Hillwood’s New Starbucks Butting into the Art Museum?

Matt Marando

If you have not heard yet, Hillwood will be acquiring the popular coffeehouse Starbucks to replace the Little Shop of Commons next semester. But with every gain, there is a loss.

The Hillwood Art Museum will be affected by the Starbucks. The Museum’s collection storage room will be reduced by fifty feet, due to the particular kind of storage Starbucks needs. “We house more than 3,000 objects from many cultures and it will certainly impact the collection,” says Barbara Applegate, the museum’s Director.  “We have been working closely with campus officials to devise an acceptable plan for the relocation of all or part of the collection.”  Even though Post is a large campus, it is difficult to find space for storing all the museum’s items. “There aren’t many appropriate rooms. We need a lot of space, and the best practices suggest keeping the collection together,” Applegate added.

“I feel bad that the art museum is losing space,” said an anonymous student who did not want to be identified. Some students feel as if this isn’t an issue at all, “I don’t see a major issue with reducing the museum by 50 feet,” said Keith Mannion, a senior art history major.

Although the storage room of the museum will be affected, the rest of the five thousand square feet of the second floor of Hillwood will not be affected. This kind of change does not seem to be a match for the Hillwood Art Museum. “You can always expect change at Hillwood Art Museum” says Applegate. “Typically, we present between six and eight original exhibitions in the museum each year.  It is precisely this dynamism that makes the museum integral to the campus.”