City Colleges prepares for the demolition of the Fine Arts building
Kayla Nick-Kearney | Staff Writer
nickk@imail.losrios.edu
Tucked away in a forgotten closet of the Fine Arts building, a museum quality art collection is sorted into cubby holes.
Before prepping began for the demolition of the Fine Arts building, many pieces still adorned it’s walls. Despite the impending demolition, the Fine Arts building is still a fixture on the City College campus.
The staff at the Fine Arts building allows for the creation, study, and preservation of art. It’s here that Chris Daubert, Director of Art for the Kondos Gallery, works to preserve the pieces and organize shows.
Daubert has been hailed as a curator who discovers underexposed local artists. According to Valerie Kidrick, chair of the Art department, Daubert has given student artists and up-and-coming artists exposure they would otherwise be hard-pressed to find.
The Kondos gallery has featured students, faculty, and local artists. Fred Dalkey, a professor in the Fine Arts Department, has been featured several times since 1970 and has more than 10 pieces included in the City College collection. Each year the gallery also features one student artist from City College. Dalkey is just one example of an artist who has received notoriety for being featured in the Kondos gallery.
According to Dalkey and Daubert, artists Annie Murphy Robinson and Dave Layne have received the biggest boost in their careers by being featured at the gallery. Robinson has gone on to be featured in numerous other galleries and Layne’s work can be seen at UC Davis.
“Having an art show is always kind of interesting and alarming,” says Dalkey. “It’s always a positive experience ultimately.”
Discovering new artists is only part of the job at the Kondos gallery. Daubert also preserves works, so future generations can experience them in person.
“It’s fun to have shown regular people who people don’t know and regular people who people do know,” Daubert said, referring to the variety of artists featured, as he remounted a Japanese woodblock print, sliding it into a protective plastic sheet and filing it away for future reference.
City College is hoping to expand its notable collection, which is why in several months the art building will be gone. As the department has grown, so has the need for multi-functional space. While many students may find being cramped into temporary buildings frustrating, a new building has instructors hopeful.
“It will be a new building for a new generation,” Dalkey says.
According to Kidrick the new space will be less frustrating to teach or learn in because it affords students and teachers a more artistic environment.
It will also offer more space to grow City College’s art collection, relieving the small closet of its cramped but stately duties.
“I think this building will push the envelope in a good way,” Kidrick said.
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