As the former Mystic Arts Center comes into its own as Mystic Museum of Art, another New London County art space is ending its run. Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art at UConn Avery Point in Groton will close July 23, director Julia Pavone said. State budget woes were cited as the reason.
Pavone, the gallery’s only employee, co-founded the gallery and has run it for 23 years, at first as a side gig to her teaching position and for the past 12 years as her full-time job. Pavone said other than her compensation, the gallery is self-supporting through memberships and donations. Anne D’Alleva, dean of the UConn School of Fine Arts, confirmed this.
D’Alleva said the gallery is being closed to eliminate Pavone’s salary and benefits. According to Yankee Institute for Public Policy, Pavone’s annual salary is $73,943 and her benefits package totals $20,301, bringing her compensation to $94,244. Pavone confirmed that is accurate.
In an email to The Courant, Sally Reis, vice provost for academic affairs, wrote “the gallery as staffed and programmed was considered not as strong a use of our scarce resources as could be made, so we have to adjust the programming to be of more direct benefit to the students and aligned with the university’s arts educational agenda.”
D’Alleva said “It was a really painful cut. I respect that sense of loss. But our primary obligation is to ensure that our students can graduate. When you’re at the point of making painful cuts, you have to ask, do we hire faculty or do we keep the gallery open?”
Joe Madaus, campus director at the 800-student Avery Point location, agreed, saying “we needed to focus on the educational programming.”
Pavone is heartbroken by the decision.
“It’s a tragedy to lose the gallery, for the campus and the region as a community-outreach tool,” she said.
Pavone, 64, said she is on the schedule for next fall to teach one course — general-education art appreciation — as an adjunct professor.
Alexey von Schlippe Gallery shows works by emerging talents from the northeast, and national and international artists. Pavone said in its early days, the gallery held an annual student exhibit, but those ended when art-making classes were eliminated from the Groton campus about eight years ago.
Benton Museum and Contemporary Art Galleries in Storrs and the UConn Stamford gallery will not be affected by cuts, D’Alleva said. The Alexey von Schlippe space may be used as the site for an instrumental ensemble-in-residence or for Avery Point-based choral groups, D’Alleva said.
The von Schlippe is probably the most scenically situated art gallery in the state. It’s on the second floor of the campus’ landmark Branford House, a 19th-century Tudor stone mansion. The campus sits on a promontory jutting into Long Island Sound. Branford House is rented out for events for thousands of dollars a day, payable directly to UConn.
