WHY SAVE THE GALLERY?
OUR HISTORY
The SWC Art Gallery is older than many programs and departments on campus. The Gallery was founded in the College's very first semester, in the Fall of 1961, when Southwestern was only two outbuildings on the Chula Vista High School lot. Art Department founder, Robert “Bob” Matheny, screwed white panels over lockers in a hallway to create the first Gallery.
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The SWC Art Gallery has historical significance to the world of contemporary art, to the community, and to Southwestern College’s own history. Learn more about the Gallery's early history on our archive website.
The Gallery was the epicenter of early progressive changes on campus, exposed the region to new art forms and cultures and presented early works of now world-famous artists (John Baldessari, Bruce Nauman, Judy Chicago, Dennis Oppenheim) and also played an import role in the West Coast Conceptualism Art movement.
John Baldessari taught at Southwestern College, programed exhibitions and events at the Gallery and this is the place where he transformed from an Abstract painter to become one of the leading Conceptual Artists in the world.
Our students currently have the opportunity each semester to show in the same space as these world-famous artists once did.
OUR BUILDING
THE WHITNEY MUSEUM CONNECTION
The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is one of the leading museums in the world, known for their renowned collection of modern and contemporary art, and their Biennial exhibition (the most important survey of emerging American artists).
In the mid 1960s the Whitney Museum set out to construct a new modern building with famed architect Marcel Breuer. Their new building, at 945 Madison Ave. was designed specifically for contemporary art exhibitions with many innovations, including the gallery ceilings, a highly functional, highly beautiful suspended grid of concrete coffers with inset rails.
This new monumental building achievement attracted many visitors, including SWC Art Gallery founder, Bob Matheny, who traveled there soon after the opening in 1966. Upon his return, Matheny told Southwestern College's campus architect at the time, George D. Foster, to"build us our own Whitney Museum".
He did.
And since 1968, Southwestern College has boasted a replica of the third floor gallery of the Whitney's Breuer Building right on our Chula Vista campus...
...if it isn't destroyed.
THE EXTERIOR
The exterior architecture of the SWC Art Gallery and all of the original campus buildings (designed by architect George D. Foster and his firm Kistner, Curtis and Foster) is a unique period style blending elements of
Brutalism with the State historically preserved style of Mayan Revival.
Brutalist architecture is derived from the term béton brut, meaning raw concrete, like the modernist buildings of Whitney architect, Marcel Breuer. Mayan Revival, an offshoot of the decorative patterns of Art Deco architecture, can be seen in the historically designated Mayan Theater in LA and the Berkeley Public Library.
The SWC Art Gallery building has unique slanted raw concrete columns, exposed aggregate walls, brushed aluminum windows and doors, covered by wood slatted overhangs with a decorative concrete cornice along the roof and an enclosed courtyard patio. It is a unique expression of the architect's vision to blend historical elements of the region with the modern styles of the time.
Our buildings are deserving of preservation for their own important history and merits, without even taking into account the important legacy of the Gallery, or the Whitney replica interior.
THE INTERIOR
Our Whitney-replica concrete suspended grid ceiling is highly functional.
The inset grooves allow temporary walls to be placed in any location inside the gallery. The same grooves may hold track lighting to run to any location, and the space above the ceiling contains additional indirect lighting which also allows electrical access anywhere in the gallery and a place to hide electronic equipment and cables, providing space to adapt into the future without compromising the clean minimal aesthetic of exhibition space.
Our Whitney replica floors contain another hidden function in the form of flush-recessed brass electrical outlets, allowing you to have electricity in virtually any location in the space from below or above.
DOLLARS & SENSE
This building is an important financial asset, in addition to being a Museum-worthy exhibition space. The Gallery's intricate 2135 sq. ft. cast-in-place concrete ceiling structure would be prohibitively expensive to recreate today.
Any new gallery structure built with existing funds would be a downgrade for our students compared to our existing building. Destroying this building is akin to tossing a million dollar asset into a landfill and not having the money or desire to properly replace it.
HISTORICAL PRESERVATION
The SWC Art Gallery building currently qualifies as a historic structure under Federal, State and Local guidelines.
San Diego’s Save Our Heritage Organization and the San Diego Architectural Foundation supports the preservation of the original Southwestern College campus buildings (such as the Art Gallery in building 88). The Gallery preservation is also supported amongst Art Institutions throughout Southern California.
SAVE THE GALLERY, SAVE THE PLANET
Preservation and renovation of an existing concrete structure is more environmentally sustainable than demolishing a concrete structure and rebuilding another new concrete structure.
This is due to the extensive greenhouse gas emissions and high industrial water usage in the production of new concrete. Adaptive Reuse of existing concrete structures saves our finite natural resources and the environment.
PRINCIPLES
The building dedicated to preserving and promoting the aesthetic and cultural history of our past and present should not be destroyed. Of all the original structures on campus, the Art Gallery (building 88) should be the one that is preserved.
The most important Museums all contain two important features: an interesting container for a prestigious history. Southwestern College Art Gallery currently has both of those. Now is the time to preserve and expand, not destroy and start over.
FUTURE COMMUNITIES
All of our culture, artifacts and history are safely passed down from one generation to the next, in an unbroken chain stretching back through time.
Prevent your College's import legacy from being destroyed and pass it down to Future Generations to experience. Don't break this chain.
Building 88, which contains the SWC Art Gallery, also has two additional classrooms currently in use. If the SWC Art Gallery is saved from demolition and plans to build a new Arts building on campus continue, these attached classroom spaces could be remodeled for future uses.
San Diego’s South Bay area currently has no Contemporary Art institution to serve the community. By preserving building 88 and converting the space entirely over to the SWC Art Gallery we could expand and create one.