DePaul University will close its art museum in Lincoln Park at the end of June, ending nearly 15 years of operation. The decision was announced by university president Robert L. Manuel, provost Salma Ghanem, and executive vice president and CFO Sherri Sidler.
The museum’s final day will be June 30. According to the university’s leadership, the closure is part of ongoing efforts to ensure DePaul’s long-term financial sustainability. “As part of our responsibility to ensure long-term financial sustainability for our university, we are continuing to engage in ongoing budget planning discussions. As part of this review, we have made the difficult decision to stop operations in the DePaul Art Museum at the end of this academic year,” the announcement stated.
DePaul does not plan to sell or leave vacant the building that houses the museum, but future uses for both the building and its permanent collection remain uncertain.
Phoebe Collins, collections and exhibitions manager at the museum, expressed disappointment with the decision. She described the museum as a resource for both students and Chicago artists. “We work with a lot of artists all over the city, and have a lot of Chicago artists in our collection,” Collins said. “We work with a lot of students as well and classes to bring them into the museum and use art within the classroom, so it’s a huge loss.”
Since opening in 2011, more than 600 Chicagoans and underrepresented artists have exhibited their work at DePaul Art Museum.
Financial challenges contributed to DePaul’s decision. The university has faced reduced federal funding, declining international graduate student enrollment, increased demand for financial aid, and higher costs for student benefits such as health care. In December, DePaul laid off over 100 staff members—7.6 percent of its workforce—and announced major cutbacks at its Loop library.
Collins noted that while budget cuts were expected due to these pressures, she was still surprised by how quickly closure plans moved forward. “DePaul has been facing some budget cuts for awhile now,” Collins said. “So it did not come as a shock to me, but I guess it’s shocking that they actually went through with” closing the museum.
She added: “It’s a very hard time for all museums, and especially the arts in general with the loss of federal funding to museums and also to universities.”
Collins hopes that DePaul will collaborate with arts departments so that some use can be found for the space by those involved in campus arts programs.
The last two exhibitions—“Barbara Nessim: My Compass Is the Line” and “Alice Tippit: Rose Obsolete”—will run from March 5 through June 21. An opening reception is scheduled for Thursday evening at 935 W. Fullerton Ave.
Currently only two full-time staff remain after curator Ionit Behar left earlier this month for another position at Museum of Contemporary Art; communications coordinator Mariah Joyce also recently departed.
Behar told Block Club she felt closing was short-sighted: “It’s deeply sad [and] devastating. I feel angry,” she said. “I think we all wanted to believe it wasn’t going to happen.” She explained she suspected closure after her planned September show was canceled last fall.
Behar also commented on broader trends: “It’s disappointing that a place like the museum, with such a small budget and such small staff, is the one that gets cut right in these kind of economical struggles,” she said. She noted many universities face similar pressures but highlighted DPAM’s unique contributions as an accessible venue for local artists’ first solo shows.
In its statement on closure plans, DePaul acknowledged those who contributed to DPAM’s role as an art destination: “We especially want to honor the work of Museum Director Laura-Caroline de Lara, who joined DePaul in 2016 and has been central to the museum’s contributions over the years,” read part of their message. The university promised further updates about next steps when available.
