Utah Museum of Fine Arts
Encyclopedia
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is Utah's primary resource for culture
and visual arts. It is located in Salt Lake City, Utah
on the University of Utah
campus near Rice–Eccles Stadium. Works of art are displayed on a rotating basis. It is a university
and state art museum. Today the Utah Museum of Fine Arts allows the public opportunities to experience different cultures from its extensive art collections.
. It has a cafe
and store located inside the building along with more than 20 galleries. Permanent art collections for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts include over 17,000 works of art. The different cultures represented include African, Oceanic and the New World, Asia
n, Europe
an, American
, and the Ancient and Classical World.
, established it as the Utah Museum of Fine Arts on May 6, 1951. In 1967, Frank Sanquineti was appointed as the first professional director. By this time, the Museum had entered a new period of growth which resulted in the building of a new museum.
After the Museum’s relocation in 1970, its goal was to focus on the continuation of expanding its collections and the Annual Friends of the Art Museum Acquisition Fund was formed. Over the years this Annual Fund has helped support the expansion of the Museum’s collections and its ability to offer art education programs. Thanks to the generous patrons, local and national foundations, the University community, and the citizens of the State of Utah, the UMFA’s collection now encompasses 5,200 years of artistic creativity. Since the mid-1900s, when the collection was around 800 objects, it has grown to over 13,000 art objects. This huge expansion required the building of yet another museum, and with the help of many generous donors the construction of a new 70000 square feet (6,503.2 m²) building was started in 1997. The UMFA opened in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building on June 2, 2001 and David Dee was appointed Executive Director the following year.
Since the second relocation, the UMFA has experienced unprecedented growth in all areas of operation. In February 2005, the Utah State Legislature
declared the UMFA as an official state institution, confirming the importance of the Museum’s role as a center for art, culture, and education in the state of Utah. In April 2009, David Dee resigned from the Museum and Gretchen Dietrich was appointed Interim Director. Gretchen Dietrich was named Executive Director effective August 2010.
Since the beginning, the UMFA has made it a priority for its collections to represent principal artistic styles and world cultures. Today the UMFA strives to provide everyone with the opportunity to experience different ideas, values, and cultures from its extensive art collections.
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and visual arts. It is located in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
on the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
campus near Rice–Eccles Stadium. Works of art are displayed on a rotating basis. It is a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
and state art museum. Today the Utah Museum of Fine Arts allows the public opportunities to experience different cultures from its extensive art collections.
Overview
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is accredited by The American Association of MuseumsAmerican Association of Museums
The American Association of Museums is a non-profit association that has brought museums together since its founding in 1906, helping develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and advocating on issues of concern to the museum community...
. It has a cafe
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
and store located inside the building along with more than 20 galleries. Permanent art collections for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts include over 17,000 works of art. The different cultures represented include African, Oceanic and the New World, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an, American
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, and the Ancient and Classical World.
History
The creation of a formal art gallery on the top floor of the University of Utah's Park Building in the early 1900s marks the physical birth of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. In the beginning, paintings by local artists filled this three-room gallery. Through the next six decades, the art department at the University of Utah received major art gifts and specific requests from donors to remodel the gallery into a museum. After the renovation of the gallery was finished, the University’s president, A. Ray OlpinA. Ray Olpin
Albert Ray Olpin was president of the University of Utah from 1946 to 1964. During his presidency the university quadrupled in size and the enrollment tripled from 4,000 to 12,000 students.-Biography:...
, established it as the Utah Museum of Fine Arts on May 6, 1951. In 1967, Frank Sanquineti was appointed as the first professional director. By this time, the Museum had entered a new period of growth which resulted in the building of a new museum.
After the Museum’s relocation in 1970, its goal was to focus on the continuation of expanding its collections and the Annual Friends of the Art Museum Acquisition Fund was formed. Over the years this Annual Fund has helped support the expansion of the Museum’s collections and its ability to offer art education programs. Thanks to the generous patrons, local and national foundations, the University community, and the citizens of the State of Utah, the UMFA’s collection now encompasses 5,200 years of artistic creativity. Since the mid-1900s, when the collection was around 800 objects, it has grown to over 13,000 art objects. This huge expansion required the building of yet another museum, and with the help of many generous donors the construction of a new 70000 square feet (6,503.2 m²) building was started in 1997. The UMFA opened in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building on June 2, 2001 and David Dee was appointed Executive Director the following year.
Since the second relocation, the UMFA has experienced unprecedented growth in all areas of operation. In February 2005, the Utah State Legislature
Utah State Legislature
The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 Representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 State Senators...
declared the UMFA as an official state institution, confirming the importance of the Museum’s role as a center for art, culture, and education in the state of Utah. In April 2009, David Dee resigned from the Museum and Gretchen Dietrich was appointed Interim Director. Gretchen Dietrich was named Executive Director effective August 2010.
Since the beginning, the UMFA has made it a priority for its collections to represent principal artistic styles and world cultures. Today the UMFA strives to provide everyone with the opportunity to experience different ideas, values, and cultures from its extensive art collections.
Events and Programs
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts offers family, adult and children's programs along with tours for visitors of all ages. Activities include self-guided visits of the galleries, hands-on art projects, films, lectures, and informative guided tours. Family programs offer studio art activities on the third Saturday of each month. Adult programs include painting classes, lectures, and fine arts film series. Children's programs include special summer classes where children may combine history with art making. There are also classes for parents and their children from ages 2–5 to learn how to paint and sculpt.Past Exhibitions
Exhibitions at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts generally change on a two to three month basis. Some examples of past exhibitions since 2007 include:- Splendid Heritage: Perspective on American Indian Art (February 10, 2009 - March 1, 2010) premiered an extraordinary exhibition of cultural and artistic treasures from the John and Marva Warnock Collection with 149 objects of unique artistry and cultural expression from the Native people of the Northeast and Plains.
- Monet to Picasso from the Cleveland Museum of ArtCleveland Museum of ArtThe Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
(June 23 - Sept. 21 2008) included Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Early Modernist paintings from 100 years of European masterworks in an international touring exhibition.
- Suitcase Paintings: Small Scale Work by Abstract Expressionists (Jan. 19 - Mar. 29 2008) which included around sixty works of intense beauty that exhibited energy found in larger works.
- Andy WarholAndy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
's Dream America: Screen prints from the Collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation (Oct. 4, 2007 - Jan. 6 2008) included around 100 screen prints by internationally acclaimed artist Andy Warhol.
- CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
: Masks, Magic and Mirrors (Sept. 2 - Mar. 31 2008) which included materials from AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and the Americas. This exhibit explored key themes from CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
including the magical mirror.
- Picturing the West: Masterworks of 19th Century Landscape PhotographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
(Oct. 6 - Dec. 30 2007) included 32 nineteenth century American Western landscapeLandscapeLandscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
photographs.