Kinsey art adoption event to help preserve works

The Kinsey Institute will be coordinating an "Adopt a work of art" event today to help fund the preservation and framing of various works to be exhibited in the future.\nThe event will be held in the Kinsey Institute's Conference Room in Morrison Hall from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1-5 p.m., featuring about 50 original prints, paintings and photographs that can all be "adopted" with a donation.\nBy adopting a work of art, a visitor makes a tax-deductible donation to cover the cost of matting and framing the art. When the particular work is exhibited in the future, the donor's name will be displayed alongside the piece.\n"The Kinsey Institute does not have a budget for archival framing of the works that are housed here," sophomore Dara Eckart, development assistant at the Institute, said. "This event will provide much needed framing for many pieces that would not otherwise be seen."\nThe Kinsey Institute decided to host the program after the positive turnout of the first such event, held during the summer.\n"The people who came in July seemed to enjoy having the opportunity to select the piece they wanted to adopt, and their names will be displayed on a label acknowledging their gift every time the artwork is exhibited," said graduate student Catherine Johnson, curator of art, artifacts and photographs.\nThe artwork displayed will feature a wide variety of sizes with the larger pieces requiring a larger donation for the framing, but visitors are not required to "adopt" anything if they do not wish to.\nThe Institute's collection of art and artifacts includes about 7,000 pieces from the United States, Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. It contains items that date back more than 2,000 years. The collection also includes about 75,000 photographs, by both amateurs and professionals.\nDebby Herbenick, a research associate at the Institute and the original founder of the program in July, lauds the event as an important way to preserve and display the wide variety of artwork that may otherwise be kept from exhibition.\n"The Kinsey Institute has a fantastic collection, so the opportunity to have more pieces prepared for exhibition is wonderful," Herbenick said. "I think that the artists who are represented would much rather prefer that their work be displayed and appreciated than kept in storage, and the art adoption is one way to make that happen.\n"We've had many positive reactions to it, and I'm looking forward to the event this Wednesday."\nAnyone interested in viewing the displayed work today can call the Institute's office at 855-7686 to schedule a time to view the works.