By Erin Cushing
A piece from the Vogel Collection.
More than 800 new original paintings have been donated to Mason by the estate of Harold Vogel, a longtime benefactor to the university. In 2005, he donated 1,000 pieces created by his wife, the late Hilde Vogel-Michalik.
The paintings have been displayed in the common areas of the Prince William Campus and loaned out to Mason faculty and staff members to decorate their work areas. All three campuses have participated in the art loan program; to date, there are 171 pieces on loan, 71 of them on the Fairfax and Arlington Campuses. Now there is an opportunity to incorporate the recent donations into your workplace décor.
The new additions include original works by artists Anton Felderhoff, Joseph Urbach, Ruth Eckstein, Harvey Mather, Richard Jamieson, Adolf Arzensek and Max Clarenbach, as well as Vogel-Michalik. The procedures and requirements for acquiring one of these paintings have not changed since the program was founded in 2009. Those interested can visit the loan program website for more details or contact the curator of the Vogel Collection, Deborah Weitzman-Ward.
Interested in helping the collection but don’t want the responsibility of caring for the piece yourself? There are opportunities to adopt pieces that are in need of restoration or repair, ranging from a simple reframing to a full restoration. Adopted pieces will be displayed on the Prince William Campus after restoration with a plaque that reads “Adopted By [name of donor].” Contact Weitzman-Ward at dweitzma@gmu.edu or 703-993-1621 to learn more about how to adopt these pieces.
Read more about the history of the Vogel Collection and benefactor Harold Vogel here.