Postcrypt Art Gallery regains home in St. Paul’s for new term

After growing tensions between St. Paul’s Chapel and Postcrypt Art Gallery came to a head last fall, Columbia’s student-run undergraduate art gallery is hoping for renewed success in the new semester.

Last November, the gallery was left homeless after it was banned from its home in the basement of St. Paul’s. Reportedly, the walls were damaged by nails used to hang pieces of artwork for display. Since then, the student leaders of Postcrypt Art Gallery have successfully negotiated with the Office of the University Chaplain to continue putting on the group’s shows in the chapel’s basement space.

Postcrypt President Ian Kwok, CC ’11, and former Spectator deputy photo editor, said that “after promising to restructure our art hanging procedure, they agreed to let us back into the chapel for the spring semester.”

While Postcrypt Art Gallery and Postcrypt Coffeehouse are functionally independent organizations, the two groups are closely related and have confronted some of the same obstacles in recent months. After the imposition of new and stricter alcohol regulations on the Coffeehouse in December, it remains uncertain whether the group will be able to hold onto its location in St. Paul’s in the long term.

“As partners and friends of the Coffeehouse,” Kwok said, “the Art Gallery is offering whatever help we can, and we fully support the integrity and importance of their organization.”

If anything positive has come out of the gallery’s recent problems with the University administration, it is an increased recognition of the value of collaborative efforts. After the gallery was banned from St. Paul’s in the fall, other student groups reached out to the group with opportunities to team up on future projects. Most significantly, Postcrypt Art Gallery established a key connection with Potluck House, which provided a location for the “Obstacles” show in December, produced in collaboration with the Columbia University National Undergraduate Film Festival.

In the meantime, the gallery plans to continue hosting future art shows and other events in the gallery space in St. Paul’s. Kwok said of the organization’s current situation: “There’s still kind of a dark cloud over Postcrypt, but we’re taking a practical approach and we’ve been able to work with the administration, and I think it’s been in our best interest.”

Postcrypt Art Gallery will be hosting its first show of the spring semester, “Scarlet Fever,” on Friday, Feb. 26 from 8 to 10 p.m. in the basement of St. Paul’s Chapel. The theme of the show will be the color red.