Recent Gifts: Selections from the University Art Collection

March 1 – May 2, 2021

Rose Netzorg and James Wilfrid Kerr Gallery at the Richmond Center for Visual Arts

Less than twenty years after WMU’s founding in 1903, the University Art Collection was founded in 1922 with a major gift from collector and philanthropist Albert May Todd. Today comprised of nearly 3000 objects, of which more than 1000 are classified as prints, the University Art Collection is displayed as curated exhibitions at the Richmond Center for Visual Arts and in common areas across 52 buildings on WMU’s main and satellite campuses. Contributing positively to the education, everyday experience, and work-life quality of WMU students, faculty, staff, regional and international visitors, the University Art Collection continues to grow with enormous energy each year.

In 2020 alone, the University Art Collection was fortunate to receive nearly 300 works of art as gifts from artists, alumni, and generous donors. This special exhibition, Recent Gifts: Selections from the University Art Collection, features works by beloved WMU School of Art professor and Kalamazoo-based artist John Kollig; the School of Art’s namesake, celebrated printmaker and trail-blazing entrepreneur Gwen Frostic; as well as Colorado-based artist Mel Strawn, who served as the Director of the School of Art in 1987.