Artwork Abounds in a Place of Honor

ALLENDALE, Mich.—One feature found in both the academic and residential areas of Grand Valley State University's new Glenn A. Niemeyer Learning and Living Center is an abundance of quality artwork.

“The selection of art for these buildings was two years in the planning,” said Henry Matthews, Grand Valley’s director of galleries and collections. “We started with the most basic floor plan to get a sense of scale and determine the number of pieces needed, then looked for art that is fitting to the center’s purpose.”

More than 400 pieces of art within the academic and residential buildings includes ceramics, bas relief, bronze casting, lithographs, poetry, photography, textiles, posters and sculptures. Reflecting the center’s international diversity, the art within comes from Argentina, Brazil, China and Egypt, to various European countries, India, Japan, Korea, North Africa, Russia, and the U.S.

Much of the foreign art, though authentic, is inexpensive and by local artists. Many other items are by alumni, some purchased from art and design students’ BFA  shows and School of Communications photo portfolio exhibitions. Other pieces were selected from existing collections or were donated by past visiting artists, such as Russian artists Olga and Alexander Florensky, Rana Chalabi from Syria and American Elona Van Gent. A number of important pieces are gifts from artists and donors, including Dr. Stanley and Rita Levy, from Detroit and William Lieberman, from Chicago.

The Honors College oozes with art, from the traditional pineapple symbol of welcome depicted by alumna Angela Samuels’ acrylic painting at the front entry, through the curved corridor lined with intricately detailed, hand-carved wooden statues of six Indian court musician statues by an Indian folk artist. At the end of the corridor, a multi-purpose room - dubbed the “Great Room” by students — has a piano, fireplace, comfortable seating and, of course, artwork. Pieces include a suite of photographs from art and design faculty member Renee Zettle Sterling, prints by Cyril Lixenberg and a bronze bust of Glenn A. Niemeyer, the building’s namesake. A Niemeyer quilt displayed on the second floor was crafted by his daughter Kristen Beth Niemeyer Ritsema  and depicts images of her father, who was a pioneer faculty member and Grand Valley’s first provost. His portrait, an oil painting by Paul F. Wilson, also hangs in the main entrance.

The residential areas also feature art worthy of the best museums. Each of the three floors in the living areas includes artistic photography by famed alumnus Dan Watts in Grand Rapids’ Sister Cities in Poland, Ghana, Japan, Italy and Mexico. Another photographic series by Kendall Koning features China. Sheila Ewerth’s knight in armor doing laundry and a lunchbreak series by Jill Ettema depict slice-of-life situations. Nearly 200 pieces of artwork by students are also dispersed throughout the living center.

Matthews “curitorial humor,” as he calls it, is apparent in the art above each drinking fountain having a water feature, or Adam Tetzlaff’s print, “Studying Drips,” strategically placed to reflect in its protective glass the image of Helen O’leary’s similar “Oil on Canvas,” that hangs on a balcony wall above.

While students can remain inside the learning and living center to study, attend classes or retreat to their residence, the halls of higher learning offer many opportunities to enjoy and appreciate art from around the world.