The Art to Lend rental program gets under way next week as the NIU Art Museum prepares to rent pieces of artwork to various offices on campus for a small fee.
The program, which runs from July 13th through 17th, enables administrators to rent pieces of work from the museum to be displayed in their offices.
Art to Lend helps both with having enough storage for the museum and fulfilling various artist desires, says Peter Olson, Museum Assistant Director.
“You know, artists make artwork for people to enjoy. The thing that would be the safest would be if I kept it in a drawer in the dark," he said, "but then nobody would ever get to see it”.
Along with easing storage problems, the program also has helped with monetary concerns, Olson adds.
“This is a really nice sort of compromise that gives us a little bit of income for things like matting and framing and conservation for the reward of having some original art work in your office.”
Participants can hold the artwork for up to eight years before returning to the program.