The Student Association art collection is the largest college-owned collection in the nation, Campus Activities Board president Jennifer Suerth said.

The collection contains 279 pieces, including paintings, sculptures and 13 pieces of film.

The art is presented all over campus, such as at the Holmes Student Center, Founders Memorial Library, the judicial office, the CAB office and the SA office.

Until Saturday, art also will be in the student center’s glass gallery, which is on the main floor.

The collection first began in the 1960s, Suerth said.

“It was a way to bring something to the community that they otherwise would not have been able to experience,” she said.

CAB will come out with a catalog later in the spring that will name and show all the pieces of the collection on display.

For a couple years, the art collection wasn’t very well taken care of, Suerth said.

CAB received a curator last year, Sara Werrbach, who started checking on the collection and putting it back in order.

Some pieces still are missing and others were reported as stolen, Suerth said. The reason could be because security is not always great, she said.

“It’s impossible to insure,” she said. “It’s way too much money to ask the SA for. Some of the pieces are very valuable.”

The last time the SA art collection had an appraisal was in 1992, and the gallery was worth about $469,070. Suerth said it’s probably worth more now.

“We’re not allowed to sell any of the pieces,” Suerth said. “It belongs to the state of Illinois ultimately.”