Art for Rent

The Weisman Art Museum kicks off their revitalized art rental program with a tasteful coffee study event

By Kathryn Richner

If you’re anything like me, your college living space must be arranged and decorated in just the right way in order for you to truly live comfortably in. As a freshman, I was intimidated by all my neighbors’ dorm rooms that seemed to be personally designed by the Property Brothers themselves. Inevitably, I would return to my room to see my lame attempt to create something half as palatable.

And since college students are all sleep-deprived workaholics faced with rising tuition costs and shrinking bank accounts, it can be hard to maintain that ideal aesthetic living space when we often lack the money to do so. 

Yet since the 1930s, the Weisman Art Museum has offered a solution through their student-only art rental program. According to Stewart, a member of the Weisman’s official student group WAM Collective, the program’s intent is to make art accessible to students. They recognize original art tends to be expensive (and oftentimes, rightfully so) and can be difficult for students to afford.

Last year, the program was revitalized. Deemed the “Homework Collection,” the art collection features original student-made art by emerging artists from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Members of WAM collective choose the works to be featured based on what they think would be most popular among college students. 

Every Wednesday, the Weisman Art Museum’s Riverview Gallery transforms into a studious pop-up: part lounge / coffee shop / mixer, according to its Facebook event page, treating students to Misfit Coffee and an ideal place to study. September 18th marked the launch of the Homework Collection during their weekly Wednesday event, in which the art in the collection could be rented for $15 a piece per semester.

So if cheap posters, string lights and those “Saturdays Are for the Boys” flags are starting to get a little old—consider renting quality art from the WAM. You just might end up supporting young up-and-coming artists in the process.