University of Iowa Museum of Art
Encyclopedia
The University of Iowa Museum of Art is a visual arts institution that is part of the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 in Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...

, USA.


Introduction

The University of Iowa Museum of Art, established in 1969, has one of the top university art collections in the country. Approximately 12,400 objects constitute diverse collections that include paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, photographs, ceramics, textiles, jade, and silver. The Elliott Collection includes paintings by Braque, De Chirico, Kandinsky, Léger
Léger
Léger is a surname, and may refer to:* Alexis Leger – French poet and diplomat* Fernand Léger – French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker* Jules Léger – Governor General of Canada * Louis Léger – French writer and pioneer in Slavic studies...

, Marc
Franz Marc
Franz Marc was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of the German Expressionist movement...

, Matisse, Picasso, and Vlaminck, among others. The Stanley Collection of African Art is part of one of the most significant collections of African art in the country which today numbers almost 2,000 objects. Other significant areas of the collections include nearly 5,300 prints spanning the history of Western printmaking, several hundred ceramics (primarily American studio ceramics), Pre-Columbian objects as well as small but superb groups of ancient Etruscan and Roman art, and Native American ledger drawings. Two of the most well-known works in the collections were given to the Museum by the School of Art and Art History
University of Iowa School of Art and Art History
The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History is a school of the University of Iowa located in Iowa City, IA which awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in Art and Art history...

: Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement...

’s triptych, Karneval, purchased by the faculty in 1946, and Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...

’s Mural, painted in 1943 for Peggy Guggenheim
Peggy Guggenheim
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R...

 which she gave to the School
University of Iowa School of Art and Art History
The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History is a school of the University of Iowa located in Iowa City, IA which awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in Art and Art history...

 in 1951.

Since its inception the UIMA has enjoyed a close working relationship with the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History
University of Iowa School of Art and Art History
The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History is a school of the University of Iowa located in Iowa City, IA which awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in Art and Art history...

 and for several decades has sponsored the annual MFA show as well as the faculty exhibitions. Faculty from the SAAH and elsewhere, and graduate students on campus have curated shows at the Museum that are closely linked with their research, courses, and seminars. The teaching mission of the UIMA embraces the curriculum of the University of Iowa and extends throughout the state.

After the flood of June 2008, the Museum building was permanently evacuated. The collections were moved out in time and today are temporarily located in the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, fifty miles from Iowa City. The Museum’s dedicated spaces on campus include the "UIMA@IMU," a new 4000 square feet (371.6 m²) visual classroom in the Iowa Memorial Union that houses more than 500 works of art from the collections. In addition, objects from the African art collections are located in the Stanley Gallery of the Levitt Center for University Advancement.

The Museum continues to:

* Build and preserve its art collection
* Present exhibitions
* Offer K-12 programming for hundreds of Iowa students each year
* Create opportunities for UI art students and faculty, including access to works from the UIMA collection
* Provide free community programming including openings, lectures, and readings

The University is committed to building an architecturally significant new Museum building to replace the building flooded in 2008. This new building is part of the re-envisioning of the arts on campus. The new building will house the Museum’s collections and will provide classrooms and labs as a mode of integrating the Museum with the study of the visual arts and the academic mission of the University. (from http://uima.uiowa.edu/about/)

History

Building the Museum


In the early 1960s, Owen and Leone Elliott of Cedar Rapids offered the University their extensive collection of 20th-century paintings, prints, antique silver, and jade on the condition that a Museum be built to house their gift, along with the University's existing and future acquisitions of art. In response to this challenge, more than 2000 individuals and businesses contributed funds for the Museum's construction.

The UIMA opened in 1969, although the art collections of the University of Iowa predate the Museum of Art by several decades. During the 1940s and 1950s, the University's School of Art and Art History
University of Iowa School of Art and Art History
The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History is a school of the University of Iowa located in Iowa City, IA which awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in Art and Art history...

 presented exhibitions of contemporary art and acquired works from these exhibitions. Many of the Museum's most important paintings were acquired during these years, including Max Beckmann's Karneval, and Joan Miró's 1939 A Drop of Dew Falling from the Wing of a Bird Awakens Rosalie Asleep in the Shade of a Cobweb. Jackson Pollock's Mural was given to the University by Peggy Guggenheim in 1953.

Newspaper article dated 1966 that shows a model of the Museum in its initial form. The Museum quickly earned recognition as one of the nation's finest university art museums. A gift from the late industrialist Roy Carver, of Muscatine, Iowa, made possible the construction of a major addition, which opened in 1976 and housed the University of Iowa Foundation and the University of Iowa Alumni Association in addition to portions of the Museum. Maxwell and Elizabeth Stanley also of Muscatine, collected African art throughout the 1970s and in 1979, most of their collection came to the Museum.

Renovation


The Alumni Association and UI Foundation moved out in 1999, leaving the entire 70000 square feet (6,503.2 m²) of the building to the Museum of Art. In the summer of 2003, the long-awaited renovation of the former Alumni Center, or north wing, of the building began. Nearly 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²) of the building was gutted and substantial changes were made to the mechanical systems and spaces in the basement as well. The kitchens, offices, meeting rooms, etc. left behind by the UI Foundation and Alumni Association became galleries, store rooms, and work spaces.

The North Gallery for Special Exhibitions debuted in the Fall of 2004, along with a remodeled Lasansky Room and the Nancy and Craig Willis Atrium (shown below). The old Print Study Room was converted into the Hoover-Paul Gallery for Works on Paper. The North Gallery added an additional 6000 square feet (557.4 m²) of exhibition space to the Museum for a total of 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²) for exhibitions.

The Flood


In June 2008, the UIMA was flooded and forced to evacuate its collections. Working nearly non-stop during the week of June 9, the Museum staff, art movers, and volunteers evacuated artworks totaling approximately 99 percent of the value of the collection before the floodwaters forced the closure of the UIMA on Friday, June 13.

In the weeks following the flood, the remaining art was evacuated to join the rest of the collection in secure art storage in Chicago. Meanwhile, the UIMA worked to secure alternative locations on- and off-campus to make the art accessible to its public.

In January 2009, the Figge Art Museum
Figge Art Museum
The Figge Art Museum is an art museum in Davenport, Iowa. The Figge, as it is commonly known, has an encyclopedic collection and serves as the major art museum for the eastern Iowa and western Illinois region...

 in Davenport offered the UIMA space in its building for storage and exhibitions until a permanent home on the UI campus becomes available. In March, the UIMA began moving its collection to the Figge. In July, the Museum finished its initial inventory of the objects.

Overall, about 200 objects needed some form of treatment by the conservators at Chicago Conservation Center because of the flood. Nearly all have been cared for and are now in storage at the Figge. UIMA works already slated for conservation before the flood—mainly African objects—will remain in Chicago to receive the treatment they require.

New Galleries


In August 2009, the UIMA opened a new on-campus art venue in the Iowa Memorial Union. The "UIMA@IMU," funded almost entirely by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), features more than 500 objects from the UIMA permanent collections, selected specifically to meet classroom needs.

The Future


Also in August, UI President Sally Mason announced the formation of an Envisioning Committee for the UIMA. Composed of community members, UI faculty, and UI students, the Committee is charged with evaluating best practices for university and college art museums and thinking about how the UIMA can best serve the needs of its constituents moving forward. The Envisioning Committee delivered its report in early 2010 (http://uima.uiowa.edu/assets/UIMA-Final-Report.pdf).( from http://uima.uiowa.edu/museum-history/)

In August 2010, the university announced that Dr. Sean O'Harrow, then director of the Figge Art Museum
Figge Art Museum
The Figge Art Museum is an art museum in Davenport, Iowa. The Figge, as it is commonly known, has an encyclopedic collection and serves as the major art museum for the eastern Iowa and western Illinois region...

, was named the new director.

Directors

List of the chief executive officers of the UIMA since its founding in 1969:
  • Dr. Sean O'Harrow, 2010–Present (former Executive Director of the Figge Art Museum
    Figge Art Museum
    The Figge Art Museum is an art museum in Davenport, Iowa. The Figge, as it is commonly known, has an encyclopedic collection and serves as the major art museum for the eastern Iowa and western Illinois region...

    )
  • Mr. Willard L. Boyd
    Willard L. Boyd
    Willard Lee Boyd is an American legal scholar, academic administrator, andPresident Emeritus of The University of Iowa and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois...

    , Interim Director 2010 (former President of the University of Iowa
    University of Iowa
    The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

     and of the Field Museum)
  • Dr. Pamela White, Interim Director 2008-2010 (former Director of the Pentacrest
    Pentacrest
    The Pentacrest is a collection of five buildings on the campus of the University of Iowa — the Old Capitol, Jessup Hall, Macbride Hall, MacLean Hall, and Schaeffer Hall — on a four-block-sized parcel of land in Iowa City, Iowa.-Description:...

     Museums at the University of Iowa
    University of Iowa
    The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

    )
  • Dr. Howard Creel Collinson, 2000-2008 (former Mona Campbell Curator in the department of Western art and culture at the Royal Ontario Museum
    Royal Ontario Museum
    The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...

    )
  • Dr. Stephen Prokopoff, 1992-2000 (former Director of the Krannert Art Museum
    Krannert Art Museum
    The Krannert Art Museum is a museum of art at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois, USA. It is the second-largest museum in Illinois, with of space devoted to all periods of art, from ancient Egyptian to contemporary photography...

     at the University of Illinois and former Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
    Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
    The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...

    )
  • Ms. Mary K. Lyman, Acting Co-Director 1990-1991, Interim Director 1991-1992
  • Ms. Mary Roberts Kujawski, 1988-1991 (formerly of the Krannert Art Museum
    Krannert Art Museum
    The Krannert Art Museum is a museum of art at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois, USA. It is the second-largest museum in Illinois, with of space devoted to all periods of art, from ancient Egyptian to contemporary photography...

     at the University of Illinois)
  • Dr. Robert Hobbs
    Robert Hobbs
    Robert Carleton Hobbs is an art historian and curator specializing in twentieth century art. Since 1991 he has held the Rhoda Thalhimer Endowed Chair of American Art in the highly respected School of Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University. Since 2004 he has served as a visiting professor at Yale...

    , 1983-1988 (former associate professor at Cornell University
    Cornell University
    Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

     and former Chief Curator of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
    Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
    Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art is an art museum in Tehran, Iran.Inaugurated in 1977, and built adjacent to Tehran's Laleh Park, the museum was designed by Iranian architect Kamran Diba, who employed elements from traditional Persian architecture. The building can be listed as a contemporary...

     in Iran
    Iran
    Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

    ).
  • Dr. Bruce W. Chambers, 1980-1983 (former Chief Curator of the Memorial Art Gallery
    Memorial Art Gallery
    The Memorial Art Gallery is the civic art museum of Rochester, New York. Founded in 1913, it is part of the University of Rochester and occupies the southern half of the University's former Prince Street campus...

     in Rochester, New York
    Rochester, New York
    Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

    )
  • Ms. Jan K. Muhlert, 1975-1979 (formerly a curator at the Smithsonian Institution
    Smithsonian Institution
    The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

    , former director of the Amon Carter Museum
    Amon Carter Museum
    The Amon Carter Museum of American Art is located in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established by Amon G. Carter to house his collection of paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Carter’s will provided a museum in Fort Worth devoted to American art.When the museum opened...

     in Fort Worth, Texas
    Fort Worth, Texas
    Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

    , and current Director of the Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

    )
  • Mr. Ulfert Wilke
    Ulfert Wilke
    Ulfert Wilke was an internationally recognized painter, calligrapher and art collector connected to the abstract expressionism movement. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1938. He is best known for his large canvas paintings and highly detailed lithographs...

    , 1968-1975 (former professor at Rutgers University
    Rutgers University
    Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

    )(Associate Director was Mr. Gustave von Groschwitz, former director of the Carnegie Museum of Art
    Carnegie Museum of Art
    The Carnegie Museum of Art, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an art museum founded in 1895 by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie...

    )

New Galleries

Visual Classroom-Iowa Memorial Union


125 North Madison Street, Iowa City, IA 52242



Black Box Theater


125 North Madison Street, Iowa City, IA 52242



A Legacy for Iowa-Figge Art Museum


225 West Second St., Davenport, IA, 52801



Studio Arts Building


1375 Highway 1 West, 1840 SA, Iowa City, IA 52242



Levitt Center for University Advancement


1 West Park Road, Iowa City, IA, 52244


The Book

Building a Masterpiece: Legacy of the University of Iowa Museum of Art


Illustrated with images from the permanent art collection, the UIMA's 40th Anniversary book, Building a Masterpiece: Legacy of the University of Iowa Museum of Art, tells the story of the Museum's founding, the people who have enabled the UIMA to carry out its mission to facilitate the experience of art over the years, and UI President Sally Mason's vision for the future. The limited edition book was written for the UIMA by Abigail Foerstner, journalism professor at Northwestern University and author of James Van Allen: The First Eight Billion Miles (University of Iowa Press, 2007) and Picturing Utopia (University of Iowa Press, 2005).


(From the University of Iowa Book Store, http://www.book.uiowa.edu/ePOS?this_category=146&store=335&item_number=W40384&form=shared3%2fgm%2fdetail.html&design=335)

More On the Web

Website:http://uima.uiowa.edu/

Figge Art Museum: http://www.art-dma.org/

University of Iowa Museum of Natural History:http://www.uiowa.edu/~nathist/

University of Iowa School of Art and Art History
University of Iowa School of Art and Art History
The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History is a school of the University of Iowa located in Iowa City, IA which awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in Art and Art history...

: http://www.art.uiowa.edu/

University of Iowa:http://www.uiowa.edu/
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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