2008 Woodie Awards
Barnes' campus presence will be missed
Marta Wilson-Barthes '10
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Lapsley Lane, Saint Joseph's own scenic street and home to some of the oldest buildings on campus, will soon have a vacancy.
The Barnes Foundation, whose initial 1922 collection has been caught in a legal struggle for the past few years, is set to move from its lifelong home in Merion Station to a new residence on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
So Saint Joseph's students should consider themselves lucky to be able to continue with class in the museum, right? Wrong. Loss is the pervasive feeling accompanying the end of the St. Joe's course, Art at the Barnes.
In its eighth year, the course doesn't even have its own classroom, meeting for two hours weekly at different galleries in the museum to study and analyze Impressionist paintings. Molly McNickle, Ph.D., Professor of Fine and Performing Arts, instructor of the course since its inception, is bothered by the move.
"The constant and direct exposure to firsthand works of art has always been unique to the University," said McNickle. "It is a loss of a great opportunity."
Art students, both inside and outside of class, have cherished the ability to study and learn from original pieces. The Barnes Foundation has added a distinctiveness both to the Fine Arts program and the Saint Joseph's community.
"You can learn so much at the Barnes not only about art but about history that its move will be a disadvantage to the future St. Joe's," said Fine Arts major Moira O'Reilly, '10.
Art at the Barnes will continue the rest of the semester and, depending on the museum's moving progress, will be offered next semester and brought to a close in the spring. So far, no courses have been proposed to take its place.
While the Barnes' move seeks to put the museum's art in a more culturally rich area of Philadelphia, most students don't consider this a good enough reason for the relocation.
"People from the public are on a waiting list for months just to get into the Barnes but I had a pass to go whenever I wanted," said Nora Brier, '09, who took the course last year. "Now I no longer have that freedom."
Brier said that by the end of the course, she had been able to see the whole museum in depth.
The Barnes Foundation has brought a broader recognition to Saint Joseph's. Family and visitors look forward to University-sponsored tours during alumni and parents' weekend. This past year was the first where tours had to be replaced with lectures. The attraction of The Barnes has continued to serve the school with great publicity exposure as well.
Although the relocation brings the end of a course, some students don't see the move as a complete loss. Libby Long, '08, who took the course in her junior year, commented on the broader payoff the museum's move will make.
"Right now, half the paintings are just sitting in the basement," said Long. "Soon they will be more easily accessible to a greater number of people."
The Barnes Foundation, whose initial 1922 collection has been caught in a legal struggle for the past few years, is set to move from its lifelong home in Merion Station to a new residence on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
So Saint Joseph's students should consider themselves lucky to be able to continue with class in the museum, right? Wrong. Loss is the pervasive feeling accompanying the end of the St. Joe's course, Art at the Barnes.
In its eighth year, the course doesn't even have its own classroom, meeting for two hours weekly at different galleries in the museum to study and analyze Impressionist paintings. Molly McNickle, Ph.D., Professor of Fine and Performing Arts, instructor of the course since its inception, is bothered by the move.
"The constant and direct exposure to firsthand works of art has always been unique to the University," said McNickle. "It is a loss of a great opportunity."
Art students, both inside and outside of class, have cherished the ability to study and learn from original pieces. The Barnes Foundation has added a distinctiveness both to the Fine Arts program and the Saint Joseph's community.
"You can learn so much at the Barnes not only about art but about history that its move will be a disadvantage to the future St. Joe's," said Fine Arts major Moira O'Reilly, '10.
Art at the Barnes will continue the rest of the semester and, depending on the museum's moving progress, will be offered next semester and brought to a close in the spring. So far, no courses have been proposed to take its place.
While the Barnes' move seeks to put the museum's art in a more culturally rich area of Philadelphia, most students don't consider this a good enough reason for the relocation.
"People from the public are on a waiting list for months just to get into the Barnes but I had a pass to go whenever I wanted," said Nora Brier, '09, who took the course last year. "Now I no longer have that freedom."
Brier said that by the end of the course, she had been able to see the whole museum in depth.
The Barnes Foundation has brought a broader recognition to Saint Joseph's. Family and visitors look forward to University-sponsored tours during alumni and parents' weekend. This past year was the first where tours had to be replaced with lectures. The attraction of The Barnes has continued to serve the school with great publicity exposure as well.
Although the relocation brings the end of a course, some students don't see the move as a complete loss. Libby Long, '08, who took the course in her junior year, commented on the broader payoff the museum's move will make.
"Right now, half the paintings are just sitting in the basement," said Long. "Soon they will be more easily accessible to a greater number of people."
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