Art Dept. lobbies for more space

A small exhibition space is being built in the remodeled gym at Rio Grande Campus, but Art Department Chair Gary Webernick said the department still needs a larger gallery. Webernick and the ACC Art Department are once again petitioning the ACC administration for more gallery space in which to display student and faculty art.

Even with the addition of the 450 square foot space, Webernick said ACC will still have less gallery space per student than most other community colleges in Texas. The exhibition space, smaller than the average classroom at Rio Grande Campus, will only be large enough for a small one person show said Webernick, and it will not be able to accommodate the annual student and faculty shows.

ACC currently does not have a gallery, and the Art Department is forced to display art in the HBC lobby, campus hallways and libraries, or to lease off-campus gallery space.
Webernick is trying to get the department's request for a gallery included in the ACC Master Plan.

"When the school shifted into their master planning, we thought that perhaps we would be included in that process, and we still haven't been," Webernick said. "So there is a push to get the gallery exhibition space on the Master Plan."

Webernick, who was hired as a full-time instructor at ACC in 1992, remembers petitioning for gallery space since he first arrived.

"We proposed a new exhibition space for Phase 2 of Riverside Campus in 1992. We have put together a proposal every year since, without any success," Webernick said.

Because of the lack of a gallery, the department has been forced to look off campus for space to host the large annual student and faculty shows. Art shows have been held at various galleries around Austin, but because of the large number of pieces to display, it is often difficult to find a gallery willing to lease out the necessary space according to Webernick.

When he was hired, Webernick said it was part of his job description to be in charge of the art department's exhibits.

"I was already aware that we didn't have a gallery of our own, so we were acquiring spaces, leasing spaces or getting people to donate spaces," said Webernick. The result was that the annual student and faculty shows were held at various locations around Austin.

Webernick is petitioning to get a permanent exhibition space of at least two to three thousand square feet built for the department. If that is not possible, Webernick would at least want to lease a space yearly that would be big enough to host the student and faculty art shows. Without a permanent space, in which to display their work, Webernick says art students at ACC are missing out on part of the educational experience.

"It is an educational component that actually completes the cycle of the production of making art. After it is made, every artist wants to show that art. And by not having a gallery space that actually allows the students to show continually, it doesn't allow them to complete that process," said Webernick.

"Making the work is one thing that we teach," ACC Art Studios and Exhibit Coordinator Brent Baggett said. Learning to frame, and documenting, are skills that aspiring artists "need to make it in the art world," said Baggett, but the current exhibit spaces on campus do not provide students with a professional area in which to accomplish that.

"It's a level of professionalism that is most important. To let students see work that other students are doing, to be given a chance to exhibit their work in what would be considered a professional space," said Baggett.

In an e-mail, Media Relations Coordinator for ACC Alexis Patterson said, "It's no secret that with enrollments at a record high, space at the college is at a premium. The college must take into consideration all requests for space and weigh such requests against what is available, with priority given to educational and instructional needs."

But, she added that, "this is actually a good time for departments to put in requests for future facility needs, because the college is embarking on an extensive campus master planning process."

Art student Valerie Hope was surprised when she found out that ACC does not have a gallery, noting, "ACC is such a big [school]. I was kind of surprised that they didn't have anything anywhere."

Hope said that being able to display work created in class was "part of the educational experience."

"They have everything else at the school; why don't they have a gallery?" said Hope.

"I just feel like we are behind," said Baggett. "It is not that we are asking for something that is over the top or unusual, it's a standard for most schools to have that, and we would just like to have that standard met."

Gallery Space:

[Space compared to student population]

Austin Community College 450 sq.ft. 40,000
Austin, TX

San Antonio College 32000 sq ft 38000
San Antonio, TX

South Texas College 800 sq. ft. 25000
McAllen, TX

Brookhaven College 1600 sq. ft. 11500
Dallas, TX

Delmar College, 1750 sq. ft. 10000
Coprus Christi, TX

Information provided by Art Department's survey of community
college galleries.