University art collection has new name: GVSU Art Museum

Grand Valley's art collection – the second largest in the state – will now be known as the GVSU Art Museum to better reflect its breadth and impact.

The change from previously being known as the Grand Valley Art Gallery aligns with the growth it has seen since 1999 not only in the size of the collection but also the accompanying educational initiatives, exhibitions and community outreach, said Nathan Kemler, GVSU director of Galleries and Collections.

"This transition to 'GVSU Art Museum' better aligns with our commitment to enhance the visibility and impact of what we want to do and better communicate that to our general public and to our students," Kemler said. "It also signifies our intention to be an interdisciplinary hub."

Kemler often refers to the GVSU art collection as a "borderless museum" where everyone is continuously surrounded by art on the grounds and in every building on GVSU's campuses statewide. That commitment to ensuring art is accessible means about 50 percent of the collection's pieces are on display at any given time; he notes the standard for most museums is about 10 percent.

Pieces are chosen with intentionality that reflect the spaces that house them, such as the more than 400 pieces placed in the DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health .

"With over 28,000 pieces in our collection, the name 'GVSU Art Museum' communicates to the broader community the size and scope of our commitment to the arts in Michigan," said Ed Aboufadel, senior associate vice president for Academic Affairs. "The artwork featured on our campuses helps unify the look and feel of GVSU’s facilities, in Grand Rapids, Allendale and beyond."

While the name change mostly signifies an alignment with current services, Kemler said his team does expect to roll out enhanced signage for each building that will more comprehensively summarize the pieces and the curation behind them.

And as part of continually enhanced offerings, the team in the coming months plans to offer a traveling exhibit program where GVSU will allow museums and other collecting institutions worldwide to temporarily borrow a fully researched and curated exhibit; that is a common practice of other museums, Kemler noted.

He said academic rigor is also an important component of their work at a higher education institution, and one that also benefits the students who work with the collection. That work will take on even greater significance under the operations of the GVSU Art Museum, he said. 

"We not only display art but we actively collect art, we preserve art. We do research on it and we publish it," Kemler said.