National Art Week was a nation-wide festival of arts held in late November of 1940, with the aim of encouraging Americans to buy American art. In Minnesota, numerous organizations held events, including the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the (then quite small) University Gallery. In fact, Ruth Lawrence, the Gallery’s director, served as Chairman of the Minnesota State Council for Art Week. I discovered an envelope full of patriotic “ART” ribbons still in pristine shape in the files, which were doubtless used to promoet the events. A booklet from Chicago about Art Week gave some more information, with an introduction by Daniel Catton Rich, Director of Fine Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago. He describes Art Week:

Doubtless you have often thought, “Wouldn’t I like to own a picture or a print or a piece of sculpture or a distinguished piece of craft-work.” Here is your chance. Throughout the city there will be exhibitions, visits to galleries and studios, art festivals, balls and demonstrations, all with one idea: to help you select what you desire at prices ranging from $1.00 to $100.00.

When this week is over countless American homes will be brighter and more interesting because art has come in the front door. And remember in enriching your life you are helping your neighbor, the American artist.

He closes with the fairly blunt: “Celebrate National Art Week. Enjoy its stimulating program. And don’t forget to BUY.”

Look was a popular bi-weekly magazine that ran from 1937 to 1971 and had an emphasis on photography rather than articles, a bit like Life Magazine. In the files, I found a number of photographs from an exhibition titled Look at America, but I have found no other documentation about this exhibition—I can’t even tell with certainty what year it took place in the University Gallery. The introductory wall text reads:

An exhibition of LOOK magazine photographs prepared by the editors of LOOK in co-operation with the American Federation of Arts. Theme titles from the poetry of Archibald MacLeish.

I do know that from 1946-1956, the Look editors published a series of books called Look at America, so I can guess that this exhibition stemmed from the books and eventually made its way as a ready-made show to the University Gallery. (Perhaps we’ll uncover more information on this exhibition in the files we have yet to comb through!)

Update: The exhibition occurred in 1957 (thanks to Rebecca for finding the date in the Minnesota Daily archives). We also found the poster for this show: another gem:

The Weisman Art Museum has a wonderful art rental program that allows students, employees, and departments to rent works of art by the semester or the year. I knew of the program, but what I didn’t realize is that it has been part of the Weisman/University Gallery since the very beginning. The rental program began in 1934 at the Gallery, where framed print reproductions were available for students to rent for only 25 cents per academic quarter — a cheap way to decorate drab dorm or department walls. One 1942 letter of appreciation from the Agricultural Education Department stated:

May we express our thanks and appreciation for the privilege of using some of your pictures in our Department during the spring quarter? The pictures were picked up by some of your men the other day, and we hope that they came back to your Department in good shape. Now, our walls look like Mother Hubbard’s cupboard.

In the files (mixed in with all the notices of unreturned or late artwork) I also discovered these promotional photographs from the mid-1940s of stylish patrons renting artworks.