College students can borrow a real Picasso for their dorm room : NPR

UChicago students borrow original art for their dorms toggle caption Alison Cuddy for NPR Students returning to college this fall are busy with the usual activities - getting to know their professors or studying in the library. This year, the University introduced a new policy that states “no University spaces, indoor or outdoor, may be used by anyone for overnight stays or as places to sleep.” Sponsor Message Instead, the Smart implemented a series of check-ins over a two-day long weekend “Art Match,” where students could secure a place in line and demonstrate they were committed to showing up. “It’s astonishing to be a part of this and have these like priceless, you know works of art and also like pieces of history…just in a dorm room!” Vanja Malloy, the Smart’s Director, says there aren’t many programs like this – it is a lot of work. He said he wasn’t nervous about having museum-quality art in his dorm because he trusted that the university was “taking all the procedures it needs” to cover any damage, adding that he considered it a “great honor to live with such great works.” Lauren Payne, who runs Art to Live With, says the Smart expects students “to be good stewards of the work and they take it very seriously.” “Accidents definitely happen,” Payne says.