UCF Art Gallery Storage Creates Artistic Impression

The storage of artworks at the University of Central Florida’s gallery has been a labor of love for staff since the school first began collecting in 1978. As the accessions increased over the decades, the available storage space in the gallery’s inner rooms dwindled. It became necessary for paintings, illustrations, African masks, sculptures and statues – large and small – to be stored according only to available space and not by theme, time period or even medium. Finally, after years of hoping and planning, innovation led to renovation.

After listening intently to members of the university staff and taking careful inventory of the entirety of the gallery’s collection, Patterson Pope put together a plan that helped maximize the small storage room. The space, affectionately known as “the Vault,” received a mixture of Spacesaver art racks, mechanical-assist mobile shelving, 4-post shelving and cantilever shelving. Combined with mobile flat files for unframed art and smaller pieces, and EZ rack affixed to the room’s concrete block walls, the storage solutions helped to re-imagine and re-invigorate the area.