COLUMBIA, Mo. • Philip Coleman pulled a framed print out of a stack of artwork, revealing a portrait of Pablo Picasso created by Salvador Dali. A number in the corner revealed that the print was the 189th of 200 of its kind.

"It's significant," he said, returning the piece to its spot in storage in the basement of Tower Hall on the Stephens College campus.

There are a lot of significant pieces of artwork in the college's collection. But many are long forgotten, stored in locked rooms.

Coleman, the husband of Stephens President Dianne Lynch, plans to change that. He plans to catalogue every piece of artwork on campus.

He has his work cut out for him. In the Tower Hall archives alone, there are hundreds of prints, drawings and paintings. Some are by well-known artists, such as the "War Theme" photograph of dancer Martha Graham taken by Barbara Morgan; a screen print of James Rosenquist's "Somewhere to Light" and a lithograph of cottonwood trees by Birger Sandzen.

The school also has other types of art, most of which is stored in boxes in the library. Among the artifacts are porcelain dishes, stone figures and ceremonial masks from islands in the South Pacific.

Having an accessible database of the artwork should ensure that the pieces won't go missing in the future as some have in the past. Judith Clark, chairwoman of the English and creative writing department and a longtime faculty member, remembers some presidents who sold off art. Although some sold pieces to plug budget holes, others added or got rid of artwork based on their personal preferences.

"It wasn't public knowledge as to what was coming in or going out," she said.