as they complete their degree. 2010 graduates, however, are left in a bind: Although the fine arts department is renting an off-campus gallery for the May 2010 Senior Show, its move will likely result in less exposure and less student interest.
Meanwhile, other fine arts students are at a disadvantage as well. Although the closing of the Crown Center gallery is the most immediate issue for the department, other problems are looming: Due to insufficient funds, some of the renovations in Mundelein Center, including a new gallery space and theater, have been put on hold until at least 2016. And since Mullady Theatre will be demolished within the next four years, it is possible Loyola will lack a theater in addition to a gallery. University plans to build a new café in Mundelein, however, remain underway.
And if you thought these fine arts fiascos were only student problems, think again. Purchased in part with TIF grants from Rogers Park taxpayers, both the Crown Center gallery and the new Mundelein building are meant to be used, in part, as a community resource — community members attend plays and exhibits, and both buildings serve as a source of art appreciation for Rogers Park. With no Crown Center Gallery and Mundelein’s renovation hanging precariously in limbo, there are virtually no community resources to speak of. Rogers Park residents have paid for a student café in a tax-exempt building on Loyola’s private property.
The Phoenix Editorial Board can’t hope to address every setback Loyola has created for the Roger’s Park community. But in regards to the Crown Center gallery, we wonder if there isn’t any place available on campus better suited to be an office than a space deliberately constructed, ventilated and lighted to accommodate an art gallery. The fourth floor of the Information Commons, for example, could potentially be used for office space, at least part-time, when it is not housing campus events. The Loyola-owned properties on what were once the Waldorf School garden and Loyola’s Literacy Center are currently vacant, so some kind of Loyola-owned space does exist. Additionally, renting office space off campus may even be less expensive and more courteous to the fine arts students than renting an off-campus gallery. We also find it troubling that somehow, regardless of our constant campus renovations, Loyola somehow can’t find (or build) a suitable alternative. They found the space to build the 5.4 acre Morgan development, after all. Loyola may have had noble intentions when it decided to expand its property, but a University is hard-pressed to teach when it fails to leave room for its students and staff. Moreover, there is little incentive for future students to attend Loyola as fine arts majors, since it is clear that Loyola is content to overlook their program. With the absence of an art gallery and possibly a theater, Loyola is shooting itself in the foot — enrollment will inevitably suffer, and the growth of the program will be stunted.
Insufficient funds and construction oversights aside, Loyola’s decision to close the Crown Center gallery indicates a broader problem between the higher-ups of Loyola’s administration and their relation to student life: Loyola repeatedly shafts student and community resources in favor of ill-concieved projects (i.e., not directly related to students, such as the far-above-student-price-range Morgan condominiums) and superficial campus renovations (i.e., Mundelein cafés). The fact that these schemes must now come at the expense of art is bewildering and sad. We suggest Loyola reevaluate the more cosmetic changes and business ventures until a gallery is obtained, and in the meantime support the fine arts department by leaving Crown Center gallery on campus. Our community, and our fine arts students, will thank you for it.
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