Last fall, Harvard graduate student Olga Kogan rented the print Ursa Major, by artist Barrie Goshko, through the Harvard Art Museums’ Student Print Rental Program. A black and white etching and aquatint, Ursa Major interprets the astrological constellation with words and images of bears and stars.
Kogan hung the print in her dorm room, which she shared with husband Omri Baumer. “We chose the print because it reminded us of home and family—my mom, dad, and grandfather were always into stargazing, and the print was a creative way to show the constellation,” said Kogan, who earned her M.B.A. in May.
Before the rental term ended in the spring of 2018, the couple realized they wanted to know more about Goshko and the print. So Baumer researched Goshko online, found his email address, and asked him to share more information about the work.
“I think the artist was happy to see that someone was enjoying the piece,” Kogan said. “He told us that he’d made it in 1987, and it was based on research he did at that time about the constellation. It felt nice to learn a little more, especially since we really enjoyed having it on our wall.”
Kogan and Baumer’s story is exactly the type of hands-on experience that Student Print Rental Program organizers hope to foster. The program, which has operated almost continuously since the early 1970s, gives current Harvard undergraduate and graduate students living on campus the opportunity to borrow one original print from the museums to hang in their dorm room for the academic year. (There is a $30 fee associated with the rental.)
Built over decades, the Student Print Rental Collection contains hundreds of works. The list of prints available changes each year, with about 300 annually loaned on a first-come, first-served basis. (See the schedule below for specific dates when students may view prints available to rent this year.)
The works in the collection run the gamut of print techniques, from traditional methods such as silkscreen and woodcut to recently developed techniques such as film stills and digital prints. A diverse range of artists are featured, with household names such as Warhol and Picasso, as well as living and up-and-coming artists whose work is known or gaining attention.
Meaningful Gifts
As the Student Print Rental Collection continues to grow in popularity among students, it is also expanding in size. In fact, a number of new prints were recently added, thanks to generous gifts from artists and artists’ estates. This year’s program participants will be the first to rent the following prints (pictured below), among others: Mark Podwal’s Talmud Typewriter (2015); Bob Tomolillo’s Empathy (2016); and Bernard Childs’s series of engravings titled B.B. (1960).