In fact, it’s normally on the campus.

“It is an amazing gift to have such wonderful works available for students, faculty and other scholars to study and enjoy,” said Bille Wickre, art department chair. “The works that I have chosen for my office relate to my research interests but also give me a great deal of pleasure.”

The Albion College permanent art collection is comprised of over 3,000 prints, spanning from 15th century manuscripts to modern and contemporary artists, including Rembrandt, Dali, Picasso, Whistler and Monet.

While the collection is not currently at Albion, Bobbitt plans to have the collection back by November 2008.

The collection is currently at the Chicago Conservation Center being restored from the steam damage that occurred June 28, 2006, causing $700,000 in damage.

The permanent art collection was started by Vernon Bobbitt, founder of the art department, in 1947.

Bobbitt collected prints through the 40s, 50s and 60s, during the time when the prints weren’t that expensive. Bobbitt got most of the prints under $100, and definitely under $1000, according to Sue Havens, art department secretary. According to Wickre, there are many factors that influence values, including the condition of the work, its history and the current market interest.

“We have a wide variety of art work and artifacts from all over the world, each of them valuable for different reasons,” Wickre said. “Some have sentimental values for collectors or viewers. Others have monetary value because they are rare, date from an early period, are produced by well-known artists, or if they are prints, because they are part of a small edition.”

According to Wickre, she is extremely grateful to supporters and donors who helped to build the collection and to assist the faculty in buying works of art.

“Everyone in the department worries about theft and damage, but we have a good security system with alarms on the doors, a constant video view of the galleries and trained monitors who oversee the galleries during hours we are open,” Wickre said.

According to the Chicago Conservation Center, they are one of the nation’s leading private art restoration and conservation laboratories.

Prints from the college’s collection have been featured in shows hosted by the Detroit Institute of Arts.

“One of the neatest things about this collection is that it’s available to the students,” Havens said. According to Havens, professors have used the collection for their work as well.

Ian MacInnes has used 15th century manuscripts in his renaissance class and Wickre uses prints in her art history classes Havens said.

According to Wickre, a student may view a Picasso, or any other artist in our collection when they aren’t off being restored.

Students can arrange to see the art by contacting the department of art and art history and making an appointment for the piece to be brought out so he or she can look at it.

“Our print collection is often displayed in the Martha Dickinson print gallery on the main floor of Bobbitt,” Wickre said. “Other work usually can be seen in the glass cases in the Bobbitt lobby.”