University of Wyoming Art Museum Academic Plan 2004-2009 December 1, 2003   Introduction   The UW Art Museum strives to serve the University of Wyoming through its mission to collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret a broad spectrum of the visual arts of the highest quality and of national and international prominence for this and future generations.  This mission distinguishes the Art Museum among Wyoming’s museums.  Its primary goals are to be a premier Rocky Mountain regional museum that contributes to the cultural life of Wyoming through dynamic exhibition, education, and outreach programs and a distinguished collection, and to serve as a resource for a broad range of academic programs, both at the university and K-12 levels.  Its accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM) is a testimony to the Art Museum’s professional methods of operation.   Since 2000, the Art Museum has been in transition.  A change in leadership in the Director’s office has resulted in an interdisciplinary approach to exhibitions, education, and outreach that emphasize the connections between visual arts of the highest accomplishment and relevant critical inquiry with a wide variety of subjects and disciplines.  With the support of the University administration and academic deans, the National Advisory Board raises essential dollars for the Art Museum’s programs through the annual Gala and Silent Auction.  A board retreat in early 2003 has resulted in guiding the further development of the National Advisory Board.  Staff reorganization and changes in key personnel have furthered the Art Museum’s administrative, development, promotional, and outreach activities.   Primary areas of focus for the next five years center on the Art Museum’s facility, collection, reaccreditation, visibility and an enhanced museum visitor experience, increased use of museum as a teaching tool and resource, and attaining our Distinction Campaign goal.    I.          Progress Report on 1999 Academic Plan Action Items   Encourage a stronger relationship between the Art Department and the Art Museum   The Art Museum and the Art Department have established an ongoing cooperative relationship that includes exhibitions, visiting artists, student internships, an enhanced juried student exhibition, and use of the museum exhibitions and collections as a resource for studio and art history classes.    Every exhibition, visiting artist and scholar, and related public program can support and enhance an art student’s understanding of media, process, intellectual inquiry, and creative expression.  The Art Museum’s exhibition program’s focus on contemporary art by established and emerging artists from regional, national, and international locals is especially important to art and art education students in gaining a first-hand understanding of the art and arts profession today.  Over the last five years, nationally prominent visiting artists and scholars (many co-sponsored by the Art Department or other UW departments) have offered art students direct access to artists and thinkers who are at the forefront of American creativity.  These have included:  MacArthur Fellows Liza Lou, Pepón Osorio, and David Wilson; Guggenheim Fellows Emmett Gowin, Michiko Itatani, Linda Connor, Ursula Von Rydingsvard, and UW Professor John Dorst; and NEA Fellow Robert Dawson.   The Art Museum has a 29-year history of supporting student art through the Annual Juried Student Exhibition (see II. Connections with Curriculum) and is eager to recognize advances in the creative work of the Art Department faculty with the presentation of the Art Department Faculty Exhibition every third academic year.  The Art Museum has also incorporated exhibitions proposed by the Art Department into its exhibition program (see II. Connections with Curriculum) and has worked with the AHC to guarantee a minimum of two exhibitions annually by the Art Department in the Centennial Complex Gallery.    One of two faculty representatives on the Art Museum’s Collection Advisory Committee is a faculty member from the Art Department.   Recent support of the Art Museum by the Art Department faculty is also noteworthy.  The Art Museum has benefited directly and substantially over the past three years from the generous donations of art made by the Art Department faculty to the annual Gala Auction.   B.         Administrative Structure of the Art Museum, AHC, and Libraries   In 2000, an advisory committee chaired by A&S Dean Oliver Walter convened to assess the reporting structure of the Art Museum, AHC, and Libraries.  Their report identified several issues related to institutional cooperation and collections clarification, in particular, the issue of art collections held in the AHC and that of ethnographic and material culture artifacts collected by the Art Museum, AHC, and Anthropology Museum.  Also noted was support for an expanded Centennial Complex that could better exhibit UW’s collections and create a single cultural destination for Wyoming’s residents and tourists.   C.    Budgetary Support of the Art Museum   An audit of the Art Museum’s finances and an assessment of core programs by Academic Affairs resulted in an increase in the Art Museum’s state allocation from the University.  This has significantly stabilized the Art Museum’s operation and energized the National Advisory Board’s development efforts in support of programs and collections.   II.  Connections with Curriculum   The visual arts are by their very nature interdisciplinary.  Art synthesizes cultural, social, historical, and philosophical ideas, human experience, and imagination.  With this in mind, the Art Museum has initiated an exhibition and education program that contextualizes the finest art in ways that offer associations with university curriculum and subjects of interest to our statewide constituencies and visitors.  The millennial program Landscape 2000 initiated this approach, Innovation and Renovation: The Evolving Architectural Landscape of Laramie (2003) has furthered it, and a variety of upcoming programs will extend it into other academic interest areas.  For example, a program that explores the mythology of the bull and its manifestation in human civilization will present antiquities from Mesopotamia, Crete, and Egypt; paintings by Picasso, Delacroix, and Goya; and American art and artifacts pertinent to rodeo culture in an exhibition drawn from major museums in the U.S. (2005).  A program on the Polar Regions will find associations with the humanities and the sciences, including Art, American Studies, Anthropology, Atmospheric Science, History, Law, Literature, Music, Theater, and Zoology (2006).    Landscape 2000 also introduced a model for establishing advisory committees to further enhance connections to a wide range of academic programs, regional and national cultural institutions, state agencies, galleries, museums, and collectors.  It is a model that has effectively addressed the broad programmatic mission of the Art Museum, engaging the expertise of a wide spectrum of faculty and community members, assisting with integrating the programs into curricula, and enhancing the Art Museum’s public programs.  For example, the advisory committee for Innovation and Renovation included UW faculty, AHC and SHPO representatives, an Ivinson Mansion board member, and the Art Museum’s curatorial staff.  Many committee members and AHC faculty presented public programs that significantly enhanced the interpretive and educational aspects of the program.  The exhibition was also the subject of research for an American Studies Architectural History class (Professor Mary Humstone) that utilized the AHC and other research resources in Laramie.    The Art Museum welcomes exhibition ideas and proposals that offer an opportunity to present the finest art with subjects of new research, scholarship, and curricular importance.  The recent collaboration with American Studies and the National Museum of Wildlife Art (Framing the Wild: Animals on Display based on Professor John Dorst’s research on the history of taxidermy and hunting culture) exemplifies this kind of opportunity.  Considerations for program development include capacity to further the Art Museum’s mission, capacity for fundraising and departmental financial support, programmatic considerations within the Art Museum exhibition schedule, and capacity for pertinent related educational programs and scholarly publications.    The Art Museum is becoming a resource for or subject of UW curricular needs.  For example:   ·         During the last two years, Dr. Daniel Dale’s Physics class has used the museum’s painting by Paul Signac, Barques de Pêche á Marseille, as a source for studying optics and human vision. ·         In the spring 2003, the Art Museum was the subject of a study conducted by Dr. Stacy Baker’s Marketing class in which 55 students analyzed the Art Museum operation and accessibility for visitors.   The study resulted in 11 marketing plans on the subjects of visitor services, museum store, restaurant, exhibitions, education, development, and website.  ·         During the fall 2002, a major international exhibition, Off-Register: New Directions in Printmaking, was incorporated into the Art Museum exhibition schedule and a second, independently curated exhibition, Mixed Metaphors:  blurring the geography of printmaking, technology & art, was presented in the Art Museum Multipurpose Room in cooperation with Professor Mark Ritchie’s Mid-America Print Conference.  ·         Exhibiting artists have visited classrooms, conducted discussions, and met with students in a number of departments and programs including American Indian Studies, American Studies, Art, Art Education, English, History, Philosophy, and Women’s Studies. ·         In the fall 2004, artist Willie Cole will meet with UW students, including those in African American Studies, American Studies, Art, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.  Cole will also collaborate on a performance with dance and music students.  ·         The Art Museum exhibitions and collections are increasingly used for curricular research and assignments in Art, English, American Studies, and History.   Art Museum staff members have visited the classrooms of many departments, including American Studies (Eric Sandeen/John Dorst), Art Education (Lydia Dambekalns/Allen Trent), Art History (Colleen Denney), History (Brian Hosmer/Phil Roberts), English (Alyson Hagy/Ann McCutchan), and Geography & Recreation (Sandra Hubert).   The Annual Juried Student Exhibition provides an important forum for UW students, the majority of which are art majors, to prepare and present their work to a professional curator, museum director, or gallery owner who serves as a juror for the exhibition.  Those students whose work is selected, experience the presentation of their work in a museum setting and participate in what is for many their first opportunity to discuss their work publicly at an exhibition walkthrough.  Notable artistic accomplishments are recognized through a variety of cash and purchase awards, which, in recent years, has expanded campus-wide to include the UW President’s Office, Academic Affairs, A&S Dean’s Office, Student Affairs, UW Libraries, ASUW, and a private donor (new in 2004).  The Student Art League organizes the Salon de Refusés, which presents artwork not selected for the Art Museum juried exhibition.   III.       Student Outcome Assessment   Not applicable as the Art Museum is not a curricular unit.     IV.       Areas of Distinction   Statewide leadership in arts, culture, and humanities   The Art Museum plays a significant role in providing statewide leadership in the arts, culture, and humanities, one of the areas of distinction identified in Moving Forward III.  The Art Museum is unique among Wyoming’s museums, offering a diverse program of the highest artistic accomplishments across the broad spectrum of the arts throughout time and from cultures around the world.  The Art Museum’s programmatic focus on contemporary art, issues of the American West, and art from around the world is fundamental to preparing students in all disciplines about the art of today and to enhancing the state’s cultural climate.  Accredited by the American Association of Museums, its programs are of the caliber presented in museums in our nation’s larger urban and metropolitan settings.  In addition:   ·         The Art Museum is a member of the Colorado-Wyoming Museum Association (COWAM), the Mountain-Plains Museum Association (MPMA), National Art Education Association (NAEA), and recently joined the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and its University Museums and Collections Committee (UMAC). ·         The Art Museum and the AHC hosted the first meeting of the newly formed Wyoming Cultural Institutions Committee that includes representatives from Wyoming museums, archives, historic sites, and libraries. ·         A paper on the Ann Simpson Artmobile as a model for meaningful outreach for rural and distant communities submitted by Susan Moldenhauer, Director/Chief Curator, was accepted for the UMAC conference in September 2003. ·         Scott Boberg, Curator of Education, is past president and has served on the Albany County Tourism Board for the past five years. ·         Sarah Laughlin, Assistant Curator, is the Wyoming State Representative of the COWAM board of directors. ·         E.K.  Kim, Collections Manager, is a member of the AAM Registrar’s Committee.   Professions and issues critical to the region   Opportunities for professional development are an important aspect of the AM’s support of students.  In addition to offering a resource of exhibitions and visiting artists for future studio artists, interns, work-study, and part-time employment opportunities provide hands-on work experience in the areas of research, education, collections, exhibition preparation, graphic design, and retail.  This experience has enabled many of our student workforce to find jobs or pursue their education or work in the arts.  For example:   Work-study/interns in Collection Management ·         Nene Ito (Humanities/Fine Arts, BA94) and Gaelle Le Yaouanc (Humanities/Fine Arts, BA 98; French, MA 2000) are working in galleries in Tokyo and France respectively ·         Sylvia Cisneros  (History, BS 99) is employed in the collections department of Chihuly Studios, Seattle ·         Former part-time student employees in Exhibitions ·         Becky Menlove (American Studies, BA 96; American Studies, MA 98) is the Interim Exhibits Manager, Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City ·         Bettina Demetz (Fine Arts candidate) is the Exhibit Specialist, Gerald Ford Museum, Grand Rapids, MI ·         Joe Ellis (Fine Arts candidate) served as Director/Curator of the Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper (1998 - 2002) ·         Ramona East (Anthropology, BA 93) is the Museum Technician/Historian of the Museum and Archival Center at Fort Sill, OK ·         Sterling Smith (Fine Arts, BA 99) is the Art Museum’s current Chief Preparator ·         Interns in the Education Department ·         Liz Fleming (Fine Arts, BA 2000), Tracy Tominc (Art Education, BA 99), Amy Auyer (Art Education, BA 2001) and Amy Epstein (Art Education, BA 2002) are teaching at the primary or elementary levels ·         Rayne Sternberg (Art, BA 2004) interned at San Jose Children’s Museum last summer ·         Interns in Graphic Design ·         Sven Peterson (Art, BA 1996), David Coleman (Journalism, BA 93; Art, BA 94), and Kevin Flaim (Art, BA 1994) are all pursuing successful careers in graphic design   Diversity, Internationalization, and Access   Another area of distinction is outreach and service to the state.  Art Express has two programs, both over 20 years in service: the Ann Simpson Artmobile Program and the Regional Touring Exhibition Service (RTEX).  The Ann Simpson Artmobile is a premier outreach program that brings art education and appreciation to Wyoming’s communities, no matter how small or geographically remote.  Its current exhibition, From Beadwork to Bronze: Celebrating Wyoming’s Diverse Heritage in Art (through 2004), includes objects from the Art Museum and AHC collections plus a number of works by artists of diverse ethnic backgrounds who are living and working in Wyoming today.  The RTEX tours as many as eight exhibitions on diverse themes including western and contemporary art to Wyoming’s libraries, community centers, galleries, and museums.  During FY02, the Artmobile visited 28 venues and reached 5,042 students, teachers, and residents, and RTEX circulated 6 exhibitions to 39 communities and served 71,741 residents and visitors.    Since relocating into the Centennial Complex, the Art Museum has developed a distinguished exhibition and education program, presenting an average of 20 in-house exhibitions annually and the Guthrie Gallery is devoted to the presentation of special permanent collection exhibitions.  Approximately 30 percent of the in-house exhibitions are drawn from the collection, as are 70 percent of the traveling exhibitions.  The K-12 education program reaches statewide through annual field trips to the Art Museum.  After-school and Saturday classes in the Shelton Art Studio offer meaningful art education opportunities, and free community-based programs are presented annually (March Art Month, Paint Pony Express, Happy Holidays, Laramie!).   The Art Museum has a collection of 7,000 objects that can be generally categorized as art from the US, Europe, and Asia as well as artifacts from the Americas, Africa, and Easter Island.  The strength of the collection is its print collection, and the primary focus of the collection is American and European art.  Historically, the collection has been assembled primarily through gifts.  Although it is the foundation of any museum, the Art Museum activities in collection and preservation have languished over the last 15 years.  This is a result of planning, building, and relocated to the Centennial Complex, which expanded the Art Museum’s exhibition and education programs and added a museum store to the Art Museum’s operations.  It is now time to address this aspect of the Art Museum’s operation.   (See Collections under Issues in MFIII Germane to the Art Museum)   The history and culture of Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain region   Articulating Wyoming’s history and issues of the American West is another driving theme of the Art Museum’s programs.  Programs such as The Buffalo in Art and Culture: Legacy of an American Icon, Embracing the Future: Native American Art and Culture on the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century, Landscape 2000, and Saddlemaking in Wyoming: History, Utility, and Art are but a few of the exhibitions that have been mounted over the last decade that have addressed regional history an culture and have been cooperative programs with other units on campus.   V.        Issues in Moving Forward III germane to the Art Museum   Collections   The Art Museum collection is the source for exhibitions, education, research, and scholarship.  Art Museum acquisition funds remain inadequate, though recent endowments established through the Distinction Campaign, most notably the Patricia R. Guthrie Special Projects Endowment, have set the stage for enhanced acquisition opportunities over the next decade.  An assessment of the Art Museum collection, identifying and separating its “teaching” collection from its permanent collection, and clarifying its collecting areas is long overdue.  Developing the Art Museum’s Collection Advisory Committee to address issues of acquisition and to offer an informed determination of collecting priorities, in addition to identifying possible art patrons who may have the capacity to contribute art to fill in these inadequacies, is critical to strengthening the collection.  The last published catalog on the Art Museum collection was produced in the mid 1980s.  As prudently noted in the Report of the Libraries, American Heritage Center, and Museums Panel (2000), the lack of an art historian on the Art Museum staff is a great concern.  It is imperative that the Art Museum find a way to add a Curator of Collections to its staff, an art historian whose expertise mirrors that of the collection (American Art and Twentieth Century Art), so that the ongoing shortfalls of the collection, scholarship, and publication can be addressed.  We have had preliminary discussions with American Studies to explore creating a shared 2/3:1/3 position, and the opportunity to endow a chair for this position has been added to the Art Museum’s Long Term Development Plan.  Postponing the addition of a Curator of Collections position will delay our ability to accomplish our collection-related goals.   Integrating the Art Museum collection in a single-search Internet capability with the AHC, UW Libraries, and Law Library remains a high priority in providing public access (with images) to the collection.    Replacing the Art Museum’s collection management hardware and software with a system that is compatible with the Internet search engine interface is also a high priority.   Institutionally, UW has tremendously important collections on its campus, including those in the Art Museum, AHC, Geology, Archaeology, Anthropology, and the Insect Gallery.  Collecting areas that overlap dilute collections and duplicate resources; thus, it is imperative that the Art Museum and AHC resolve the issue of art in the AHC.  Additionally, both the Art Museum and AHC have collections of ethnographic material that should be clarified with the collecting direction of the Anthropology Museum.   Exhibitions   Art Museum exhibitions have been developed to link with a variety of disciplines and subjects of interest on campus and to our broader statewide constituencies and visitors.  Furthering connections to curricular interests and regional and national cultural institutions is important to establishing the Art Museum as a regionally important institution.  The contemporary art programming has gained regional attention.   Culturally diverse programs offer material unavailable otherwise in Wyoming.   Education   Meaningful K-12 education is fundamental to the Art Museum’s youth programs.  The Art Museum has had preliminary success in finding links between exhibitions and areas of discourse within UW.   We will continue to explore, expand, and strengthen these linkings over the next planning cycle.    Working with College of Education faculty such as Allen Trent, the Art Museum is developing resource information for classroom teachers that demonstrates the ways in which museum exhibitions and educational programming (including tours) meet the recently-instituted Wyoming Visual and Performing Arts Standards.    Outreach   The Art Museum’s outreach service, Art Express, is comprised of the Ann Simpson Artmobile Program and the Regional Touring Exhibition Service.  Historically, the Ann Simpson Artmobile Program has served primarily K-12 audiences, including those on the Wind River Reservation and the Migrant School.  In the past few years, the program has also included visits to senior centers, libraries, community centers, and state park visitor centers.  A new partnership with the Outreach School is advancing our goal of “bringing the arts to communities” throughout Wyoming by offering evening open houses for parents and residents.  Including Wyoming artists in the Artmobile exhibition offers recognition to artists and mentoring opportunities in their respective communities, and encourages professions in the arts.   Reaccreditation   In 2005, the Art Museum will initiate its reaccreditation review with the American Association of Museums (AAM).  Essential to retaining full accreditation status is the resolution of a number of issues that effect the Art Museum operation and its facility.  These major issues include security in the Centennial Complex (software, hardware, and personnel), leaks within the facility (both discussed under V. Facility), and the replacement of the now defunct Argus Collection Management System (hardware and software, discussed under V. Collections).    Facility   Security is a growing concern due to outdated computer hardware and software, aging and insufficient equipment (cameras, monitors, etc.) and inadequate personnel.  With the establishment of the TransPark department in 2002, the UWPD lost significant part-time student positions, which have dramatically and directly impacted availability of guards for the galleries and the loading dock entrance to the facility.  A forthcoming report from LCI Consultants is anticipated to identify needs in these areas.   The issue of leaks is another dominating concern.  Current investigations of water leaking into the building by Facilities Planning suggest that there are two distinct issues: the copper clad cone structure and the concrete that comprises the front entrance and sculpture terrace.  Preliminary reports suggest that a recommendation is forthcoming that will deal with these issues separately.  In the case of the concrete, the proposal is anticipated to be one of removing the existing concrete, repairing the substructure, and re-pouring the concrete.  This has been done on the terrace on a smaller scale but has not resolved the leaking issue into the collection storage and work areas underneath it.    If this is the proposal that comes forward, it would be prudent to explore an alternative solution that would resolve the leaks and simultaneously, turn a currently under-utilized area of the Centennial Complex into a multi-use space.  Covering the terrace to create an indoor atrium could become a gathering place, a meeting space, perhaps a food service area.  Historically, the sculpture terrace, with its direct exposure to the elements (glaring sun in the summer, wind year-round, and dangerously icy conditions during the winter), has not functioned well as an outdoor space for sculpture or for visitors.   The other under-utilized area of the facility is the former Centennial Complex Restaurant on the lower level of the building.  Again, as a public area of the facility, a task force with Art Museum and AHC representatives should be established to assess future appropriate use of this space.   VI.       Other issues germane to the Art Museum   Restaurant   In order to enhance the Art Museum and AHC visitor experience, some form of food service needs to be available in the Centennial Complex.  A task force with representatives from the Art Museum, AHC, and others as appropriate should be established to assess this need and make recommendations for its successful resolution.   Museum Store   In 2002, a new mission for the Museum Store was established and identified four primary areas that would further the Store’s support of the Art Museum collection and education mission, as well as enhance visitors’ experience: ·         “exit store” of items directly related to exhibitions, ·         children’s store of special and unique children’s items, ·         fine gifts including original crafts, and ·         product development based on the Art Museum collection.    Efforts continue to integrate products developed by the AHC into the Museum Store.  We have also re-instated an advertising plan for the Art Museum and the Store in order reach a broad base of constituents, notably students on campus and visitors along the Front Range.    VII.     Action items for 2004-2009   1.    Address issues of leaks and security in the Centennial Complex in order that we can maintain our essential function of preserving and protecting our collections   2.    Achieve reaccreditation by the American Association of Museums   3.    Advance cooperative and curricular connections with UW colleges, departments, and programs; cultural institutions statewide and globally; and others that further the Art Museum’s programmatic goals.  These goals include a commitment to contemporary art and art of all periods; exploring issues of the American West; and presenting culturally-diverse subjects through exhibitions, education programs, on-line access, publications, and scholarship.   4.    Acquire and implement a compatible secure electronic collections management system for the Art Museum and achieve public access to the Art Museum collection through an Internet search engine integrated with the UW Libraries, AHC, and Law Library   5.    Explore funding opportunities to add an Art Historian/Curator of Collections to the Art Museum staff to facilitate collection development, curation, research, and scholarship   6.    Resolve art collecting issues with the AHC and strengthen Art Museum collections through reinvigorating the Art Museum Collections Committee and its activities   7.    Enhance Art Express (Ann Simpson Artmobile Program and Regional Touring Exhibition Service) through exploring new initiatives with the Outreach School, other UW units and statewide agencies, and Art Museum board members    8.   Advance use of the Art Museum and Museum Store by UW students, faculty, and staff; classes from other colleges/universities along the Front Range, and the public through increased promotion/marketing efforts   9.   Achieve our fund-raising goal for the Distinction campaign and further the National Advisory Board       development with long-term goals outlined in the Art Museum’s Long Range Development Plan   10.  Further internship, work-study, and part-time employment opportunities in the museum and explore the development of a cohesive internship program    11.  Explore reopening a food service component to the Centennial Complex to enhance visitor experience and increase use of the Centennial Complex by the academic and local community