The Anderson Student Center will feature the American Museum of Asmat Art when the center opens in January.

The gallery, located on the second floor, will display between 20-40 works of art at a time from a collection of 2,000 works. The art comes from a remote region in southwestern Indonesia.

Members of the Catholic order of the American Crosier Fathers and Brothers began missionary work with the Asmat people of New Guinea in 1958, and for 50 years, they have continued to collect Asmat artwork. The museum first opened in Nebraska and was relocated to Shoreview, Minn., before its most recent move to the student center.

“In 2007, the Diocese of Agats, which is located in Papua, Indonesia, and the American Crosier Fathers and Brothers donated this collection,” art history professor Julie Risser said. “At that point there were 1,500 pieces, and part of the agreement with the donation was that the university would provide a place for displaying it.”

Since then, Risser has traveled to Indonesia to gain further insight on Asmat art and add to the university’s collection.

“I think it was a series of really fortunate events,” Risser said. “When you think about the Catholic tradition and its support of arts, it’s so huge.”

Sophomore art major Andrea Greamba said she was excited to hear about the new plans.

“I think that the Asmat art gallery is a great idea,” she said. “Art from other cultures and nations is always very interesting because it is so different, and if it ties into the whole religious thing our school has got going, then that’s an added bonus.”

The new gallery will feature pieces including two floor-to-ceiling ancestor poles, shields, arrows and carvings. The space will also have a glass wall and include a flat-screen TV with video footage of the Asmat people.

OEC gallery won’t be moving

The Anderson Student Center was originally going to have a gallery double the current gallery’s size that would have included student art with the Asmat work, but the current gallery will not feature student or community art, Chief Curator Shelly Nordtorp-Madson said.

“When the budget was cut down, that was a little bit disappointing, I have to admit,” Nordtorp-Madson said. “On the other hand, this does allow the Asmat to be a separate entity, which shows it off to its best extent.”

Andrea Greamba said she felt a similar disappointment.

“There should be some place for studio art to be featured on campus,” Greamba said. “As long as there are people who want their stuff to be displayed, they should be granted that right to.”

Although St. Thomas does not have a studio art program, it does showcase a variety of works in the lobby of O’Shaughnessy Educational Center.

“There is a huge amount of traffic everyday. Senior citizen seminars are held in the auditorium,” Nordtorp-Madson said. “So when they’re on, it’s upwards of several thousand people coming through here everyday, along with the students.”

But the OEC gallery also has its drawbacks. Nordtorp-Madson said the display cases are limiting, and the walls can be problematic because they aren’t always as secure as she would like.

“There’s no perfect place within the limitations that we have, and the fact that, of course, budgets are always tight,” Nordtorp-Madson said. “We do what we can, and we have been fortunate enough to attract some really talented students. Really, what more could you want?”

Greamba said art is a key factor in the learning process.

“In the future I hope there will be a place to display art work on campus, as well as other ways, shapes and forms for students to express their artistic sides,” she said.

While students won’t be displaying their own art in the Asmat Gallery, art history students will be able to contribute to and design exhibits.

“Part of a liberal arts education is to know more about the whole world, and with this collection we’re really [offering] a glimpse into places that are so far away,” Risser said.

Carly Samuelson can be reached at samu5380@stthomas.edu.