The Gregg Museum on Hillsborough Street opened its doors for the first time Saturday, and I was one of many students there to witness its grand opening, thanks to its close proximity to NC State.
Whereas art museums such as the NC Museum of Art (NCMA) and the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) downtown require students to drive, the Gregg museum is right across from the Belltower and within walking distance for students living on campus.
Not only is it nice to have a new art space nearby, but what’s just as meaningful is the message it sends, as told by the inscription on the wall past the front doors: “The Gregg is a place where objects spark ideas.”
With a plethora of ideas provided by a collection of over 34,000 objects, I’m glad that the University and the Raleigh community invested in increasing the cultural diversity on campus through this museum. These ideas are even more important for campus considering how NC State is widely viewed as an engineering institution.
As a STEM major myself, I’ve met many engineering students here who limit themselves by not venturing out into the arts sphere. The Gregg Museum is a good step for the University to further turn STEM into STEAM (STEM with the Arts). Science should inform the arts, and art should inform the sciences. This way, the work is stronger in both.
The project itself tells a story of the history of our university. The Gregg Museum was built out of the Historic Chancellor’s Residence, which housed the chancellor from 1928 until the new residence was built on Centennial Campus in 2011.
Costing $9.5 million to complete, the museum itself is even a piece of art. The outside is composed of wood with glass and brick, a mix of the old and the new, and was my favorite part of my first visit to the Gregg.
Some of my other favorite parts of the museum were a pollinator garden, perfect for hosting meaningful conversations or just contemplating life and enjoying the day, and the “Show and Tell” exhibit, a perfect name for a selection of about 150 objects from the museum’s enormous permanent collection.
Much of the art comes from NC State alumni and professors, making the collection unique and personal to the university. In fact, about $4 million of the funding for the Gregg came from alumni, supporters and corporations in the NC State community.
With a range of objects from chairs and quilts to ceramics and photographs, the diversity of ideas and times represented in such a small space is astounding. Visitors can look at an old Japanese kimono, turn around, walk a couple steps, and learn about what it was like to suffer during apartheid in South Africa through a pictorial embroidery.
Another one of the current exhibitions is called “A Door is not a Window,” displaying works from Raleigh native Herb Jackson.
Jackson’s work has been displayed all over the world, from the Brooklyn Museum to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, but this is the first museum show he’s had in Raleigh in years. And doesn’t it make sense that our community showcases the artistic talent we have right here in our backyard?
The wall on the outside of Jackson’s exhibit reads: “The history of narrative painting is based on representing a reality as if were viewed through a window, whereas I am interested in presenting a new entity that one enters, as if by a door.”
That’s what you’ll find in the Gregg Museum. You enter through a door that transports you through a new reality. A mix of the old and the new, modern with the classic, and it’s only a short walk away from main campus.