A Hidden Gem

Whether its summer session or a new fall semester CSULB students can regularly be seen outside of classes in common hot spots like, the Nugget and the USU, but among all the places students can hang there is a hidden gem that many may not have visited—the University Art Museum.

Ranked in the top 10 percent of the nation’s 7,000-plus museums, the UAM is the only one that is accredited in the CSU system and has achieved worldwide acclaim for its publications, exhibitions and collections of unique and diverse artwork.

Shefali Mistry, the museum’s public relations and marketing coordinator, said that since the UAM began in 1973 there are multiple reasons why it has reached such a level of significance.

“It’s because a lot of places will call themselves museums and not be a collecting institution or they will do both, they will show art and collect art, but they haven’t gone through the accreditation process,” Mistry said. “Connie Glenn our founding director of the museum also founded the museum studies program, and she really drove the direction of the museum and the studies program. There also used to be a recurring exhibit series called Centric that gave emerging career artists their first museum show. A lot of them went on to be really famous.”

The UAM has been accredited for 30 years and continues to entertain guests with new and continuous changing exhibits.

Starting September 10, the Jud Fine and Barbara McCarren: And/Or exhibition will arrive. It will feature 20 collaborative artworks, and three photo-collage installations from the Currency series, which will be re-created for the first time in Southern California.

While the UAM provides many training and career opportunities for future museum professionals, it also focuses on widening the spectrum of majors that are a part of exhibitions.

“We did a Jessica Rath, A Better Nectar Exhibition, and we connected to the School of Art and Sculpture, but also to the Biology and the Music department,” Mistry said. “Choir students in the Bob Cole Conservatory did music for the pieces and there are always these cross curricular connections. The school of Art is the biggest department on campus, but that’s only a fraction of the school, so if you’re going to be on campus and have a museum you want to connect to as many students as possible.”

Admission is free to students and the public and is located in the Horn center building. Current museum hours are Monday-Friday 8am-5pm for the permanent collection, and the UAM main gallery is closed for installation of future exhibitions.

In asking Mistry how she ended up working at the UAM, she passionately answered that there was no place else she wanted to work.

“This job came up, I had worked as a volunteer as a student and knew the people that worked here, and I loved it here, and I love Cal State Long Beach,” Mistry said. “I’m such a nerd for this school.”

If you want to check out the UAM or to learn more you can visit their webpage or contact the UAM at (562) 985-5761.