Annual Fund in action

Exhibition space for the University’s studio art program has been limited in recent years. Precious gallery space was lost when Fayerweather Hall was renovated to house the art history program. Studio art will find a home in Ruffin Hall, but until construction on the building is complete, the University has few good options for showing the works of students, faculty, alumni and visiting artists.

Proving that their creativity is not confined to canvas, Megan Marlatt and her band of visual artists designed a solution for this dilemma that works on many levels. Through an imaginative mix of funding, including support from the Arts & Sciences Annual Fund, the studio art department opened the Off Grounds Gallery in a Main Street storefront near the Downtown Mall. Now, Charlottesville’s popular “First Fridays” art openings include exhibits of U.Va. artists.

“It makes a nice bridge between town and gown,” says Marlatt, chair of the studio art department. “Fayerweather Gallery was always full of students, but the Off Grounds Gallery attracts a potpourri of people from the community as well.”

Knowing her work would be exhibited in the upscale space was one reason Jessie Katz (Studio Art ’07) decided to sign on for the Distinguished Majors Program in studio art. This competitive year-long project allows fourth-year students to work closely with faculty members to delve more deeply into their chosen fields of study. Katz’s seminar met frequently in the Off Grounds Gallery to explore both the theoretical and practical aspects of making art.

“The best thing about Off Grounds is that it feels like a real gallery,” the printmaking and cinematography major says. “It’s exciting to exhibit in a public space where more people have access to our work.”

Next year, Katz will be one of the Fifth-Year Aunspaugh Fellows staffing the gallery, which is open several evenings a week and on Saturday afternoons throughout the academic year.

Fundraising Progress

Donors contributed over $4.13 million to the Arts & Sciences Annual Fund in the 2006–2007 fiscal year, up 6 percent from last year. As of June 30, 2007, the College also had raised $138.67 million of the $500 million goal for the Campaign for the College. Overall, campaign gifts to the University stood at $1.34 billion of the $3 billion goal.