UIMA Magazine Fall 2013

FA L L 2013

INSIDE 3

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LOCATIONS & HOURS

LECTURES

2013 NEW DEAL MUSEUM PARTY!

4 FALL 2013 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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• The Bette Spriestersbach Distinguished Lecture • Jeanne and Richard Levitt Lectureship: American Crafts in Context • Smart Talks • Exhibition Lectures

FROM THE DIRECTOR

17-18

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FILM & VIDEO

23 FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION

Cover image

• Exuberant Politics Film Series

UIMA@IMU REINSTALLATION

8-10 FALL 2013 EXHIBITION

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19 EDUCATION NEWS

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POLLOCK CONSERVATION

FIRST FRIDAYS & SAVE THE DATE

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WHAT’S NEW?

NEW STAFF

Mexico; Ñuiñe, 300–800 CE Fragment of polychrome effigy vessel Buff earthenware and green, red and yellow pigment 3.63 x 4 x 2.38 in.

Gift of Eugene and Ina Schnell, 1989.253

Editor: Elizabeth M Wallace Copy editor: Gail Zlatnik Designer: Meng Yang Copyright © 2013

LOCATIONS & HOURS University of Iowa Museum of Art

TEMPORARY LOCATIONS

Temporary offices at Studio Arts Building 1375 Highway 1 West/1840 SA Iowa City, IA 52242-1789 319.335.1727 u ima. u iowa.e d u

IOWA MEMORIAL UNION, THIRD FLOOR

FIGGE ART MUSEUM

125 North Madison St. Iowa City, IA 52242 319.335.1742

225 West Second St. Davenport, IA 52801 563.326.7804

UIMA@IMU

BLACK BOX THEATER

On-campus visual classroom featuring an extensive installation from the Museum’s permanent collection

On-campus space for UIMA special exhibitions

Free admission

Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Thursday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, 12–5 p.m.

Gallery space and storage for 11,000 pieces from the UIMA’s permanent collection, located one hour east of Iowa City

Free admission to the Figge Art Museum for University of Iowa students, faculty, and staff with UI ID cards and UIMA members with their membership cards.

The UIMA Magazine Is Sponsored by

Willis & Willis Law Firm/Security Abstract

Nancy B. Willis & Craig N. Willis

FALL 2013 CALENDAR

EXHIBITIONS

New Forms: The Avant-Garde Meets the American Scene, 1934-1949, Selections from the University of Iowa Museum of Art Black Box Theater, third floor, Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)

ONGOING

UIMA@IMU, third floor, IMU

ONGOING

Video Classrooms: Studio Arts (SA), Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)

SEPTEMBER 14—DECEMBER 8, 2013

PUBLIC PROGRAMS SEPTEMBER 6

5:00–7:00 p.m.

First Friday, hotelVetro, 201 S. Linn Street, Iowa City

SEPTEMBER 16

7:30–8:30 p.m.

The Bette Spriestersbach Distinguished Lecture American Moderns in the 1930s and 40s: The Triumph of Diversity

by Erika Doss, 240 ABW

SEPTEMBER 25 7:30–8:30 p.m.

Exhibition Lecture Traditions and Trends in Pueblo Pottery of The Southwest

by Dale Fisher, Old Capitol

SEPTEMBER 26 7:30–8:30 p.m.

Jeanne and Richard Levitt Lectureship: American Crafts in Context A Troublesome Subject: The Art of Robert Arneson

by Jonathan Fineberg, 240 ABW

OCTOBER 4

5:00–7:00 p.m.

First Friday, hotelVetro, 201 S. Linn Street, Iowa City

OCTOBER 10

7:30–8:30 p.m.

Smart Talk The Conservation of Paintings: Historical and Technical Discoveries

by Barry Bauman, 240 ABW

OCTOBER 17

7:30–8:30 p.m.

Smart Talk Explorations in Light

by Derek Porter, 240 ABW

OCTOBER 22

8:00 p.m.

Exuberant Politics Film Series Dream Factory, W151 PBB

NOVEMBER 1

5:00–7:00 p.m.

First Friday, hotelVetro, 201 S. Linn Street, Iowa City

NOVEMBER 6

7:30–8:30 p.m.

Exhitibition Lecture The American Scene: Place in New Deal Art

by Ann Prentice Wagner, 240 ABW

NOVEMBER 12

8:00 p.m.

Exuberant Politics Film Series An Ingenious Response to Colonialism, W151 PBB

DECEMBER 3

8:00 p.m.

Exuberant Politics Film Series God’s Special Envoys, W151 PBB

DECEMBER 6

5:00–7:00 p.m.

First Friday, hotelVetro, 201 S. Linn Street, Iowa City

DONOR/MEMBER EVENTS OCTOBER 22

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UIMA

Director’s Circle event

FROM THE DIRECTOR

from the Director June 2013 was a month to celebrate: in the midst of the fifth anniversary of the devastating 2008 flood that inundated the Museum of Art, the Iowa Board of Regents approved the university’s proposal that constitutes the first part of a plan to rebuild the museum facility. As you all well know, much effort has gone into appeals to the federal authorities regarding our recovery from the destruction of one of the finest university art museums in the world. It is now clear that FEMA will not support the university’s efforts to replace our building. The vote by the Iowa Board of Regents in June authorized the university to pursue public/private partnerships to enable the museum to return to the heart of the University of Iowa campus as soon as possible.

What does this mean for our museum? What are the next steps? What can supporters do to help?

Well, the planning process to seek a public-private partnership is under way, and there are many technical issues to work out before anyone sees building plans. I intend to keep you all apprised as the effort progresses. However, we have much to work on, organizationally, before a facility can be planned.

First of all, we need to design exhibitions, programs, and education outreach activities that best serve our students, researchers, and citizens around the state of Iowa. Our museum professionals and volunteers are carrying out this work. If you want to volunteer your time and/or expertise, we would greatly appreciate the help. Please sign up, and sign up often!

Photo by Heather Aaronson Dr. O’Harrow with Yayoi Kusama’s Red No. 28 (1960) (detail) Oil on canvas 52 x 41.75 in.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gaston de Havenon, 1969.517

Second, we have embarked on a campaign to support and/or endow our exhibitions, programs, and education outreach activities as part of the For Iowa. Forever More. comprehensive campaign launched in May

by UI President Sally Mason and UI Foundation President Lynette Marshall. Our goal for this support of museum activities is $5 million. We have already received many generous gifts from loyal supporters, including the Bucksbaum family, the Levitt family, the Eskin family, the Hoover family, and the Willis family, to name only a few. If you can support the museum by giving to this campaign, please do so today! Please give generously—and often!

Third, the museum plans and hosts many interesting exhibitions and events here in Iowa City and across the state. Their success depends on audience participation. If you are able to attend our offerings, such as exhibitions in the Black Box Theater at the Iowa Memorial Union, First Friday art parties in downtown Iowa City, or the variety of fascinating lectures held in Art Building West, please do so—and as often as you can! The more you and your friends use the museum and what it has to offer, the more relevant the museum becomes to your lives.

In conclusion, we have much work to do and many opportunities ahead, and with your help, we can get there. Thank you for your support.

Very sincerely yours,

Sean O’Harrow, Ph.D. Director

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UIMA@IMU REINSTALLATION

UIMA@IMU

FALL Visual Classroom 2013

© Farid A. Abraham

The UIMA@IMU Visual Classroom is a multidisciplinary space where visitors can engage with arts and material culture from around the world. As we turn our eyes and minds toward envisioning the form our new museum will take, the Visual Classroom is an important center of experimentation and learning for students, faculty, and guests from across the University of Iowa and beyond. Our Fall 2013 reinstallation both exhibits the busy activities of the past year and offers new challenges for academic investigation in the year to come.

Black Sheep Bikes (American, 1999) UIMA Phat Bike, 2013 Titanium, 40 x 70 x 29 in.

Purchased with Philip D. Adler Funds, m2013.23

This fall, the entrance to the Visual Classroom will be home to one of the UIMA’s most exciting recent acquisitions, the UIMA Phat Bike by Black Sheep Bikes, which was the winner of the Best Titanium Construction award at the 2013 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. By acquiring this exquisite vehicle, the UIMA joins other leading museums in pushing the boundaries of what has traditionally been categorized as art. The UIMA Phat Bike promises to be a rich source of education and inspiration for students taking Steve McGuire’s popular bicycle design course while calling on audiences to consider their definitions of art and museums’ roles in presenting visual culture.

Challenging assumptions about art is one of the key reasons that graduate student Justin Schortgen, a teaching assistant for Ceramics I and II here at UI, is eagerly anticipating this fall’s Visual Classroom display of an extensive selection of Robert Carston Arneson’s ceramics and prints. He reports that “Robert Arneson has challenged my students on many levels. He pushes them to consider that art can be silly (and some times needs to be), while his finished product remains refined. Students are almost always shocked to see his self-portrait and realize he is making fun of himself. It brings about a kind of wonder that causes them to immediately change or challenge their mind-set on art.”

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UIMA@IMU REINSTALLATION

Above:

Robert Carston Arneson (American, 1930–1992) Brick Bang, 1976 Clay, glaze, 15 x 19 x 7 in.

Gift of Joan E. Mannheimer, 1995.246 Art © Estate of Robert Arneson / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Left:

Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886–1957) Peasants Under a Tree, n.d.

Watercolor, 19 x 24.5 in.

Gift of Owen and Leone Elliott, 1971.284 © 2013 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

The Visual Classroom not only offers a chance to rethink how we understand art, it provides an opportunity to consider museum display strategies and the significance of presenting certain kinds of objects alongside one another. This past semester, students from Cornell College in Mount Vernon worked in our Visual Classroom with their professor, Dr. Ellen Hoobler, to examine Latin American prints and reflect on their connections to historic objects from related areas. Each student selected a print and prepared label information to present with it. These exhibition projects will be integrated into the complete redesign of our Pre-Columbian installation, on which we collaborated with Dr. Hoobler, who is a specialist in ancient and modern Mexican and Latin American art. Diego Rivera’s Peasants under a Tree, with text by Sarah Ramirez, and Leopoldo Méndez’s Moliendo Maíz (Grinding Corn), with text by Moritza Borjon, will be the first prints to go on display this fall. We are thrilled to announce that the Pre-Columbian installation will also include a group of exceptional Costa Rican and Peruvian objects on long-term loan to us from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York.

As a university art museum we are dedicated to providing a venue for exploration and inquiry. We invite you to join us in the UIMA@IMU Visual Classroom this fall to see the new installation, wrestle with tough questions, and participate in the thought-provoking conversations that will surely follow!

The UIMA@IMU VISUAL CLASSROOM is located on the third floor of the Iowa Memorial Union in the Richey Ballroom.

Free and open to the public Hours: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

Thursdays 12–5 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday

u i m a . u i o w a .edu

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FALL EXHIBITION

NEW FORMS

The Avant-Garde Meets the American Scene, 1934–1949 This fall the University of Iowa Museum of Art will present New Forms: The Avant-Garde Meets the American Scene, 1934–1949, an exhibition of more than ninety works of art from the museum’s collection.

Ranging from the regionalism and social realism that characterized so-called American Scene imagery to a wide array of avant-garde movements such as surrealism, abstract expressionism, and cubism, the art of this period exemplifies and incorporates the conflicts, influences, and challenges of the era.

The exhibition also celebrates the essential contributions of the University of Iowa (at the time called the State University of Iowa) to the growth of modernism in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Emily Alexander Kerrigan, MA, a UIMA research fellow, investigated several paintings included in this fascinating exhibition and shares her insights here.

The artists of New Forms are a disparate group, with differing interests, techniques, and styles, yet during my research I found that they had unexpected and intriguing connections. For example, all of them, from the little-known John D. Pusey (1905–1966) to the famous Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), drew upon the avant-garde art they encountered while defining themselves and creating unique styles—styles that would not only bring success, but also provide a way to react through art to the tumult of the 1930s and 1940s.

Many of the New Forms painters were associated with a New York avant-garde that emerged as artists sought alternatives to regionalism and social realism, then the dominant artistic movements in the United States. A solid awareness of modernism encouraged the movement away from conservative representational styles; artists looked to the wider art world for inspiration. Surrealism’s Jungian

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Philip Guston (American, born in Canada, 1913–1980) The Young Mother, 1944 Oil on canvas 39.4375 x 29.5 in.

Gift of Dr. Clarence Van Epps, 1947.24 © The Estate of Philip Guston

theories about the unconscious and the nonrational enticed many at a time when reason seemed to have been abandoned, the world was entering a new war, and a countrywide depression faced them at home.

In Iowa as elsewhere, there was a divide between proponents of modernism and those schooled in academic art. Traditionalists often criticized any style that did not demonstrate close observation, and Iowa remained associated with regionalism well into the 1930s, in part because of the popularity of Grant Wood’s painting American Gothic (1930).

But in the mid-thirties, modernism came to stay in Iowa. At the University of Iowa, the new director of the art school, Lester Longman, organized summer exhibitions that brought to midwesterners examples of advanced art by Max Beckmann, Charles Seliger and Bradley Walker Tomlin. This embrace of modernism

FALL EXHIBITION

Walter Quirt (American, 1902–1968) Returned on the Shield, c. 1943 Oil on canvas 39.75 x 29.5 in.

Gift of Roy D. Neuberger, 1947.40 Reproduced with permission from Andrew Quirt

influenced the work of several Iowa-affiliated painters in New Forms, including Pusey, William Ashby McCloy (1913–2000), John Tazewell Robertson (1905–1989), and Philip Guston (1930–1980). Both McCloy and Pusey developed their mature styles by looking to progressive European movements; Robertson requested a transfer from the conservative Public Works of Art Project in Nebraska to the less traditional branch in Iowa; and Guston left his public art career in New York for relative seclusion in Iowa City and the development of a more personal style of painting.

While their interest in moving beyond tradition is the obvious connection among New Forms’ artists, even more intriguing to me was their common determination to express freedom and optimism in their work, in order to improve the human condition. Walter Quirt (1902–1968) focused on confronting social problems,

despite his frequent stylistic changes. Mitchell Siporin (1910–1976), a radical like Quirt, addressed society’s victims and the underprivileged, drawing on his own experiences to show viewers the challenges and misfortunes faced by many. Even Mark Rothko, although he avoided politics, remained socially aware, aiming to produce a universal art with which anyone could identify.

New Forms also includes works by many artists who were devoted to avant-garde styles, yet were not necessarily connected to the most famous (and often infamous) artists and groups, such as the New York School. For example, Charles Seliger, who at age 19 had his first exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century, was somewhat set apart from the New York School, because of his young age, focus on nature and the small scale of his work.

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FALL EXHIBITION

Stanley William Hayter (British, 1901–1988) Tropic of Cancer, 1949 Engraving, soft-ground etching Sheet: 27.25 x 33.25 in.

Museum purchase, X1968.150 © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Several challenges kept my research interesting. One, that of fixing a date for Quirt’s Returned on the Shield (c. 1943), proved to be fairly simple, while another, identifying the mysterious “H.M.” in Pollock’s Portrait of H.M. (1945), was not. Quirt’s painting fit into a fairly short time period when compared stylistically to his other artworks, and a reference to the painting in an exhibition review confirmed my conclusion that it was created in 1942 or 1943. Portrait of H.M., on the other hand, has always defied a similar rational process, even though the work has been in the UIMA collection for more than sixty-five years.

In the case of a famously reticent and secretive artist, sometimes the best we can do as scholars is to conduct thorough research, analyze the possibilities, and offer a sound argument. During my research I often wished that Pollock had been a prolific writer, like Rothko, or that his subject matter was more transparent, like that of Siporin or Robertson, but this was not the case. In the end, perhaps we do not need to know the identity of H.M.—perhaps Pollock himself did not know consciously who he or she was. This lack of knowledge does not make the painting any less fascinating. In fact, the complexity of Portrait of H.M. and many of the other paintings in this exhibition is alluring, and makes me linger in front of them just a little bit longer.

The New Forms exhibition is co-curated by University of Iowa Museum of Art chief curator Kathleen A. Edwards and University of Iowa School of Art and Art History professor Joni L. Kinsey.

Sue Fuller (American, 1914–2006) Hen, 1945 Soft-ground etching and engraving Sheet: 18.75 x 14 in.

Leola N. Bergmann Print Fund, 2013.18 Courtesy of the Estate of the Artist and the Susan Teller Gallery, NY, NY.

Sponsored in part by Janet Y. & Richard V. M. Corton, M.D., Alan F. & Ann B. January, Jeanne S. & Richard S. Levitt, Carrie Z. Norton, Craig N. & Nancy B. Willis, and multiple donors to the Members Special Exhibition Fund 10

UIMA

POLLOCK CONSERVATION

UPDATE FROM THE DIRECTOR ON THE

POLLOCK PROJECT AT THE GETTY

© 2013 by Lisa Horiuchi

The Pollock conservation project is moving forward. Earlier this year, in January, two dozen of the world’s most important modern art conservation experts met at the Getty Museum and Getty Conservation Institute to view, assess, and discuss conservation treatments for Mural. Various new discoveries followed, including aspects of the original presentation of the work in Peggy Guggenheim’s duplex hallway and the types of material and techniques used by Pollock in this painting. A large part of the discussion focused on the type of stretcher best suited for this work, physically as well as aesthetically.

In April, a second meeting was convened at the Getty and included a wide variety of people interested in discussing the Mural project, from curators to writers, from artists to art historians. This session started out looking at the “story” of Mural (its commission, location, early images and installation shots), then moved on to an overview of Mural’s condition (alterations since the completion of the work and effects of previous treatments); the technical study to date; and an overview of the current conservation treatment (including issues and decisions regarding removal of varnish, and an overview of options for further treatment and display). There was much talk over how to deal with the misalignment of the painted surface with the current stretcher edge. The group moved to the exhibition design area at the Getty Museum to view a full-scale photographic mock-up that proved enlightening, to say the least!

The event ended with discussions about further study and on the planned Getty Research Institute symposium in spring 2014 on Pollock and Mural, and included ad-hoc oral presentations by some important artists, such as Richard Tuttle, Charles Ray (an Iowa art alumnus), and John Baldessari. We also enjoyed the participation of Professor Peter Sacks from Harvard University, whom many of you may know (apart from his being famous!) because his wife, Professor Jorie Graham, was at the Writers’ Workshop for many years.

These meetings of experts at the Getty have been kindly and generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The conservation and examination of Pollock’s Mural will be complete early next year, and it will exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum from March 11 to June 1, 2014.

Sponsored in part by Myrene & H. Dee Hoover, Carrie Z. Norton, Joyce P. & W. Richard Summerwill u i m a . u i o w a .edu

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WHAT’S NEW?

UIMA Membership Program Benefits include Membership offers exclusive benefits and great value while helping to support UIMA exhibitions and programs!

• • •

•

•

Unlimited FREE admission to the Figge Art Museum 10% gift shop discount on all UIMA merchandise Extended Benefits to 43 museums participating in the College and University Art Museum Reciprocal Program ($100 and above) Extended Benefits to 625 museums participating in the North American Reciprocal Museum Program ($250 and above) FREE admission to UIMA First Fridays ($500 and above)

JOIN TODAY! For a full list of UIMA Member levels and benefits, please visit uima.uiowa.edu

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M EM BE RS H IP CA RD

INTRODUCING

WHAT’S NEW?

Fueled by a passion for the arts and the desire to challenge our museum audience, Smart Talks open an inspiring discussion between the leaders of the art world and our community.

JOIN US OCTOBER 10 The Conservation of Paintings: Historical and Technical Discoveries

AND BE PART OF THE DISCUSSION!

by Barry Bauman The conservation and restoration of art can sometimes be a subject of drama.

Each art work that needs restoring carries within it, like a Chinese box, layer after layer of meaning—sometimes obscured, puzzling or distorted. It is the conservator’s job to understand and reveal what the master painter set down or intended. In an illustrated presentation, Barry Bauman will share some of his remarkable discoveries and experiences.

OCTOBER 17 Explorations in Light

by Derek Porter Light has a significant influence on our psychological and physiological responses to the physical world. These responses are largely inherited through ancestral evolution, although personal experiences also teach us. Porter frames the relationship between his own artistic explorations and his multidisciplinary design practice as a complementary partnership in examining the needs of future designed societies.

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LECTURES

THE BETTE SPRIESTERSBACH DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SEPTEMBER 16 Erika Doss holds a bachelor’s degree from Ripon College and MA and PhD degrees from the University of Minnesota. For twenty-one years Doss was the director of the American Studies program and professor of fine arts at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Currently she works as an art historian and chairperson of the Department of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Doss’s primary teaching and research interests are in modern and contemporary American art history and material/visual culture. Public culture and public response to that culture has been the primary impetus for her work. She is the author of numerous publications, including Benton, Pollock, and the Politics of Modernism: From Regionalism to Abstract Expressionism (1991); Spirit Poles and Flying Pigs: Public Art and Cultural Democracy in American Communities (1995); Elvis Culture: Fans, Faith, and Image (1999); Looking at Life Magazine (editor, 2001); and Twentieth-Century American Art (2002). In addition to teaching courses in American, modern, and contemporary art and visual culture, Doss is the editor of the “Culture America” series at the University Press of Kansas, and is on the editorial board of the journals Memory Studies and Public Art Dialogue.

JEANNE AND RICHARD LEVITT LECTURESHIP: AMERICAN CRAFTS IN CONTEXT SEPTEMBER 26 Jonathan Fineberg is the adjunct curator of the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York, the visiting Presidential Professor at the University of Nebraska, and the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor of Art History Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

He is also a trustee emeritus of the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, where he was founding director of the Center for the Study of Modern Art. With the former chancellor of the University of Illinois, Richard Herman, Fineberg established Illinois at the Phillips, a study-abroad program in art history and museum studies for graduate and undergraduate students at Illinois. His book Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being, now in its third edition, is used extensively as a textbook for modern art history classes.

Fineberg earned his BA and PhD degrees from Harvard University and an MA from the Courtauld Institute in London, and studied psychoanalysis at the Boston and Western New England Psychoanalytic Institutes. He has taught at Yale, Harvard, and Columbia, and his awards include the Pulitzer Fellowship in Critical Writing, the NEA Art Critic’s Fellowship, Senior Fellowships from the Dedalus Foundation and the Japan Foundation, and the College Art Association’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in the History of Art.

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LECTURES

OCTOBER

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Barry Bauman received his BA in 1969 from Beloit College and in 1971 an MA in art history, with a specialization in Dutch Baroque painting, at the University of Chicago. He served in the Conservation Department at the Art Institute of Chicago for eleven years, leaving as the associate conservator of paintings. He has been a visiting conservator with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 1982, he was elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation.

In 1983 Bauman founded the Chicago Conservation Center—a resource facility for the conservation of paintings, works of art on paper, objects, frames, murals, and textiles—which became the largest private facility in America. Major projects included the conservation of 172 flood-damaged paintings for the Chicago Historical Society and, in a two-million-dollar undertaking, the preservation of more than 300 WPA and pre-WPA murals for the Chicago public schools.

In January of 2004, Bauman left the private sector to establish America’s first national conservation laboratory dedicated to offering complimentary conservation services to museums and nonprofit organizations.

OCTOBER

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Derek Porter is the co-owner and principal designer of Derek Porter Studio, where he leads philosophical interests, collaborative thinking, and detail development for projects in architectural lighting and product design. As an extension of his lighting design practice, he studies light and space through work in photography and sculpture. This more personal investigation of light brings opportunities for introspective study and abstract understanding of the subtleties found in human perception, atmospheric conditions, and cycles in nature.

Porter has been instrumental in the evolution of lighting design education and is a tenured associate professor and director of the MFA lighting design program at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City.

This innovative program is globally recognized for daylight and electric lighting integration, cross-disciplinary study, and broad-ranging theoretical research in light, space, and human perception.

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LECTURES

EXHIBITION LECTURES SEPTEMBER 25 Dale Fisher received his bachelor of sciences in art education, with K-12 life certification, and a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting, from the University of Missouri-Columbia. After teaching in the public schools for six years, Fisher attended Arizona State University as a candidate in the master of fine arts program in ceramics. More significantly, during this time he served as a coordinator/instructor for a collaborative program for at-risk students, sponsored by Tempe Social Services and the Tempe, Kyrene, and Mesa School Districts. After completing his master of fine arts in ceramics at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Fisher served as museum educator at the University of Missouri-Columbia Museum of Art and Archaeology and served on the faculty of the School of Fine Arts. He currently is curator of education at the University of Iowa Museum of Art.

NOVEMBER 6 Ann Prentice Wagner is curator of drawings at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock and has previously worked for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, George Mason University, Towson State University, and the University of Maryland, College Park. Wagner has spent more than two decades curating exhibitions; in 2009, with George Gurney, curator emeritus of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, she co-curated “1934: A New Deal for Artists,” which spotlighted the work of artists involved in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Public Works of Art Project. She has written and given presentations extensively on American art in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Wagner holds a PhD in art history from the University of Maryland.

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EXUBERANT POLITICS FILM SERIES

Exuberant Politics Film Series Exuberant politics? Political artists engaging in directed creative efforts, activists devising interventions of street theater, peaceful protesters with cameras, and animators with axes to grind—all of these are expressions of “exuberant” politics. This film and video series arose from a call to curators to assemble an exuberant program featuring creative responses to historical and contemporary political issues. These works conceptualize the politics of protest, and depict new forms of social action. The curators have chosen poetic documentaries and striking animations to compose programs that inspire audiences to ask serious questions and challenge political beliefs. The film series is funded by the University of Iowa Museum of Art.

Dream Factory Curated by Aily Nash and Andrew Norman Wilson

OCTOBER 22, 2013 8:00 PM W151 PBB

Dream Factory shows the work of artists in moving images and media that examines the confluence of labor, production, and consumption. Corporate imagery and language appear as both a critique and a recognition of these systems. The various ways to examine forms of labor, consumption-as-production, and the aesthetics and visual language of a capitalist, globalized “lifestyle” are considered. The title, borrowed from the artist-led collective Otolith Group, invokes the growing confluence of labor, consumption, and that which propels them.

Aily Nash is a curator and writer. She received her BA at Bard College, where she studied film and electronic arts. She curates films and video work at Basilica Hudson, and is an editor of a film criticism program at the Berlinale international film festival. Her curated programs have been shown in venues such as MoMA PS1 (NYC), BAM/Brooklyn Academy of Music (NYC), Anthology Film Archives (NYC), Light Cone’s Scratch Expanded (Paris), Image Forum (Tokyo), Art Cinema OFFoff (Ghent), and others.

Andrew Norman Wilson is a 2011 recipient of the Dedalus Foundation MFA fellowship and the Edward Ryerson Fellowship. He has participated in residencies at the Headlands Center for the Arts and the Banff Center, and is an upcoming resident at the Akademie Schloss Solitude. His work has been featured in Artforum, Aperture magazine, Rhizome, Buzzfeed, and elsewhere.

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EXUBERANT POLITICS FILM SERIES

An Ingenious Response to Colonialism Curated by Pablo de Ocampo

NOVEMBER

12, 2013 8:00 P M W151 PBB

An Ingenious Response to Colonialism takes its inspiration and title from the classic ethnographic film Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism, which documents the animated adaptations of the staid English game by indigenous islanders. This screening looks at transformations of culture, focusing on music and performance. Here, the performative act becomes a tool of resistance, a site of critique, or a demonstration of the many ways in which the colonized encounters the colonizer.

Pablo de Ocampo is the artistic director of the Images Festival, one of the largest platforms for the exhibition of artist-made film and video in North America. Previously, de Ocampo lived in Portland, Oregon, where he cofounded the collectively run screening series Cinema Project. In June, 2013, he curated the Fifty-ninth Robert Flaherty Film Seminar.

God’s Special Envoys Curated by Abigail Addison

DECEMBER

3, 2013 8:00 P M W151 PBB

According to the TV evangelist Pat Robertson, “in a free society, the police and the military are God’s special envoys.” This program highlights the horrors of conflict along with a collective call to peace, presenting images of people on the frontline fighting other people’s wars, and those who rise up and refuse to conform to state control.

Animation techniques are employed in all of the films to reflect on war and unrest in vibrant, exuberant, and illuminating ways.

Abigail Addison is the associate director at Animate Projects, the UK’s only arts charity that supports and promotes artists’ animation. Addison previously worked for the UK Film Council’s Strategic Development Unit and in the Visual Arts Department at Arts Council England’s national office. For the last three years, she has contributed to Sight & Sound’s annual Best Online Video poll. Recently she was asked to curate a screening of cutting-edge films from Ars Electronica 2012 at the Austrian Culture Forum London.

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UIMA

EDUCATION NEWS

EDUCATION NEWS

ANY

GIVEN CHILD The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the City of Iowa City, Hancher Auditorium, and UIMA are a team! In the spring of 2012, Hancher spearheaded a successful effort to make Iowa City one of eight cities in the U.S. included in the Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child program, which creates a long-range arts education plan for students in grades K–8. The UI Division of Performing Arts, the College of Education, and University Marketing and Media Production will also be participants.

With assistance from Kennedy Center staff, UIMA Curator of Education Dale Fisher, and other professionals, leaders in our community have spent the last year developing a plan that is tailor-made for the school district and community. Through this effort, Any Given Child seeks to bring access, balance, and equity to each child’s arts education, with an affordable model that combines the resources of the school district, local arts groups, and the Kennedy Center.

Since its establishment, the museum has always provided specific programming for schoolchildren. After the flood of 2008, the schools themselves became the program sites, and thousands of children statewide have participated in presentations, on six different themes, led by UIMA staff and volunteer docents. The Any Given Child initiative thus enhances the museum’s long-running goal of arts-integration-based instruction in K–8 programming.

“Any Given Child has offered local arts organizations and the public schools a chance to work together in a new way,” said Hancher Auditorium Programming Director Jacob Yarrow. “We have found remarkable strength in the current arts education offerings in Iowa City schools while identifying opportunities to ensure that every child has a well-rounded and complete arts education. Our action plan for the future will inspire even more collaboration and creative approaches to engaging students in the arts.”

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FIRST FRIDAY & SAVE THE DATE

September 6 October 4

5–7 p.m. @hotelVetro November 1 December 6 Sponsored in part by H. Dee & Myrene Hoover in honor of Alden Lowell Doud; hotelVetro; other generous UIMA sponsors

SATURDAY APRIL 12, 2014 Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, Coralville

SAVE THE DATE

Please mark your calendars for The Museum Party!

20

UIMA

NEW STAFF

New Staff worked at the Hearst Center for the Arts, where I discovered what I really wanted to do—be a registrar for a museum. I met my first collections spreadsheet and was hooked. In order to improve the skills and knowledge required of registrars, I enrolled in the library and information science graduate program at the University of Iowa, graduating in 2012. I have been working in the registrarial department at the UIMA since 2011 and have loved every minute of it.

What is a registrar?

Katherine Wilson Assistant Registrar What were you doing before you came to the UIMA? After I received my BA in art education with an emphasis in art history, from the University of Northern Iowa, I volunteered for the Cedar Falls Historical Society of Iowa during the 2008 flood. That disaster was the start of my career working with museums.

After the floodwaters receded, I

I get this question all the time! The simplest answer is “the librarian of the museum’s collections.” As assistant registrar I work in collections management—I track the locations of the objects in our collection, write loan agreements, and manage rights-and-reproduction agreements.

To make sure that the collection is well cared for and protected, I spend much of my time working with databases and spreadsheets.

What have you accomplished since you started at the UIMA?

What is an assistant curator of education?

Assistant Curator of Education What were you doing before you came to the UIMA? I was working on my BA in art history with a museum studies certificate, here at the university. After an internship with the UIMA, creating storage and

What are your goals for the UIMA? My goal is to increase access to the collections by the public through our database and the standardization of our data. This may not sound very exciting to most people, but it is amazing what one can do with clean data. For example, we will be able to publish more of our collections online so that the public, other museums, and researchers can find and use our information easily. We are always looking for new ways to make our work accessible to a larger audience. We are a state institution, and we serve the state as well as the academic community.

My proudest accomplishment is the implementation of a new database

transportation solutions for the school programs collection, I worked as a gallery attendant at the UIMA@IMU until I graduated, in May of 2011. During a two-year temporary appointment I gave presentations to audiences all over the state of Iowa as school programs outreach instructor, and at the UIMA@ IMU I supervised gallery attendants and gave tours of the permanent collection.

Josh Siefken

for collection management, called EmbARK. I was grateful for my MA in library and information science when I was neck deep in the process of getting the new database up and running, because I could use my new knowledge of database structures, archives, and computer science. EmbARK allows the museum to standardize work processes and improve access to our collections by staff and, in the future, the public!

I believe my job would be vastly different if the UIMA had a permanent home, but, because of our current situation and the education department’s successful and unique programming, my job encompasses a wide array of duties. On any given day I may be driving across the state to give presentations to K–12 students.

The next day I may be in the office researching and writing educational materials or creating custom storage for the school programs collections. I could also be at the UIMA@IMU or Black Box Theater giving tours of the museum’s permanent collection.

What have you accomplished since you started at the UIMA? I have become a skilled public speaker since I began working for the museum, and able to convey sometimes-abstract notions of artworks into clear concepts for audiences of all ages. I am also proud of my work with the school programs collections, cataloguing the objects and providing secure storage and transportation.

What are your goals for the UIMA? My goal is to help the education department continue to reach more audiences in the state of Iowa. While the department has already been successful in implementing outreach in the state, there are many communities outside our core group of cities and schools that would like to use the services we provide. My other goal includes learning how to write grant applications, and how to use those grants and the departmental budget effectively to further the museum’s mission of educational outreach.

u i m a . u i o w a .edu 21

NEW DEAL PARTY

NEW DEAL PARTY, MARCH 2, 2013

The New Deal Museum Party marked a change in the timing of the Museum’s annual gala from fall to the spring semester.

Located in the Oakdale Ballroom of the Coralville Marriott, guests were surrounded by the ambiance of a 1930s nightclub with a timeline of the decade, swing dancing, and live music performed by Kristen Behrendt and Steinway artist Dan Knight, and Rod Pierson’s “Not So” Big Band, featuring Craig Boche. Dolls and Dapper Dans enjoyed swishing their glad rags and kicking up their heels after the dance lesson taught by Susie and Derrick Murray of Dance New York.

Thanks to the dedicated Members Council and Committee Co-Chairs Anna Barker and Kay Irelan, the fantabulous wingding was a night to remember!

We’d like to thank all of our generous New Deal Museum Party supporters Honorary Chairs: Ann & Alan January Party Sponsors: University of Iowa Community Credit Union  Willis Law Firm/Security Abstract Party Hosts: Anna and James Barker  Jackie Blank  Blank & McCune, The Real Estate Company  Margaret C. Clancy Sandra/Zoe Eskin  Kristin Hardy & Gerry Ambrose  Hayes Lorenzen Lawyers PC  Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service Polly & Tom Lepic  Marriott Hotel & Conference Center  MODUS  Neumann Monson Architects  Carrie Z. Norton Oaknoll Retirement Residence  Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Walker, Tucker, & Gelman, L.L.P. Rohrbach Associates PC Architects  Shive-Hattery - Architecture-Engineering  Kristin Summerwill West Music Company  Mary Westbrook 22

UIMA

For Iowa. Forever More.

The Campaign for the University of Iowa The University of Iowa’s plans for rebuilding its arts facilities have received much attention recently. Many museum patrons have had questions about these plans, as well as about the fundraising campaigns under way—and the role of the University of Iowa Museum of Art (UIMA) within those campaigns.

I’d like to address some of those questions, and I encourage you to keep sharing your thoughts as we move ahead with planning for a new building.

Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved the UI’s request to replace the museum facility through use of a public-private partnership. The UI now is reviewing opportunities to build the new facility, which likely will be funded with a combination of university resources and a fundraising campaign. Although the exact location for the new museum is unknown at this time, we expect it to be situated in a space that is highly accessible to students and the public. It is too early to estimate costs for the new facility, so the campaign goal will be set once we’re further along in the planning process.

In May, the UI launched For Iowa. Forever More: The Campaign for the University of Iowa, a $1.7 billion initiative that is the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the state’s history. Its goal reflects funding priorities set by university departments and approved by UI President Sally Mason. The UIMA is included in this comprehensive campaign and set a goal at $5 million to fund art exhibitions, education outreach, and care of its collections. However, this goal does not include funding for a new building.

With so much building going on, arts patrons have many options for spending their highly valued philanthropic dollars. Iowans have a strong commitment to the arts, and the 2008 flood has provided an exceptional opportunity for all of us to give to the arts in a way that has never been possible before. Together, we must ensure that the museum will be among those opportunities, and we must pull together to create the kind of institution that this new century—and our world-class art collection—demands.

You also may have heard about the Arts & Minds Campaign, which is a subset of the larger comprehensive campaign. This initiative is focused on replacing the flood-damaged arts buildings and will be the largest amount the UI ever has raised for its arts facilities. The goal for Arts & Minds is $30 million, the amount needed to complete three projects: Hancher Auditorium, the School of Music, and the School of Art and Art History buildings. The UIMA is not included in the Arts & Minds Campaign because the final decision for federal funding was in process when the campaign got under way.

We are moving closer to this reality because, as you probably know, the big news in June was that the

We remain forever grateful to the UIMA’s many generous contributors who have invested in its mission of bringing the experience of art to Iowans. We stand at the doorstep of great promise, and we have the chance to create an art center of innovation and excellence that will resonate throughout the university and the global arts community for decades to come. Together, we can create a bright future for Iowa . . . forever more.

Director of Development pat-hanick@uiowa.edu (319)467-4768 or (800) 648-6973.

1375 Highway 1 West/1840 Studio Arts Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1789 (319) 335-1727 uima.uiowa.edu

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2013 1896 319.337.9623 www.truartcolorgraphics.com 2800 Highway 6 East • Iowa City The State University of Iowa Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization soliciting tax-deductible private contributions for the benefit of The University of Iowa. The organization is located at One West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52244; its telephone number is (800) 648-6973. Please consult your tax advisor about the deductibility of your gift.

If you are a resident of the following states, please review the applicable, required disclosure statement. GEORGIA: A full and fair description of the charitable programs and activities and a financial statement is available upon request from the organization using its address/telephone number, listed above. MARYLAND: A copy of the current financial statement is available upon request from the organization using its address/telephone number, listed above. For the cost of copies and postage, documents and information submitted under the Maryland Solicitations Act are available from the Secretary of State, 16 Francis Street, Annapolis, MD 21401, 410-974-5521. NEW JERSEY: INFORMATION FILED WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONCERNING THIS CHARITABLE SOLICITATION AND THE PERCENTAGE OF CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED BY THE CHARITY DURING THE LAST REPORTING PERIOD THAT WERE DEDICATED TO THE CHARITABLE PURPOSE MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY BY CALLING 973-504-6215 AND IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT http://www.state. nj.us/lps/ca/charfrm.htm. REGISTRATION WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT. NEW YORK: A copy of the last financial report filed with the Attorney General is available upon request from the organization using its address/telephone number, listed above, or from the Office of the Attorney General, Department of Law, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271. PENNSYLVANIA: The official registration and financial information of the State University of Iowa Foundation may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, (800)732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. WASHINGTON: Financial disclosure information is available upon request from the Secretary of State, Charities Program, by calling (800) 332-4483. WEST VIRGINIA: West Virginia residents may obtain a summary of the registration and financial documents from the Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, West Virginia 25305. Registration does not imply endorsement.