now on view in History of the Hot Hall at SEI: Sean Mellyn, Untitled (Big Girl Diptych), 1997-98, oil on canvas, 116” x 48”
The West Family began collecting contemporary art in 1996, with the goal of sharing the artworks to SEI, the financial services company founded by Al West. SEI, headquartered in Oaks, PA, where 4,000 people now work, has been treated as an experimental gallery where all spaces are open and collaborative. To date, the Wests have collected the work of 810 artists, and the collection contains over 4,000 artworks. At any given time 400-500 of the pieces are on view at SEI, arranged in curated exhibitions and carefully selected installations. Paige West has extended artwork loans beyond SEI to the Kimmel Center for a 10 year loan rotation and has made works available to numerous institutions for exhibitions including the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Broad, and the Tate Modern.
Tours of the West Collection at SEI are scheduled in advance by emailing: tours@westcollection.org