Since the fall semester, concerns about the future of KSC’s Carroll House Art Gallery have been troubling members of the student artist community. Following conversations surrounding use of the space between the gallery and KSC’s Dean of Faculty Development, the Liberal Arts and Curricular Innovation Karen Jennings, the gallery staff said they believed they were required to shut down operations following the conclusion of the spring semester.
The Carroll House staff interpreted communications from Jennings to mean the gallery, which serves as a community space for student artists to display their works, would be closed and repurposed and the staff would have to find an alternative space for its operations, which according to the gallery’s Faculty Representative and Professor of Art and Design Lynn Richardson, the school has been supportive of helping to facilitate.
Due to scheduling concerns, Jennings was unavailable for comment.
Discussions of finding an alternative location for the gallery have included looking at bringing the gallery’s exhibitions to the Thorne Sagendorph Art Gallery, as well as other possibilities. While hypothetical locational re-organizations have been discussed, no official plan has been made to close the Carroll House, as previously believed, according to KSC President Melinda Treadwell.
“The campus is looking at all of the facilities that exist on our boundary and determining what’s the best use of them to support the institution,” said Treadwell.
“The students are interested in expanding what we’re doing in the Thorne Sagendorph building, and there’s conversation about the best way to showcase student art, the best place to have experimental options. Carroll is the current place, and I think the conversation is about, ‘Is that the best place, or are there other best places?’” added Treadwell.
Treadwell said administration will look to have conversations with faculty before making a decision.
“At this time, I have not seen any proposal to close the Carroll House. We are looking for recommendations on the best place, with faculty and students. We’ve been working with art faculty specifically on enhancements to [the Thorne Sagendorph Art Gallery] and ways to build more of a culture of art. I have asked for us to look at our adjacent properties. Are they being used the best and are they critical? And we’re asking questions about Carroll as part of the Thorne, and what we’re going to do in the long term because it seems really vibrant after the last BFA and Design Showcase,” added Treadwell.
In an email sent to Richardson from Jennings in response to Richardson’s questions about closing the gallery, Jennings advised holding off on moving forward with closure.
Prior to the initial communication informing the Carroll House of its upcoming closure, the gallery had been training a replacement for senior and Exhibition Coordinator for the Carroll House Gallery Kris Wilczak. The training was halted following communications leading the gallery to believe it would be closing.
According to Richardson, plans to continue the gallery will persist for the foreseeable future, and the gallery will reopen in the fall ‘25 semester following confirmation of its status.
“I asked whether we should move out of the space, and we were told to wait, and I talked to another faculty member about recruiting students to work at the Carroll House during the fall semester,” said Richardson.
While the current status of the Carroll House is untouched at the moment, discussions of moving to a different location in the future are not off the table. Richardson said artists can thrive and adapt and continue to thrive regardless of a specific space.
“We’re in such tough times everywhere, and as artists, we aren’t limited to a building. If the school needs us to relocate, and it helps save people’s jobs or save schooling for students, and they need the space for revenue, we can do that. The spirit of the gallery will still exist, and we’ll find a space and a way to thrive that isn’t tied to a specific location,” added Richardson.
Wilczak praised the Carroll House for its purpose as a space for the student art community and hopes to see it thrive.
“I think that the context of the Carroll House being created for students, by students and for student enjoyment is something that always resonated throughout the years it was open. It holds a lot of energy, a lot of memory, and a lot of history,” said Wilczak.
Wilczak said losing the Carroll House would be a loss for the student-artist community.
“So many people over the years have been touched and inspired by this place, and you can see that in the guestbooks we’ve kept over the years. The arts aren’t being funded as much as they should be, even though art is what gives us life. Think about all the times you hear music in a day, or all the things that have been designed from packaging to the clothes we wear. It’s all artists, and artists are everywhere. It feels wrong to take them out of somewhere they’ve found a home,” added Wilczak.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
