Alfred Ceramic Art Museum A. Facilities
Alfred Ceramic Art Museum (ACAM) at Alfred University (formerly Schein-Joseph
International Museum of Ceramic Art at New York State College of Ceramics) moved into a new building in 2016 and the first exhibition opened to the public in late October 2016. For the past twenty-one years, the Museum and gallery spaces have been located in Binns-Merrill Hall adjacent to the Inamori Kyocera Fine Ceramics Museum.
New ACAM building with square footage:
4000 Gallery
780 Administrative Offices (Director and Operations and Programs Manager w/ Copy Room)
475 Front Desk/Reception
2520 Collections
600 Collections Management 380 Crate Storage
490 Seminar Room (classroom for Art and Art History classes) 480 Downstairs Lobby
Total Square Footage 9,725
As of March 2017, the ACAM is in the process of submitting material for LEED GOLD certification, however, the US Green Building Council certification can take a while.
B. Equipment (see: IV-I-F: Equipment - ACAM.pdf).
C. Budget
The renamed museum does not have an established budget figure at this time (March 2017). The shift from the public to the private sector has caused many reviews regarding the interface
between the NYSCC and AU and, as a result, the budget is still under review, but will ultimately be attached to the non-statutory/private side of AU and reflect how the President and the Board of Trustees see the resource stream of the University over all.
D. Safety
Students are trained to use Museum equipment before use.
List of Emergency numbers, including Security System, Public Safety, Health Services, Counseling services, local police and 911 are posted in every working space. There are telephones in every administrative space.
First Aid Kit available in every working space. There is no need for hazardous materials or waste containers. There is an emergency shower in the new building, as well as a state of the art HVAC system.
The ACAM building is ADA compliant and has security and sprinkler systems. The kitchen in the new building meets health codes. ACAM follows AU safety protocols.
Cohen Gallery A. Facilities
The Cohen Gallery is located at 55 North Main Street in Alfred, in a renovated Victorian house that provides gallery space for exhibiting the work of AU alumni,
faculty, and visiting artists. Students assist in all facets of the exhibitions, from designing the space to preparing promotional materials and acting as docents during the shows.
The Cohen Gallery is open to the public during regular semesters Tuesday–Saturday 11am-5pm.
Each semester, about eleven student interns work in the Cohen Gallery. There is a preparator responsible for the upkeep of the gallery spaces. AU Physical Plant maintains the building and its grounds.
There are opening receptions for two to three exhibitions per semester, with around 100 visitors in attendance. In addition, the Cohen Gallery averages about nine visitors per day with regular visits from classes. The Cohen Gallery also hosts events supplemental to gallery exhibitions and acts as a venue for various student organizations to hold meetings.
The Gallery’s administrative offices are located contiguous to the exhibition space. The laptops and camera are kept in the locked office of the Gallery Director. There is adequate storage for exhibition supplies, though storage for pedestals is at a premium.
The Cohen Gallery is approximately 1700 square feet with two exhibition spaces of
approximately 450 square feet each, an office of the same size, two restrooms and an entry hall.
Cohen Gallery has a small kitchen space with a sink (see: IV-I-F: NYSCC Building Maps.pdf).
B. Equipment
The Cohen Gallery has two laptops, one desktop computer (all Mac) and two black
and white printers. One of these laptop computers is for the Director, while the other laptop with Photoshop (cs3) is for student interns to use for exhibition projects and a desktop computer used by the preparator. Also on-site is a Canon DSLR camera for documenting exhibitions. The Cohen Gallery regularly borrows a projector and laptop from ITS to aid in lectures and public events. The Gallery also has a set of speakers and a small ice machine used during openings (both donated).
The Cohen Gallery has a number of pedestals and exhibition design materials that arestored in the office and in the restrooms. In addition to these pedestals, the Cohen Gallery shares
pedestals with Fosdick-Nelson Gallery and the ACAM. These are stored in variouslocations throughout the SoAD.
Equipment Challenges:
● The age and dysfunction of the office computer, however, is an escalating issue. We desperately need an updated computer, as the software on the office laptop is too robust for the machine, causing it to freeze several times per day for as much as an hour, seriously impeding workflow.
● The software is presently inadequate. To operate more efficiently and in a manner more in line with present technological needs, the Gallery needs to have updated Adobe software including Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and Adobe Acrobat. As we do much of our design in house, the Gallery needs the ability to manipulate PDFs, photos and designs on-site. The Cohen Gallery is building a website/blog and has an active social media presence. This web presence would be far more effective with the use of this software.
● In addition, it would be ideal to have an External backup hard drive (preferably cloud- based) so that all information can be backed up server and so that work can be shared more effectively between devices.
In addition, it would be good to have a color printer for smaller printing jobs. Presently
we use the services of Alfred State Printing for all our large jobs, as AU’s procurement services no longer provides such services. There are however many occasions when a smaller run of less than fifty pages (minimum for Alfred State) would help get the word out about events in the gallery.
It would be good to have a projector and screen for lectures and exhibitions rather thanhaving to tax AU’s ITS resources for this regular use.
C. Budget
The Cohen Gallery has an operating budget that is overseen through the SoAD Dean’s office.
On average, we spend approximately $1200 per exhibition. All operating expenses, materials, supplies and facilities upkeep are covered within the costs of individual exhibitions.
The operating budget is insufficient to cover expenses typical of galleries able to a make broad impact. Specifically, the Gallery does not have the funds for either catalog publication or the round-trip shipping of art works and travel expenses for artists.
D. Safety
Interns are trained in the proper handling, upkeep and cleaning of the equipment forinstallation, wall repair and painting, packing and shipping, and lighting.
The Cohen Gallery has up to date ventilation for this type of facility. The Gallery is accessible via a ramp through the back door. All passages meet ADA requirements. The offices are not accessible (only by stairs). The Cohen Gallery has a sprinkler system and up-to-date fire safety systems. AU Environmental Health and Safety office inspections and New York State Fire Marshal inspections take place every semester. The AU Wellness Center is on campus and accessible to students.
Fosdick-Nelson Gallery A. Facilities
The Fosdick-Nelson Gallery is centrally located in the SoAD on the third floor of Harder Hall.
The gallery was renovated and expanded in 2003 and is now a 2,481 square foot exhibition space with a twenty-eight-foot wide gridded glass wall at the entrance. The flooring is polished
cement; the walls are covered in drywall and backed in ¾” plywood. The walls are ten feet high in the entrance gallery and thirteen feet in the main gallery. The track lighting consists of a double-circuit, dimmable system. The Gallery is climate controlled and has a security alarm system. The space includes a receptionist area with a built-in desk and five foot counter for the display of publicity materials. The Gallery Director’s office is located next to the exhibition space and can be accessed through the back of the gallery or from the lobby through the
storeroom. There are two storage rooms; one adjacent to the Gallery office that has cupboards, a closet, counters, and a sink, and the other across the lobby on the third floor of Harder Hall that houses pedestals and crates.
Employees include a full-time director, a part-time preparator (shared with Robert C. Turner Gallery), eight to twelve student work-study employees, and two student interns (one in graphic design who designs the publicity for the exhibitions and another in photography who documents the gallery events).
The maximum capacity of the gallery is 325 persons.
Number of students/visitors: 6,205 visitors last year Square footage:
Gallery: 2481 square feet, includes main gallery, entrance gallery, walkway and receptionist desk Storage 1: gallery office storeroom; 21’ x 11’ or 231 square feet
Storage 2: room across lobby on 3rd floor Harder Hall 8’ x 13’or 140 square feet Office: 384 square feet
Facility challenges:
● The Gallery needs more storage space for properly unpacking artwork and storing crates during an exhibition. The Gallery stores pedestals in a separate storeroom located on the other side of the third floor Harder Hall lobby. Due to the small size of the room, the pedestals must be stacked two or three high. Even with great care, they become chipped in the process and marred, eventually leading them to become unusable over time. A larger space would allow us to store the pedestals single file and would prolong the life of all the exhibition furniture.
● The gallery will need to replace the drywall sometime in the next five to ten years.
● The track lighting fixtures and bulbs will need to be updated in the next five years.
B. Equipment (see: IV-I-F: Equipment - FNG.pdf).
Equipment challenges:
● Lighting
We have lost several fixtures over the years making it a challenge to light all the walls evenly. Exhibition lighting requires consistency with the temperature and intensity of light; the bulbs need to come from the same quality manufacturer to achieve this effect.
The original bulbs that were purchased during renovation are no longer available due to mandated energy efficient technology. Therefore, to light exhibitions evenly, with the same temperature light will take a substantial investment to replace all the current light bulbs.
● Technology
Most high-tech media equipment such as projectors, monitors and speakers are borrowed or rented for exhibitions. Currently the budget does not allow for purchase of video flat screens, video projectors, projector bulbs, speakers and so on.
C. Budget
The Fosdick-Nelson Gallery has an annual operating budget of $11,000.
Budget challenges:
● The gallery budget has not grown for many years, rather it has decreased in order to help partially fund the position of preparator. A larger budget with additional few thousand dollars would allow us to do larger survey shows and more international or bi-costal shows. The Gallery also needs a larger work-study budget, as the currently allotted work-study budget is exceeded every year.
D. Safety
All proposed exhibition and artwork must pass a technical proposal prior to installation in the gallery. This includes thesis exhibitions.
To insure safety of the public and the artwork, the Director of the Fosdick-Nelson Gallery and the preparator work with the NYSCC Physical Plant to review installation proposals that require hanging artwork from the grid or ceiling, or large weight issues or other specific requests. All safety and fire codes are ensured for each exhibition.
Student workers are trained to prevent accidents in the Gallery due to large crowds or young visitors. Orientation covers fire drill procedures.
Safety measures in place include the hiring of a professional preparator and training student employees to properly handle and install artwork and security. All graduate students exhibiting thesis shows in the Fosdick-Nelson and Turner Galleries must have an approved Technical Proposal.
The gallery has a first aid kit and numbers of health and public safety on campus available to all workers and visitors.
Robert C. Turner Gallery A. Facilities
The Robert C. Turner Gallery consists of a twenty-five-foot tall main exhibition space, a mezzanine exhibition space and a storage closet. The exhibition space is used for graduate student thesis exhibitions, student-curated and student-managed undergraduate exhibitions throughout the semester, and an internship class where undergraduates learn about managing a gallery through hands-on experience of maintenance, promotion, and management of all
exhibition-related activities. The Turner Gallery features around five MFA and five BFA thesis exhibitions from mid-April to mid May, in addition to mounting twelve to eighteen student-run undergraduate exhibitions a year. There is a rotating faculty position that oversees the
undergraduate internship/class. The SoAD Gallery Preparator oversees the facility and safety inspections.
Student leaders of the Turner Gallery have key access to the space and manage access to the Gallery for other students between the periods of 6am until 2am.
Main Gallery Floor 2950 sq. ft.
Mezzanine exhibition space 1015 sq. ft.
Supply closet 175 sq. ft.
Total square footage: 4,140
B. Equipment (see: IV-I-F: Equipment - RCTG.pdf).
C. Budget
The Robert C. Turner Gallery has a budget of about $1000 each academic year. The funds are entirely spent on the purchase of consumables such as paint and light bulbs and on small equipment purchases such as replacement tools.
Budget challenges:
The yearly operating budget is insufficient for major repairs and maintenance such as full repainting of walls or upgrades to the lightning system. Currently, the lights beneath the black box are inadequate for lighting anything beyond small objects on pedestals, they do not have adequate flexibility to light the walls, and these accent lights are not designed to be frequently moved and are prone to burning out.
D. Safety
The Turner Gallery is wheelchair accessible; though the elevator will only go to the
mezzanine level with key access, so to provide access during openings and exhibitions students must facilitate elevator operation.
Throughout the semester, exhibitions are accessible to the public from 11:30am to 4pm during the week and 12pm to 2pm on weekends. During periods of installation, student gallery directors manage access to the Gallery when the building is open.
The preparator trains students on tool and equipment usage. There is a first aid kit and sprinkler system in the gallery.
All exhibition submissions are looked over for safety precautions, as outlined in the Gallery’s policies and procedures (see: IV-I-F: Turner Policies and Procedures.pdf).