DeKalb | Lending art to make a difference is exactly what Peter Olson, Art Museum associate director, envisioned when restructuring the Art to Lend program for office spaces on campus 20 years ago.

Currently there are about 130 pieces from the 1,200-piece Rotunda museum’s collection from previous years decorating employee’s offices. Some offices have several pieces of 2-D framed artwork and some have only one.

Housing professional artwork from the museum’s collection in offices around campus has been going on for over 25 years. Olson decided to implement an eight-year rental policy when he began working at NIU 20 years ago, ensuring secure colorfastness and preservation of the artwork. However, the program to rent artwork restarted securely again when Altgeld Hall reopened from renovations in late 2004 where employees could then view and rent original artwork in the summer in an exhibit at the Rotunda Gallery.

Before the art lending program, there wasn’t a system for renting artwork that was fair, Olson said. He changed his system to a lottery system and it has been working well with the employees on campus. “I will randomly select from these people. They’ve put down their choices, ranked in order of preference and I’ll go down the list for their next one,” he said.

The inspiration for this program came from a large amount of employees coming to him to help fill their office spaces with artwork, Olson said. “Traditionally, there’s always been a need or desire from other folks on campus to have something to put into their office. When I first started here, [employees] would call and ask if we had any artwork that they could borrow for their offices.”

Rentals for the Art to Lend program have been selected from the 1,200-piece museum’s collection of professional work. While at this time Olson isn’t yet open to the idea of renting student artwork due to insurance purposes, NIU President Baker is able to support the students by housing their work in his personal spaces. “President Baker has been a real champion at wanting to give the students exposure,” Olson said. “In his office there’s all student artwork and in his home — all student artwork.”

This year four applications were submitted to the Art to Lend program where employees are currently awaiting to hear which pieces will be in their office spaces. The pieces that each department has chosen sometimes surprises Olson. Every year he considers location, the specific departments that are renting and their list of choices before making the final decision.

Olson said that people really appreciate this program and the work of these professional artists. “One thing I’ve noticed consistently is that if you go to an office that doesn’t have any artwork in it, it will have a certain energy and then put in any artwork they’ve selected and it will really make a huge difference,” he said.