University student has big idea of putting little art gallery in a school locker

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia Samsel believes that size doesn't matter when it comes to art. And this budding artist should know. She has turned a 14-inch locker into a mini art gallery.

Yes, a locker. The same kind of locker that usually houses books, sneakers and bagged lunches.

But the ugly green Locker 50B at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond now has wood floors and white walls making it appear like a dollhouse room without furniture. The art gallery currently features several two-dimensional drawings from the teenagers in VCU'S Summer Intensive Program. Some are self-portraits, others feature different aspects of life and nature.

"I think people find it charming -- almost amusing at first, because they weren't really expecting it to be a locker," Samsel said.

Samsel, 24, came up with the idea for the tiny gallery while she was an art student at VCU. She used to keep her miniature drawings and sculptures in Locker 50B. Her friends used to tease her about her homemade art gallery. So she made it into one. She has been running exhibits in the locker, since 2002, and more regularly since she was hired as the official curator a year ago.

Each new collection usually opens with a reception in the hallway of VCU's Fine Arts Building on the 3rd floor. Samsel chooses a color to go with each one. That means for the last show, she was serving circus peanuts (those orange marshmallow snacks), orange soda, candy orange slices and carrots to about 50 people, mostly the teenage art students.

Everyone waited patiently for their turn to peer through a plastic glass window that is held in by a few screws in the front of the locker. The locker lights up when a person steps on the weight sensitive welcome mat in front of it.

The Locker 50B Project, which is now an official VCUarts project, has displayed the work of undergraduate and graduate students, VCU faculty, alumni and professional artists.

Maintaining the gallery is a part-time job for Samsel, who also waitresses and creates her own art. She says that when it comes to art, any size should still be taken seriously.

"I never had the need or urge that some people do to make larger pieces," Samsel said. "It's just kinda the way I think about things -- small pieces and everything kind of coming together."

On the web:

http://www.myspace.com/vcuartslocker50b

http://www.vcu.edu/arts/locker50b/