A pioneering model of institutional art collecting has empowered generations of students to see the world anew through contemporary art.
With Open Eyes: The Wake Forest University Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art
June 30 - October 2, 2016
This two-gallery exhibition presents the Wake Forest University Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art. It features nearly 60 works by significant contemporary artists, including Ida Applebroog, Keith Haring, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Glenn Ligon, Christian Marclay, Louise Nevelson, and Do Ho Suh, among many others. A comprehensive, curated look at the collection highlights its story lines and its social histories. With Open Eyes is a rare opportunity to experience a formidable collection of art that is otherwise housed across the University campus.
At the heart of this visual journey is the unique story of the Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art, a pioneering model of institutional art collecting that empowers students. Every four years since 1963, a small group of Wake Forest University undergraduates, under the direction of an art department faculty member, has researched the contemporary American art scene and purchased new works for the University on art buying trips. For over fifty years, this uncommon experiment in education and entrepreneurship afforded generations of students – and now us – far-ranging perspectives on the world through art.
Curated by Cora Fisher, SECCA Curator of Contemporary Art
Exhibition Events
Opening Reception: June 30, 6pm
Collecting Conversations
Wednesday, July 20, 2016 from 12 - 2 PM
Join us for lunch and an informal discussion around collecting with Carol Cole, an artist and art collector living in Greensboro, NC. A gallery tour of With Open Eyes: The Wake Forest University Student union Collection of Contemporary Art will follow the lunch and discussion.
Decade Party!
Thursday, August 26th, 6-7:30pm, Main Gallery
Come dressed in your favorite decade fashion as we lead a tour through the gallery highlighting generations of student-selected work from the WFU Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art from the 60s to 2010's.
Talk@ SECCA: Celebrating 50 Years of WFU Student Art Collectors
September 25, 2016, 3pm to 5pm, McChesney Scott Dunn Auditorium
The Wake Forest University Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art comes to life through a series of conversations. WFU students and faculty bring vivid recollections and stories of their art buying expeditions that built the collection over the past 50 years, with an eye to the future. Followed by a reception.