Stealing beauty: Art Rental begins afresh for the fall

Through a back door and down a dusty flight of stairs in Allen Memorial Art Museum lies Oberlin's own hidden treasure. There are many treasures down there, but next week the most precious ones will rest in carts along the walls. Starting on Thursday morning at 9 a.m., students can rent up to two pieces of art for $5 each. The collection is put on preview this Wednesday for the zealous renters. Leslie Miller, assistant to the Director at AMAM said, "Students can come and scope it out."

Art Rental began over fifty years ago and was the brainchild of Professor Ellen Johnson. She believed that students should live with real art to develop an appreciation for it, especially those students who had never taken an art history class. In recent years, however, usually the front of the crowd is occupied by studio art and art history students. But both Miller and Stephan Jost, curator of academic programs and exhibitions, agree that it is not only art students who are waiting on the lawn. Jost's favorite patrons are the ones who follow their gut instinct.

He mentions that sometimes these rentals are eye-opening, beginning a life of art appreciation. Ocassionally, these students donate art to the AMAM, after having such a positive first art experience.

Some of this art is donated exclusively for the art rental program. In Johnson's day, her extensive network of colleagues brought in a great number of works.

In the past few years, the job of collecting art suitable for student walls has been handed down to Jost and his colleagues, art Professor Pat Matthews and photography Professor Pipo Nguyen-Duy.

Jost asked Doug Ross to create an interactive piece that incorporated a North American landscape. Ross produced a calendar upon which students record whatever they choose- their classes, coffee at the Feve, Contact Improv jams. At the end of the semester, the calendar goes back into the rental program, so that future students can record the daily events of their semester.

Jost admits that the Picassos, Matisses, Warhols and Renoirs tend to be among the first selected. Still, he says, there are plenty of works by major artists that often go unnoticed amid the rush. Likewise, there are several major works by less recognized artists. Jost emphasizes that his goal is to improve the quality. He said, "I want the permanent collection to be jealous." Fran Moorman, a guard at the museum, looks forward to the upcoming art rental frenzy. For the past three years, she has been consistently impressed by the students who flood the hallways of the Allen Art in search of art. "They appreciate the art and respect each other," she said.

Other trends change from year to year concedes Jost, who disclosed that last year Japanese prints were particularly popular. Jost pointed to an abstract piece in bright colors not unlike Mudd's color scheme. He said, "No one would rent that now. In the seventies, people rented that to seem sophisticated. In the eighties and early nineties political art was all the rage. Not all the art in the collection is pastoral landscapes. "A lot of art in [the collection] is tough," said Jost.

There are some prints and photos that are disturbing and thought-provoking. A photograph of a Ku Klux Klan member by a well-known photographer once came back after three weeks.

Art rental begins on Wednesday with a preview of the collection. Rental begins on Thursday, when students descend upon the AMAM to snatch up whatever art they can find. The general public is invited to rent on Friday.