Marxhausen Closes, One Show Cancelled
by Rebecca Lois Axford
The Marxhausen Gallery of Art has been closed for one month due to campus-wide funding cuts.
The show scheduled for Feb. 11-April 1, titled “Sand, Grit, and Ground: An Exhibition Featuring Glassware and Ceramic Objects,” was cancelled. The gallery opened again on April 2 for the Annual Student Art Exhibition and the Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition.
“I either had to limit the amount of hours during the day or I had to just shut the gallery down for a month or so,” said James Bockelman, director of the Marxhausen Gallery of Art.
Since last year, the gallery hours have been changed from 11:00 a.m.-4:00 pm. to 11:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Bockelman said the art department lacks the money to pay students to monitor the gallery and install shows.
“We’re also auditing part of the collection now. With the gallery closed it allows us to spread the artifacts out and take advantage of the space,” Bockelman said.
The cancelled show was a display of glass and ceramics from Concordia’s permanent glass and ceramics collection. Bockelman plans to open the gallery again next year.
“We’ll have to look at what kind of budget we have for student wages. That’s work study money, so if they continue to decrease that amount, then that’s going to impact how long the gallery’s open, unless we use volunteers,” Bockelman said. “The next two shows are going to be very strong shows. Hopefully it’s some of the best work that Concordia is producing in terms of visual arts.”