‘A lab for art’: UAA student art gallery closing next month

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) will close its Hugh McPeck Gallery in May due to a lack of funding. The closure will result in UAA losing over a third of its gallery spaces on campus.

The university told Alaska’s News Source that the lack of funding is connected to enrollment and increasing costs.

“The funding for the art gallery has previously come from the student activities fee, and with the increase in costs and wages, we have had to make a cut to that particular funding,” Kim Morton, the executive director for student engagement, said.

Since 2020, UAA said, the student active fee has been decreasing by 20% each year. The gallery, according to UAA, is allocated $70,000 yearly to run.

Morton added that the money from the student activity fee will be used on opportunities that will impact the entire campus and community.

“Fun things like campus kick-off, homecoming and Winter Fest and other traditional events that are for the campus community,” Morton said.

Morton also added that on top of the gallery, there were also staffing cuts due to financial strains.

The news of losing an art gallery has some artists concerned. Anchorage artist Deborah Hanson, who received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at UAA in 2023, is concerned about the impact this will have on students.

“My biggest fear is that students will be discouraged,” Deborah Hansen, an Anchorage artist, said. “That’s a lab for art, for artists, just like biology students have biology labs. We have galleries.”

According to Hanson, her career would not be where it is today without the gallery. The space, she said, provides students a place to showcase their art and grow.

“It helps your resume, it helps so much. It’s hard to be an artist,” Hansen said. “It doesn’t seem like a big thing, but it is.”

Currently, a petition with nearly 1,000 signatures is circulating online, urging the university to restore the funds.

“This is the first time I have ever seen art students organize about anything,” Hansen said. “A group of us are trying to meet with administration people to change their minds with what they’re doing. Or, at least find an equivalent space for us to show in.”

The university told Alaska’s News that it still has two galleries on campus that will continue to accept and showcase student work. The Kimura Gallery on campus, UAA said, is comparable in size and will be able to hold the same volume of art.

“We’re committed to making sure that we are showcasing student art all over campus,” Morton said.

Currently, there are 121 students enrolled in UAA’s Bachelor of Arts and two students enrolled in its Bachelor of Fine Arts program. UAA does note that students enrolled in its art program will not lose their accreditation due to the gallery’s closing.

The space where the gallery is located — on the second floor of UAA’s student union — will be replaced. One of the options on the table is a merchandise store. A final decision, the university said, has not been made.

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