Passersby on Rugby Road typically are scurrying to on-Grounds sites by day and off-Grounds parties by night, with little time or attention paid to the University Art Museum that fills a plot across from Mad Bowl. But while it may not be a dominant aspect of the landscape, or even student life, those inside the building's museum say the treasure within is well worth the stop.
With a permanent collection of more than 10,000 works, the art museum boasts 10 to 12 temporary exhibitions annually, ranging in media from video technology to Asian art to 18th century painting.
"The exhibitions are timely and cutting-edge, and the artists are well-known in contemporary art," said Andrea Douglas, the museum's curator of collections.
With so much to offer, some may wonder why the museum is not better frequented by University students. Some say the missing link is advertising.
"Millions of fliers go up on campus, but never once is it anything for the art museum," fourth-year College student Lu Huynh said.
Second-year College student Lauryn Alleva said that while she studies art history, her only connection to the museum is her friends who work there.
"I always feel like I'm so busy and don't have the time to go," Alleva said.
Douglas said the museum has been very successful in "appealing to U.Va. students intellectually and socially," as hundreds come to the museum's Fourth Fridays, receptions held on the fourth Friday of each month that offer free alcohol to those of age.
She added that the museum's Student Docent program offers University students the opportunity to intern and do work that is "not just Xeroxing," but "tangible and usable."
While Fourth Fridays may do their part in attracting new regular visitors to the museum, both Huynh and Alleva said it's important for students to check out exhibits for themselves, as they said they intend to do soon.
Alleva said that while art majors benefit from what the museum has to offer, it's there for any student to "broaden [his] cultural horizons."
"It adds to the diversity of the school and gives more options of things to do," Huynh said.
A walk past the cluster of trees hiding the museum may give the building a quiet and relaxed image, but the energy inside is evident in the workers drilling away at the new exhibits and the staff members furiously editing the blue prints in the upstairs offices.
Douglas is concentrating on installing five shows at once in preparation for the new year, a trick that she said "takes a lot of fortitude."
The fall collection will bring blue watercolor paintings by Karen Shea, followed by black and white aerial landscape photos by Emmet Gowin and photography by Sally Mann. The upstairs main gallery currently is displaying an extensive collection of Jefferson paintings in an exhibit titled "In and Out."
A member of the museum staff since January, Douglas said her mission is to be the number one art museum at the number one University. Even at a time when the University is considered number two, Douglas has other visions for the museum.
"My curatorial ambition is to describe American culture, to say it's formed internal and external to our borders," she said. "Each show has that sensibility, that underlying direction."
Douglas explained her firm belief that as a society, the U.S. is too myopic, a weakness she said is evident in Olympic coverage that focused solely on American athletes, winners or losers. She said she wants to establish the idea that "we are one of others."
Reflecting on her prizes in display cases, on the walls and atop pedestals, Douglas said she is proud of the widely acclaimed pieces of art featured at the museum, including the works of internationally recognized artists such as photographer Carrie Mae Weems and video artist Pierre Huyghe.
"There's a lot of collaboration between artists, curators and directors of other museums" said second-year Architecture student Nicole fields, the museum's receptionist.
Artwork on display could be part of the permanent collection or the traveling show, or a piece that a museum worker purchased to add to a collection.
With so much to display and so little gained from freely admitted visitors, the museum flourishes with the help of several key sources. Fields said the museum receives frequent monetary and art donations, and some people leave pieces to the museum in wills or donate household items for auction. The building also is occasionally rented for private functions, which some say they believe helps bring visitors back.
"I went because my art professor's office was there," second-year College student Din Botsford said. "But I also went for a brunch for a girl in my sorority, and that's when I got to take a peek at it, but I definitely would have gone otherwise."
Whether welcoming students on class field trips or providing a cultural oasis from the blistering late summer heat, Douglas hopes the museum will continue "to make Charlottesville an interesting place."
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