Cornell Fine Arts Museum | 2017-18 Director's Report

2017-18 DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Love the eclectic collection of art work. Truly a blessing to have a cultural outlet in a world so saturated in digital tech and social media.

CFAM Visitor, 2017

Executive Summary The academic year 2017-18 was a banner year for our museum.

We celebrated 40 years since opening as the Cornell Fine Arts Museum by welcoming the largest number of visitors in our history. We were one of two venues nationally for an exhibition traveling from Reims, France. We were awarded reaccreditation from the American Alliance of Museums, the ultimate mark of distinction in the museum field which signifies excellence and credibility.

Since 2012, we have acquired 792 new works for the permanent collection. We have organized more than 20 original exhibitions and published 7 scholarly catalogues and 12 substantial brochures. We have tripled our attendance and doubled our budget. We have added 4 staff positions, 3 of them in Curatorial and Education, and a $1 million endowment for exhibitions.

We have traveled our exhibitions nationally and partnered with museums in the US and internationally. This significant and sustained growth over the last six years is enabling us to embark upon a new phase of institutional development. Now a priority for Rollins’ capital campaign, a new facility will create a premier teaching and destination museum vital to the cultural fabric of our campus and community.

A growing collection tailored for teaching Due to the generosity of Rollins alumni

The Alfond Inn at Rollins in September.

and friends (including those who created

Barbara and Ted Alfond also donated

endowments restricted for acquisitions),

several important 20th century works,

our collection continues to grow. During

including paintings by Jacob Lawrence,

the academic year 2017-18 we added

Ralston Crawford, Esphyr Slobodkina,

a total of 93 works to the collection.

and Leo Amino. As a group, they

Works by Pedro Reyes, Robin Rhode,

transformed the museum’s American

Tala Madani, Camille Henrot, Jaune

art collection and its ability to tell the

Quick-to-See Smith, Markus Brunetti,

narrative of Modernism. A landscape

among others, joined the Alfond

by Childe Hassam, given by Diane and

Collection of Contemporary Art. Tomás

Michael Maher, joined the collection right

Saraceno was commissioned a work in

before the opening of the exhibition

conjunction with the exhibition Time

Towards Impressionism, giving us a

as Landscape, and his Cloud Cities –

serendipitous opportunity

Nebulous Thresholds was installed at

to display it alongside the French

painters who had such an impact on

been included in the summer 2016

Hassam’s evolution.

exhibition Displacement and debuted her performance Pietà on the Rollins campus

We have also continued the practice of

in 2017.

acquiring works included in exhibitions we organized, and which resonated

The strength of our teaching collection

strongly with our students. Examples

is increasingly recognized nationally, and

are Patrick Martinez’ neon Then They

requests for loans are multiplying. This

Came for Me, as well as two paintings

past year collection works by Jeffrey

by Ria Brodell and one by Charles

Gibson, Amy Sillman, Rina Banerjee, and

Gaines. In early 2018 we also purchased

Trevor Paglen were lent to US museums,

the first works by a Puerto-Rican

among them the Smithsonian American

artist in the collection, three drawings

Art Museum and the Fralin at UVA.

by Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz. Ortiz had

Distinctive exhibitions and interdisciplinary conversations All CFAM exhibitions have three things in

of contemporary artists who desire to

common: they illustrate the core values

understand, question, and describe the

of a liberal arts education; they lend

subject of time: as scientific fact, as

themselves to interdisciplinary teaching;

relative experience, as aesthetic archive.

and they dialogue with the permanent collection of the museum. The summer

In the spring, we were one of only

exhibitions combined the fragile

two national venues for the exhibition

and serene beauty of Impressionist

Towards Impressionism: Landscape

watercolors by Paul Signac (Paul Signac:

Painting from Corot to Monet, on loan

Sea and Sky) with contemporary works

from the Musée des Beaux Arts in Reims,

laden with sorrow about the fragility

France. The exhibition, which traced the

of life. Patrick Martinez: American

revolutionary evolution of landscape

Memorial (the artist’s first solo museum

painting in France from the Romantics to

exhibition) reflected on social and racial

the Impressionists, marked the first time

concerns of today while drawing on

such an extensive selection from their

hip-hop and popular culture. The artist’s

unparalleled collection traveled across

individual memorials were echoed in a

the Atlantic. At the same time,

participatory wall where visitors could

Ria Brodell: Devotion continued our

write or draw their own.

series of first solo exhibitions in a museum for younger artists while also

For the first time in decades, the fall

providing new ways to think about

exhibition (Time as Landscape: Inquiries

works from the permanent collection:

of Art and Science) was installed

Brodell’s paintings, which explore gender

throughout the museum and explored

and sexuality within an iconographic

the intersections and often unexpected,

framework inspired by Catholic

yet always fruitful, collaborations

traditions, were shown side-by-side

between art and science. The source

with Old Masters religious paintings

for the exhibition (co-curated by

from the collection.

Abigail Ross Goodman) was the work

The Cornell in the community CFAM was more visible than ever in the community through exhibitions and collaborations. In the fall we curated exhibitions for two off-site venues. Time and Thought: Art of the United States from the Cornell Fine Arts Museum was shown at the Mennello Museum of American Art, while Steady Observation: The Intersection of Scientific Inquiry, Art and Life, at the Orlando Science Center. Notably, the latter exhibition included works by two Rollins professors, Dawn Roe and Rachel Simmons, as well as Rollins alumna Leah Sandler. Together, these exhibitions were enjoyed by approximately 17,000 people, many of whom discovered our museum through them.

The spring season brought collaborations with the Morse Museum of American Art, where a small exhibition of American landscape painters influenced by the French school was on view, cross-marketed with Towards Impressionism, and with the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. The weekend of the festival, during which

we had extended hours and a shuttle

community partners (including local

to and from Park Avenue, saw a record

libraries, real estate offices, and senior

1,169 visitors at the museum. CFAM

communities) who now receive CFAM

was also chosen as the site of the

information regularly; some have already

first kick-off event for the Winter Park

visited several times, among them Atria

Weekend of the Arts, an annual initiative

Senior Living. Other new groups visiting

of the Winter Park Arts & Culture

the museum for the first time included

Subcommittee.

Big Kid Adventures, Boys & Girls Club of Eatonville, and several Meetups and

Due to the outreach efforts of a summer 2017 Nelson Intern, we added 18 new

Watercolor societies.

Teaching on and off-site Campus engagement continued to grow during the academic year 2017-18. The year started strong with 25 Rollins classes coming to see the Patrick Martinez exhibition in the first two weeks of classes. Throughout the year, professors and students from Anthropology; Art & Art History; Business; Communications; Education; English; Environmental Studies; History; Social Entrepreneurship; Sociology; Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies; as well as the Crummer School of Business visited the museum, many for several class sessions. We had a total of 147 class visits (105 discrete classes and 42 repeat visits). Notably, 25 of these classes were from other area colleges and universities, primarily UCF and Valencia. The overall number of college students engaging with the museum (whether coming with their class or on their own) increased by 20% compared to the previous academic year.

Our commitment to teaching visitors of all ages included CFAM-taught classes for the Rollins Lifelong Learning Program and a new initiative, in partnership with the Childhood Development Center at Rollins, which paired students from Dr. MacKenzie Moon Ryan’s class Introduction to Global Art History with young friends from the CDC for weekly museum visits.

For the first time since the Hicks Fellowship was established more than a decade ago, the Hicks Fellow was joined during the fall semester by a Hicks Intern; both students worked closely with the curatorial department. Additional Rollins and UCF

STUDENT VISITORS 6,000 5,000 4,000 K–12

3,000

Rollins

2,000

Other Colleges

1,000 0

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

students, a recent Rollins graduate, a

exhibitions. Partnerships with ArtReach

Winter Park High School art history

Orlando’s WonderCamp, the Foundation

teacher, and a Full Sail professor

for Foster Children, and the Winter

volunteered at the museum in various

Park Sidewalk Art Festival, among

capacities throughout the year. Some

other organizations, helped bring in

also trained as docents; for the first

different constituents for such activities.

time this year our active docent group

The school outreach program Art

(numbering about a dozen members)

Time, generously funded by the Dosal

included full time Rollins students.

Foundation, expanded this past year to include a second location, the Lyman

CFAMily Days and other family events

School in Winter Park. Between the

continued to grow, encouraging

Paragon and Lyman schools,

children to look at works of art closely

our program serves 100 children in

through hands-on activities that draw

special needs and blended classrooms

connections to themes present in our

every week.

A more visible museum During FY 18 we have welcomed 33,484

launch a digital marketing campaign

visitors to the Museum and our off-site

focusing on Google and Facebook ads

programs (at the Alfond Inn and in local

and aimed at cultural tourists from Florida

schools), which represented a 30.6%

and other South-Eastern states. The

increase compared to the previous year.

campaign yielded positive results both in

This is the sixth year in a row when we

raising overall awareness (93% of website

experience a significant growth in our

visitors during the spring were new users)

attendance; over six years, our numbers

and driving visits by first time museum

have more than tripled. Visitors to our

guests. The numbers of Floridians from

other exhibitions in the community added

outside the greater Orlando area and out-

another 17,000.

of-state visitors increased significantly, totaling 50% during the spring season.

In preparation for and during the spring season we took advantage of the

Exhibition press coverage in local and

widespread interest in Impressionism to

regional outlets, to which we have

One of the life-long lessons I want to instill in my students is that the vocabulary and methods they are learning in class is transferable to other contexts. Bringing my class to the museum is a striking illustration of the ways that artists are using different methods to explore similar ideas.

Emily Russell, Professor of English and Associate Dean of Curriculum, Rollins

VISITORS TO CFAM 40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

0

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

become gratefully accustomed, was

raise the visibility of CFAM locally and

joined this year by a number of mentions

nationwide, we are proud to report that

acknowledging CFAM as one of the best

all quantitative key measures continue

museums in Orlando (US News and World

their upward swing. On our website,

Report); having one of Florida’s oldest

66,885 people (up 122% compared to the

and best collections (Travel Pulse); a

previous year), of whom 79% were new

great place to visit while on a staycation

users, made 91,268 unique visits, viewing

(Orlando Sentinel); and a fabulous (and

a total of 221,517 pages on the site. By the

free) way to experience art as a family

end of the academic year we had 4,529

(Orlando Magazine).

Facebook likes (up 29%); 1,530 Instagram followers (up 33%); and 982 Twitter

As we enter the fifth year of our Strategic Plan, one of whose priorities was to

followers (up 13%).

Development highlights The successes of our fundraising team this past academic year included: •

A first-ever grant from the Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program: $150,000 for the exhibition Towards Impressionism.

This is all the more notable since CFAM, by virtue of its educational designation through Rollins College, is not normally eligible for cultural tourism grants. An exception was made by the committee due to the quality of the exhibition and programming around it.

•

$75,000 from PNC Financial Services Group for free admission during 2018 and sponsorship of the Towards Impressionism exhibition.

•

$30,000 grant from Dosal Family Foundation for a second year of the Art Time educational outreach program.

•

$21,000 challenge grant from the Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation for educational outreach to underserved Central Florida middle and high schools.

The match to the grant was raised from members of the Board of Visitors.

•

$150,000 in private donations specifically for exhibitions.

•

The first seven-figure gift for the capital campaign for the new museum from Board of Visitors member June Nelson.

•

$61,600 for exhibition funding from Director’s Circle members; 10 new members joined this year (total membership is 30).

•

4 new Corporate Members (Florida Community Bank; Frontline Insurance; Insurance Office of America; Morgan Stanley).

•

$71,000 in overall memberships (including Board of Visitors dues).

•

Estate pledge of $150,000 from Dale Montgomery ’60, unrestricted for the museum.

DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS 600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0

FY13

FY14

FY15 Fundraising

FY16

FY17

FY18

It’s been a while since I’ve been to this museum. It seems like when I was here a long time ago, it was just prints on view. The place seems bigger. Really enjoyed visiting and would love to come back.

CFAM Visitor, Fall 2017

A bigger museum Looking back, the entire academic year 2017-18 echoed this visitor’s thoughts. It has been a year of stretching for CFAM, through more exhibitions in more places and more complex exhibitions on campus; varied programs asking compelling questions; welcoming the youngest visitors alongside their grandparents; and bringing in students of all ages and from all parts of the community. My goal for CFAM when I joined the team, as stated in my first lecture at the museum in the fall of 2012, was for CFAM to become known as a museum whose impact (on and off-campus) is larger than its physical size. At the end of 2018, I believe we have arrived at that point. Which means that we can now embark on our next journey, whose goal is to accommodate the larger intellectual space we have fostered over the last five years into a physically larger building.

Cornell Fine Arts Museum Staff Hind Berji, Visitor Services Associate Louise Buyo, Education Coordinator Gisela Carbonell, Curator Elizabeth Coulter, Dale Montgomery Fellow Ena Heller, Bruce A. Beal Director Adam Lavigne, Lead Preparator Dina Mack, Membership and Guest Relations Coordinator Austin Reeves, Collections and Exhibitions Manager Dana Thomas, Director of Development Sandra Todd, Executive Assistant

Board of Visitors Margery Pabst Steinmetz, Chair Susan W. Battaglia, Vice-Chair Alexander Borsoi ’95 Shan-Estelle Brown Juan Cendán Mark Cosgrove ’84 Bruce Douglas Fielding W. Featherston Kay Gibbs Fred W. Hicks III Paul Jessen Patricia Lancaster Robert A. Miller June Nelson Liz Parks ’93 Alexis Pugh MacKenzie Moon Ryan, PhD Mariolina Salvatori Susan Singer, PhD