Lora Brueck and Art at the Heart of the Library

Lora Brueck (1948–2025) was a beloved colleague and brilliant artist who, over her long career at WPI, made time and space for art at the heart of WPI’s library and the Institute itself. 

Hired in 1974 as Gordon Library’s first official archivist, she made celebrated contributions to Worcester’s arts community both before and after her official retirement in 2013, including co-founding Worcester’s stART, an innovative citywide arts celebration on the street that started in 2002.

I first met this lovely, observant woman when I joined WPI in early 2017, just as she was wrapping up a few years of post-retirement support for library projects. She wore the most beautiful colors and her eyes shone with quiet humor and the flow of good ideas. Over the years, I’ve learned more about the profound and lasting influence Lora had, not only on the WPI library and archives but on Worcester’s art and cultural communities.

As I was first learning about WPI—so unique and surprising in many ways—I was delighted to discover the special place art held at Gordon Library from its very first days. Music and art have been part of the student experience at the library from the beginning. Historic photographs from the early 1970s show headphone-wearing students relaxing and listening to records in the library’s music room; other students can be seen reading, curled up on comfortable chairs, under brightly colorful artworks.

I learned that early in the library’s history, members of the Class of 1941 dedicated a spacious exhibit hall on the upper floor, just steps from the original home of the WPI archives. A second gallery opened in 2006 honoring the memory of WPI’s beloved first professor of drawing, George E. Gladwin (1829–1920). The first exhibition in the new gallery featured work by students in WPI’s brand new Interactive Media and Game Development program.

And I learned about Lora—that she was hired by the library’s first director, Albert Anderson, and that from the beginning they shared an enjoyment of and dedication to bringing art into the library. While Anderson acquired unusual artistic treasures—among them Inuit woodblock prints, indigenous pottery, and bold contemporary fine arts—Lora, a gifted artist specializing in photography, collage, and artist’s books, became the library’s gallery coordinator, bringing to life the founding vision of the library as a place for art at WPI. She curated dozens of exhibitions of work by local artists and members of the WPI community, starting a series of monthly art shows that, in the words of ArtsWorcester, offered area artists “a much-needed space to show their work, while ensuring a vibrant arts presence at an engineering school.” 

Lora’s artistic sense and her creativity in using technologies—so notable in her own photography—were present, too, in archival projects that brought rare and visually exciting special collections to the broadest possible audience through digitization. One collection consisted of 29 hand-drawn diaries kept by alumnus Theo Brown, Class of 1901, who is famed for his design of John Deere tractors. Brown’s digitized diaries can now be found in Digital WPI. Another major initiative was Project Boz, which, over many years, digitized all of Charles Dickens’ novels in their original serial form, complete with advertisements and illustrations. This is also now shared with the world through Digital WPI.

In 1984, Lora wrote and published a history of Higgins House, A Passion Fulfilled for All to Enjoy, sharing the aesthetic and human stories of this iconic building on the WPI campus. As with so many of her contributions, we continue to be inspired by and build on Lora’s work. The story of Higgins House was given fresh life just last year as the University Archives released a modern digital exhibition. (See the Archivist column for more on this project.)

As the Gordon Library moves into its second half-century, we’re continuing to build on Lora’s vision and gifts, working together to brighten library spaces and to create new places for student and community artists to share their work. There couldn’t be a prouder or more fitting “thank you” to Lora than to do as she did for so long and with such a generous and creative spirit: Continue to bring our community together around their shared creativity and around their passions, “fulfilled for all to enjoy.”

University Librarian Anna Keller Gold joined WPI in 2017.

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