JCCC’s permanent art collection

Recognizing the important role that Johnson County Community College 

Do Ho Suh, Some/One, 2004, stainless steel military dog tags, steel structure, fiberglass resin, fabric, dimensions: 75 x 114 x 132", collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, JCCC, gift of Marti and Tony Oppenheimer and the Oppenheimer Brothers Foundation

could play in cultivating an awareness and appreciation of the visual arts, in 1980 the college’s board of trustees approved a yearly art acquisition program. A guiding principle for the acquisitions was that the works be installed in a variety of locations throughout the campus. Accessibility and visibility were deemed vital to ensuring that art would be readily available to students and the community. Ultimately, the trustees thought, a permanent collection best enables students to directly engage with art on a daily basis. For many students, the works of art they encounter on college campuses are their first exposure to the richness and diversity of artistic expression. 

Since then, JCCC has been collecting contemporary art from around the world, each year adding new pieces to the collection. Today, the work of more than 600 local, regional, national and international artists is represented in JCCC’s prestigious collection, which features a diverse range of painting, photography, clay, sculpture and works on paper. The college’s collection is installed in “focus” areas in the corridors, dining halls and other highly visible and accessible locations around campus, sparking a spontaneous engagement with art for students, faculty, staff and visitors.

In April 2006, Public Art Review magazine named JCCC as one of the top 10 university/college campuses for public art in America, citing the outdoor sculpture and the paintings, ceramics, photography and works on paper installed throughout the campus.