Within days of DePaul University’s announcement on February 26 that it would close its art museums, an open letter initiated by students and faculty opposing the decision garnered more than 3,000 signatures. Nevertheless, the DePaul Art Museum (DPAM) in Lincoln Park is scheduled to close on June 30th.
The museum was founded in 1985 and initially operated out of space within the university’s library. In 2011, we moved into a new $7.8 million, 15,350-square-foot, three-story building with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. This is an upgrade that demonstrates the university’s investment in the visual arts, creating a cultural hub not only on campus but also in the community.
The museum’s closure comes after the university predicted a significant budget deficit in 2026 and laid off 114 employees in December in an effort to cut spending by $27.4 million. DPAM Director Laura Caroline de Lara recognized the museum was in crisis and raised enough funds to maintain a small staff and keep its doors open until June. This allowed us to carry out exhibitions that had already been planned and that the museum was contractually obligated to complete.
Mr. de Lara wanted to demonstrate that the museum, which draws in a significant portion of its $745,000 annual budget each year, could find a way to survive on its own. So far, the government’s decision has not wavered. “It’s hard to raise money when the parent organization isn’t in the game,” DeLara says.
The museum’s former director, Julie Rodriguez Widholm, left Chicago in 2020 to head the Berkeley Art Museum and the Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley. She said she understands the challenges facing higher education, especially declining enrollment, but “what puzzles me is how closing museums solves the problem.”
Widholm points out that having a museum on campus is a way to not only host important and challenging exhibitions, but also provide professional training. For example, students in DePaul’s Museum Studies program gain valuable experience through internships and other training at DPAM.
A statement by the private university’s president, Robert L. Manuel, announcing the museum’s closure was titled “Rethinking the Arts at DePaul University.” An open letter from students and faculty responded sharply: “Aside from the Orwellian invitation to ‘rethink’ art by closing the buildings that house it, we believe those making the decisions do not fully appreciate the multifaceted and far-reaching value of the DePaul Museum of Art to our academic community.” The open letter outlines the museum’s educational and professional value, It appeals to the school’s Vincentian Catholic history, considering additional aspects of campus life that are “not a luxury but a necessity for a school committed to developing its students as thoughtful, curious, imaginative, and empathetic human beings in the Vincentian sense.”
The museum’s impending closure is not the only decision by the DePaul administration that has sparked a backlash. The university also lost support from preservationists over its plan to demolish four historic rowhouses to make way for a new athletic facility expected to cost more than $42 million. Multiple officials interviewed for this article contrasted the decision to close DPAM with the university’s unwavering commitment to sports, suggesting that administrators do not value the value of academic museums.
The museum’s closure also raises questions about the fate of its collection, which houses about 4,000 works, including paintings by artists important to Chicago, including Gertrude Abercrombie, Christina Lamberg, Julia Tekla, Leon Golub and Roger Brown. We also have an extensive photography collection, including works by Andy Warhol, Eugene von Brunchenhein, Bruce Davidson, and Barbara Crane. There is also a large collection of works on paper, including etchings by Tony Fitzpatrick, drawings by Martin Puryear and a large number of vintage movie posters. As part of a multi-year Latinx initiative in 2020, the museum recently added works by Yvette Mayorga, Edra Soto, Diana Solis and others to its collection.
“You can’t just shove it in a closet, you can’t have it scattered all over campus, you can’t have it in your office,” DeLara said. “Collection requires an ethical approach.” Beyond logistics such as climate control and public access, many of the works in the museum’s collection were donated with the understanding that art should be seen and studied.
Mr. de Lara works closely with the Office of the President to ensure the administration is informed of best practices in collection management and to help explore options for transferring works to other institutions or supporting a position on staff to maintain the collection. She added: “They are getting a huge crash course in museum collection management.”
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