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Special Collections: Permanent Art Collection (PAC)

The Special Collections Department of the Cunningham Memorial Library holds the University's unique physical and digital collections. Special Collections consists of three units: Rare Books & Manuscripts, University Archives, and the Permanent Art Collect

Permanent Art Collection (PAC)

Permanent Art Collection (PAC)

 

 

The Permanent Art Collection contains approximately 4,000 works of art, including work by professional artists and work representative of the historyof art making at ISU. Much of the collection is on display throughout ISUs campus buildings and grounds.

Classes

Classes

The Department provides experiential learning opportunities for faculty and their classes throughout the semester. Please feel free to contact the Chair or other staff members at (812) 237-2610 about setting up appointments for a session.

Experiential learning opportunities for supporting course curricula include:

  • Tours and special presentations
  • Hands-on examination of early materials
  • Resource guides to collections
  • Individualized instruction
  • Student interaction with exhibitions

Tours are also available for community groups and others interested in informational sessions regarding the collections, their history and background, and their relevance to today.

More about Classes & Tours

Class Module Examples

(designed for ONE class period)

  • Analyze perspective through French Revolution text by examining author's and audiences' points of view.
  • Understanding how to read visual material by examining the artwork, documents, and background surrounding a controversial exhibit at.
  • Critically read documents on a topic to examine the purpose, audience, and information from a small collection of ISU historical documents.
  • Construct narratives of events by examining documents from a controversial moment at ISU from different perspectives.

PAC

George Marinko (American, 1908-1989), Moon Ring Fantasy, 1938, Oil on panel, Courtesy of the Fine Arts Program, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects

About the ISU Permanent Art Collection

Providing and administering a Permanent Art Collection aligns with the university's mission to provide a well-rounded and enriching educational experience that goes beyond traditional classroom learning. It offers opportunities for personal growth, cultural exploration, and the development of critical thinking skills. 

Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), Flowers, 1965, Serigraph, Purchase 1972

Pop Art

Includes over one hundred and fifty Polaroids and eight screenprints by Andy Warhol; a portfolio of thirteen screenprints by Robert Indiana; Claes Oldenburg's London Knees portfolio (prints and sculpture) and N.Y.C. Pretzel ; prints by Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Lindner, Jim Dine, Eduardo Paolozzi, James Rosenquist, Larry Rivers, and Robert Rauschenberg; and two paintings by Ed Paschke.

Andrew Moore (American, born 1957), County Archives, Vigo County Courthouse, Terre Haute, IN 2011, Archival inkjet print, Purchase 2012

Contemporary American

Includes works by Garo Antreasian, Rudy Autio, Leonard Baskin, Kate Breakey, Christo, Sue Coe, Willem De Kooning, Ruth Duckworth, Tony Fitzpatrick, Christine Golden, Richard Hunt, Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick, Ida Kohlmeyer, Joseph Konopka, Jeff Koons, Joseph Kosuth, Jacob Lawrence, Nathan Lerner, Robert Longo, Andrew Moore, Bruce Nauman, Philip Pearlstein, Gabor Peterdi, Richard Prince, Ernest Tino Trova, and William Wiley.

Joseph Stella (American, 1877-1946), Smoke Stacks, 1935 or 36, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy of the Fine Arts Program, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects.

Works Progress Administration

Two hundred and forty paintings, prints, posters, and small sculptures dating from 1935 to 1941. Includes paintings by Julio de Diego, Paul Kelpe, George Marinko, and Joseph Stella; and prints by Ida Abelman, Jolan Bettelheim, Samuel Joseph Brown, Peter Busa, Stuart Davis, Mabel Dwight, Don Freeman, Michael Gallagher, Sargent Claude Johnson, Max Kahn, Wilmer Jennings, Helen Lundeberg, Reginald Marsh, Hugh Mesibov, Isaac Soyer, Harry Sternberg, Raymond Steth, Dox Thrash, and Joseph Vogel.

Richard Anuszkiewicz (American, born 1930), Untitled, from the Inward Eye series, 1970, Serigraph, Purchase 1971

Op Art

Richard Anuszkiewicz's Inward Eye portfolio of eight serigraphs and poetry/prose by William Blake; and screenprints by Josef Albers (Op Art influence), Harris Deller, Bridget Riley, and Victor Vasarely.

Bernard Buffet, 1960s, Lithograph on Paper

European Art

Prints by Bernard Buffet, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Albrecht Dürer, Max Ernst, Fernand Léger, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Jean Luçrat, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Rouault.

CHORUS OF TRUMPETS, Howard Kalish, Stainless steel, aluminum, translucent tinted urethane

Public Sculpture

Thirty large outdoor sculptures and four indoor sculptures and installations by artists such as John Van Alstine, Chakaia Booker, Frans & Marja de Boer Lichtveld, Michael Dunbar, Howard Kalish, Doug Kornfeld, Thomas Torrens, Tim Upham and Madeline Wiener.

Other Portfolios and Sub-Collections

  • 20th Century African masks.

  • Prints and portfolios by Peter Milton ,Paul Wunderlich , Jose Luis Cuevas, Robert Grody,Diego Rivera,Pierre Alechinsky,Paul william Ashby,liya Bolotovsky ,Documenta,Enrique Chagoya,Don LaViere Turner,Edward J. Mikula.

  • Nigerian Textiles by lyabo Abiola.

  • Painting and drawing by Frank Samuel Eastman and Fannie blumberg .

  • Work by current and former art faculty including Alma Anderson,Whiteney Engeran,David Ericson,Robert Evans,Dick Hay,Fran Lattanzio,Nancy Nichols-Pethick,Jonathan Thomas,William T Turman,Leroy Lamis and Louis R. Williams.

Donate Art & Collections

Donate

 Permanent Art Collection development has grown in no small part due to the generous support of donors, foundations and ISU departments.

More about Donations

Research & Reproductions

Research & Reproductions & Requests

The Permanent Art Collection contains artwork and associated documents that can be made available for research upon request in the Special Collections Reading Room.

New PAC Database
Partially cataloged searchable database with images. Updated and new entries regularly.

PAC Complete Text Database
PAC database: search or scroll through a text-based inventory of cataloged artwork.

You can make an appointment to see most artwork and related documents in the Special Collections Reading Room on the third floor of the library. We recommend arranging an appointment with PAC staff at least 24 hours in advance so we can have your requested material on hand when you visit. Please notify staff if you will be conducting research in a group so we can find appropriate accommodations.

More on Art Requests