Out of the vault and into view

She's a second-year medical student, so her mind usually is focused on diseases, drugs and cures.

But as Laura Heuermann hustles between classes, her eye will sometimes catch one of the oil paintings in a third-floor hallway of the Omaha medical school where she spends up to eight hours a day.

About a dozen of the pieces found in the school on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus are on loan from the Joslyn Art Museum.

Step into your local public library, school or hospital and you might spot art on loan from a museum. While museums are probably better known for loaning pieces to each other, they also lend to colleges, historic homes and similar places.

It's not uncommon for art institutions to make such loans as a way to expose people to art and strengthen the reputation of museums as inviting places, museum organizations say. Such loans are good, but must be done the right way — including maintaining the proper temperature and security — to keep the artwork safe, said Ford W. Bell, president of the American Association of Museums.

Bell said artwork lent to non-museums typically won't be a museum's most valuable pieces.

"You won't see a Rembrandt being loaned to community centers,'' he said.

Still, he said, museums have many high quality pieces that might not find their way out of storage and into public view unless they are lent out.

Bell said there is a concern in the museum industry about "warehousing," which involves museums aggressively collecting pieces but displaying only a fraction of their collection at any one time. Lending to non-museums is one way to address that concern.

"There is an increasing push to get art out (to) the public,'' Bell said.

For years, the Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln has lent exhibitions to such places as public libraries and colleges through its Sheldon Statewide outreach program. Since the 1980s, the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney has lent to similar places, including the Methodist Women's Hospital in Omaha and the same UNMC building that contains the Joslyn art.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo., lends pieces for the offices of state legislators and members of Missouri's congressional delegation. The University of Iowa Museum of Art has lent works to colleges in the region. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., lends exhibitions nationwide to such places as zoos, shopping malls and schools through its traveling exhibition service.

Jack Becker, executive director of the Joslyn, said it's important to expose people to as many of the Joslyn's pieces as possible and the loan to UNMC helps accomplish that goal.

Heuermann, the medical student, said she occasionally stops between classes to look at the artwork.

Viewing the paintings, she said, provides a "sense of relief" from the stress of medical school.

"It reminds you that there is something else going on in the world other than studying all day,'' said Heuermann, from Grand Island, Neb.

Several of the Joslyn paintings at the med school are soothing landscapes. One, "A Tranquil Morning," shows tall trees with long leaves blowing in a breeze. Another, "Landscape Near Oxford, Nebraska," depicts rolling farmland and a narrow dirt road that stretches out to the horizon.

Dr. Jim Linder, a UNMC faculty member who helped arrange the Joslyn loan, said it involved about a dozen pieces displayed in a hallway of the Sorrell Center for Health Science Education. The $52.7 million building opened in 2008. It houses most medical school programs and also serves students in nursing, pharmacy and other health fields.

He said a key goal was to make the atmosphere of the Sorrell Center more relaxing and inviting for students, faculty and visitors. He said the pieces generally are by artists with Nebraska ties.

Linder said UNMC appointed a committee of faculty and students to select art for the Sorrell Center. The committee, using private funds, also purchased art at auctions and from galleries and artists, he said. When the building opened in 2008, it had pieces from nearly 50 Nebraska artists.

About two years ago, Linder said he and other committee members approached the Joslyn about art loans. The Joslyn said the pieces first were lent to UNMC in 2010.

Asked if UNMC must return the artwork by a certain date, the Joslyn said there is a procedure to review the loan on a regular basis.

When museums lend artwork to a non-museum, handlers must make certain it's properly cared for.

Deborah Long, senior objects conservator at the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha, said it's crucial to avoid fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity to protect artwork from damage.

She said museums strive to keep their galleries at a steady temperature, generally between 65 and 72 degrees, depending on the type of artwork. Humidity generally should be between 40 percent and 50 percent, she said.

Swings in temperature or humidity can make a painting's canvass expand and contract, causing the paint to loosen over time, said Long, whose center is a division of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Long said a building with a modern heating and cooling system, even if it's not a museum, has the potential to keep the climate at the right levels to protect artwork.

Proper lighting also is important, she said. Artwork holds up best in low and indirect lighting, she said. Sunlight and other sources of ultraviolet light can cause colors to fade.

Becker, the Joslyn director, said the proper climate, lighting conditions and security are in place at the Sorrell Center to protect the art. The requirements for those issues were outlined in a loan agreement between the Joslyn and UNMC, he said.

Becker said the art loan to UNMC was arranged before he took over as executive director in April 2010.

Asked to provide details on the security, the Joslyn said "to disclose security would be to weaken it."

UNMC officials said there are security cameras throughout the building and security patrols. The building is locked overnight on weekdays and throughout the weekend, although UNMC students and employees of the Sorrell Center have access with security cards.

For security reasons, Becker said, the museum does not discuss the value of pieces in its collection, including those on loan.

The Joslyn said that the pieces lent to UNMC are originals, except for two reproductions of works by Karl Bodmer.

Jennifer Marshall, an art history professor at the University of Minnesota, reviewed a list of the art lent by the Joslyn to the UNMC, and said some of the works were by artists with national or international reputations such Constance Richardson and William Malherbe.

Linder said that by sharing the pieces, Joslyn officials are helping UNMC and the community.

"They are doing more than hiding it in their vault,'' he said. "The real challenge of a museum is to make sure the public is seeing their art."