Groton — The Alexey von Schlippe Gallery will reopen this fall, although it won’t be exactly what supporters of the long-running site had pushed for.

The gallery on the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point campus closed its doors last summer. UConn officials, dealing with huge budgets cuts from the state, had decided to eliminate the gallery’s curator-director position, which totaled about $100,000 in salary and benefits.

Julia Pavone had been the curator-director since she and now-UConn Professor Emeritus David Madacsi founded the von Schlippe in 1992.

A group of von Schlippe advocates — including Madacsi, area artists, New London and Groton city councilors and state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague — traveled to Storrs in September to plead their case to the UConn Board of Trustees. Part of their request was that a full-time, professional curator-director's position be instated, as opposed to having a grad student run the site part-time for $36,000, as UConn has proposed.

Under UConn's latest plan, the gallery will be run by a full-time director who has the title of assistant professor in residence of art and who will teach two art courses annually at Avery Point.

The gallery will be available to the public as well as to the campus community, and hours will be as they were before, noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. It will feature six exhibitions each year, along with a permanent exhibition of works by Alexey von Schlippe, the late UConn professor for whom the gallery is named.

The art shows during the academic year will, according to the gallery outline, connect to “the University’s Academic Plan, the General Education curriculum, the specialized majors and courses offered at Avery Point, (and) University initiatives in the arts and culture, including UConn Reads and the Ensemble-in-Residence Program.” In addition, “Exhibitions that originate at the Benton Museum, Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, or Contemporary Art Galleries may travel to Avery Point and vice versa.”

During the summer, there will be a juried exhibition of works by Connecticut artists.

In the past, the von Schlippe gallery focused a great deal on works by local and regional artists and featured one solo show a year. Pieces by von Schlippe also were showcased.

UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said that the salary for the director/assistant professor in residence will depend on where the person falls on the American Association of University Professors contract in terms of such factors as experience.

She also said it will be important for the new director to be part of the discussions about the content and organization of the gallery’s exhibitions, so decisions about those issues will wait until the director is hired.

“Our goal is to create a juried exhibition for local artists tied to the summer tourist season on the coast and as programming for the campus during summer classes. Local artists may also be included in thematic and other exhibitions during the academic year, as appropriate,” Reitz said.

Madacsi, who has been a leading force in the drive to save the von Schlippe, said, “I’m happy for the campus and the community that something will remain. There is a general sense that people are pleased about that. But, in some ways, people are questioning why was this closed at all?”

He added that, while having a person working full-time at UConn and running the gallery is a positive, “there has been a strong feeling that the gallery was something that presented a lot of opportunities for artists all over the state to have these solo exhibitions — that was a significant thing.”

Another change: none of the artwork featured in the exhibitions will be sold, as they used to be. The UConn plan states, “As a matter of University policy, the Gallery will no longer sell works of art.”

State officials, though, are emphasizing the importance of the gallery being reopened, even in an altered form.

State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, said, “The good news is the gallery will reopen. ... We came to the best agreement that we can at this point, which is reopening the gallery and having them search for the director of the gallery that they feel is the best match for the gallery moving forward. I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

She also said, “Unfortunately, we might not be able to get everything as it was as far as the gallery is concerned, but I want to look at it as an opportunity to improve on perhaps or provide different opportunities than we’ve had in the past. ... And we now have a gallery, where, a few months ago, it was completely closed. So I think it’s exciting news for our region. We will get there. It will take a little time, but we will get there.”

She said UConn officials are looking at works created by Alexey von Schlippe to determine which pieces will remain here and which will be crated and sent back to his family in Germany.

Somers and Osten had been set to meet with gallery proponents to discuss the UConn plan but had to postpone. That session will be rescheduled, Somers said.

Madacsi said, “So many people have worked so hard on this and have attended numerous meetings, and at times there have been 25 to 30 people there, over at least a year’s period, which has really surprised me, how much support there has been in the community for what has been there (at the gallery). This (new plan) will be very different from what was.”

He also said that Pavone should be celebrated for her contributions to the gallery.

In a statement, Annemarie Seifert, campus director at UConn Avery Point, said, “UConn is very pleased we were able to work with elected officials from Southeastern Connecticut and members of the community to come to an agreement that keeps the gallery open, and adds to the cultural enrichment of the region. We are excited to expand the function of the gallery to include an important academic component that will deepen students' understanding and appreciation for the arts, while also complementing their academic experience.”

In a phone interview, Seifert said that she will meet with the people who fought for the gallery and would like to find ways for them to be engaged with the gallery as it reopens.

She said that, while the gallery won’t be exactly as it was before, “I’m hoping that through positive engagement with one another, it will actually be progress and the next step. I’m very committed to that. I think the gallery is and can continue to be a very special space, not only for UConn but for the region as a whole. I’m just very optimistic moving forward that we’re going to come out the other side with a product that’s really fantastic.”

Seifert said the gallery will definitely “be looking at working with Connecticut artists, and I’m extremely interested in artists in the southeastern Connecticut region.”

At the same time, while the gallery is without a staff to curate, it’s possible that some exhibitions from UConn’s Benton and Ballard museums in Storrs could travel to the von Schlippe gallery.

“The increased partnership that we’ll have across the UConn campuses can only make the program stronger,” she said.

 k.dorsey@theday.com