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Roswell Museum & Art Center
RFD took possession of the new Engine 6 in September. The total cost was $474,800.07 and was paid for by Fire Protection Grant Funds.
MCDONALD’S COMPETITION
McDonald’s donated the proceeds from food sales during a special two-hour event Oct. 19 to the fire department. Nic Snowberger owner of the downtown restaurant also presented a check to the department for winning the competition against the RPD for the most drive-through traffic. The money won will be put toward new equipment.
2020 HIGHLIGHTS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Caroline Brooks
ATTENDANCE
Due to COVID-19, the Museum was closed from March 18 to October 13, 2020 and again from November 17 to December 3, 2020, leaving only 99 days that the Museum was open to the public compared to a normal 306 days. For 34 of those days, beginning with the Museum’s reopening on October 13, the Museum’s hours were reduced, due to a lower capacity under COVID health restrictions combined with reduced staffing, to 1-5 pm, Tuesday through Friday (16 hours per week), instead of the normal Tuesday-Saturday 9 am-5 pm and Sunday 1-5 pm (45 hours per week).
As such, during 2020, the Museum as a whole had 6,581 visitors, an overall reduction of 81% compared to 2019. Beginning with the March 18 closure, planetarium shows, classes and events were cancelled, and some exhibitions were cancelled or rescheduled.
EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS
Although the exhibition schedule was significantly modified due to the extended closure, RMAC was able to present six RAiR exhibitions and three permanent collection exhibitions, along with maintaining the three permanently-installed exhibitions. Another seven exhibitions are on hold.
ROSWELL ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM
SV Randall, from Buffalo, New York, presented a series of sculptures inspired by a sense of placelessness. Meticulously crafted faux suitcases rendered in subtle, pastel colors sat atop platforms with remnants of architectural motifs – evoking a state of fractured displacement, nostalgia and nomadism.
Tonee Harbert, from Portland, Maine, used a 1960’s plastic “Diana” film camera for his photographic work. The exhibition, titled Through the Static and Distance, invoked history and impermanence by capturing what remains of items that once held meaning, from a bullet-ridden sign to a displaced children’s slide.
Jordan Ann Craig is a Northern Cheyenne artist based in California and New Mexico. Her large-scale minimalist paintings are inspired by patterning used in traditional indigenous cultures.
Brooklyn, New York-based artist Michael Waugh is known for intricate, representational drawings formed from minuscule handwritten words. Waugh laboriously transcribes long texts — such as government reports or books about power and capital — into optically dizzying portraits and landscapes. His most recent series, depicting a bucolic scene of a horse and wagon, used text from Rachel Carson’s ground-breaking book Silent Spring.
Puerto Rican artist Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez-Delgado’s exhibition Space Jammer presented intricately crafted sculptural inventions that explored identity, time and space. One series served as time capsules filled with test tubes of wild plants, a fan to simulate breeze and videos that framed backgrounds of specific locations in Roswell and Puerto Rico. The industrially sealed “capsules” were designed in theory to launch into space for future descendants to discover.
Chilean artist Agustín Lucho Pozo Gálvez’s Planet River of the Tenement featured large-scale abstract paintings that were a reflection of the isolation and chaos of the past year.
Photos from top: Jordan Ann Craig installation; Michael Waugh interview; Agustín Pozo installation; Delgado’s Wildflower Cowboy.
PERMANENT COLLECTION EXHIBITIONS
• Inspired by Calligraphy included work by Ulfert Wilke and Peter Bilan that explored the calligraphic form. • Remembering Bruce Lowney Bruce Lowney, a lithograph artist who passed away in late 2019.
Fourteen of his works were showcased. • A large painting by local arts supporter and artist,
Don Anderson, was displayed in recognition of his passing at the age of 101. • Non-exhibits staff were given the opportunity to explore the collection and provide diverse viewpoints through two small, curated exhibits—Let’s Dance by
Wendy Cook and Open Spaces by Barbara Posuniak.
TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION
700+ HOURS
MUSEUM STAFF
3-4 FULL-TIME
COLLECTIONS
The Aston Collection of the American West, installed in the West of Beyond exhibition on the north side of the Museum, was inventoried and cleaned. Some artifacts not included in the 2006 installation were brought out of storage to give light-sensitive textiles and other materials a chance to “rest.” Staff also cleaned and inventoried the Goddard Collection and cleaned and waxed the Goddard bronze.
The Museum accepted donations by artists Martie Zelt (Roswell), Qwist Joseph (Colorado), Rachel Stevens (Las Cruces), and Sally Chandler (Texas).
Seven pieces of WPA furniture from the Museum’s original furnishings were loaned to the Branigan Cultural Center in Las Cruces for display from June to October 2020 as part of an exhibition on wood carvings produced during the WPA.
TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION
1,000+ HOURS
MUSEUM STAFF
4-6 FULL-TIME
Photos from top: Inspired by Calligraphy exhibition; Goddard bronze sculpture cleaning; art handlers pick up WPA Trostero.
The year started as normal with a full slate of approximately 30 classes and 25 events for the year, including pARTy After Hours, Family After Hours, Brown Bag Lunch Talks, Gentle Yoga, documentary film series, lectures, Lorene Johnson Gratton art workshops, ceramics classes, kids camps, the Roswell Science and Art Festival, and Holiday Open House. “Pop-Up Playdates” and “Make and Mingles” were being planned as additional hands-on art opportunities for families and adults. A few classes and programs took place in January, February, and early March, however the remainder were cancelled due to health restrictions.
In October, in collaboration with Keep Roswell Beautiful and RISD, RMAC presented an at-home chalk drawing activity called “Chalk Your Walk” and displayed sculptures made of recycled materials in the “Recycled Sculpture Exhibition” as a replacement for the Science and Art Festival. A “Puzzle Room” also opened in one of the galleries. Like an Escape Room, but with little to touch, visitors have 60 minutes to solve a series of puzzles fictionally based on the collection.
TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION MUSEUM STAFF
350 HOURS
BASED ON REDUCED SCHEDULE
3-5 FULL-TIME
Photos from top: School visit; Museum docents; Recycled sculpture exhibition; Chalk art activity with Keep Roswell Beautiful; Cedra Wood exhibition; Gentle Yoga at the Museum.
While the Museum already had a robust social media presence, four Facebook video series were created as staff looked for ways to provide a stronger virtual presence during COVID and to substitute cancelled inperson programming. • Museum Moments, led by RMAC Curator Aubrey
Hobart, provides an in-depth look at the art and historical items on loan or in the collection and includes interviews with some of our featured artists. • Space is Awesome is presented by Planetarium
Coordinator Jeremy Howe and highlights significant current and historical figures, facts and celestial events. • Kids’ Craft Corner features 12-year-old Jules Cook who offers instruction on art activities geared for school-age kids. Kids’ Craft Corner reduced postings at the start of the school year. • Gentle Yoga, presented by local yoga instructor Alice
Buck, is a continuation of the in-gallery sessions she began offering at the Museum in January.
Additional video posts include a studio visit with Tinnie, New Mexico, artist William Goodman and a series of promotional membership videos featuring local residents. Also, we were able to make available a series of planetarium shows for schools and the public through one of our film distributors and we offered virtual field trips for the schools.
Roswell Artist-in-Residence exhibition receptions did not take place after March 18, however the lectures were presented virtually in partnership with the RAiR Program and some artists are developing virtual videos to accompany their exhibitions.
In December 2020, the Museum released its first digital newsletter to serve as a temporary replacement for the printed Museum Magazine, which was unable to be printed due to the inability to advertise concrete plans much into the future. The first issue was sent to members and a link was made available through social media for potential subscribers. The digital newsletter will continue to serve as a supplement alongside the printed newsletter to maintain a stronger online presence. TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION
440 HOURS
BASED ON REDUCED SCHEDULE
STAFF
5 FULL-TIME MUSEUM STAFF 1 FULL-TIME PUBLIC AFFAIRS STAFF 1 PART-TIME CONTRACT INSTRUCTOR 1 VOLUNTEER
As part of the 2017-2021 RMAC Strategic Plan along with City budget cuts, museum admission fees were approved by the RMAC Board of Trustees and Roswell City Council. As a means to offset the impact of the fees, free days and discounts were adopted and the Museum registered for the national program Museums for All which provides a discounted rate for those in the federal food assistance program SNAP. The adopted fees began in January 2021.
TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION
80 HOURS
STAFF
1 FULL-TIME MUSEUM STAFF 10 BOARD MEMBERS
Museum membership levels were updated in 2019 and promotional efforts to expand and diversify the membership base were undertaken with assistance provided by a community advisory group and the Board of Trustees in 2020. Efforts included a mailer, billboards, banners and social media posts, as well as a Members’ Appreciation Week and Membership Week in October and December. Programming ideas, in alignment with member interests, are still in discussion. Efforts will be ongoing through 2021.
TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION
400+ HOURS
STAFF
YOUR MEMBERSHIP MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
Become a member of RMAC and support one of Roswell’s greatest cultural treasures.
RMAC MEMBERS RECEIVE:
• Free exhibition and planetarium admission • Guest passes • Discounts in Museum Store and on classes • Invitations to parties and special events
roswellmuseum.org
Photos from top: Memberships can now purchased online; Membership campaign lead graphics; Membership Week, December 2020; New museum official member sticker.
