Museum of Art (University of Michigan) records, 1946-2011 (majority within 1946-2003)

Summary

Creator:

University of Michigan. Museum of Art.

Abstract:

Established as a separate unit of the university in 1946, the University of Michigan Museum of Art serves as a research and teaching facility for the university and surrounding communities. The record group documents the museum's exhibitions and installations of the permanent collection and complementary interpretive programming. Records include exhibition files; executive committee minutes and director's correspondence; photographs; publicity files; and material related to the Museum Practice Program.

Extent:

26.3 linear feet
691 GB

Language:

English

Call Number:

0475 Bimu C450 2

Authors:

Finding aid created by Amy Scott, June 2004

Background

Scope and Content:

The records of the University of Michigan Museum of Art document its exhibition program, administration and its educational function through the Museum Practice Program. The UMMA record group has been arranged into seven series: Exhibition Files, Executive Files, Photographs, Publicity, Museum Practice Program, Historical Background, and Docents. The records include correspondence, committee minutes, publicity material and photographs. Exhibit catalogs and other publications are described separately in the Museum of Art Publications finding aid.

Biographical / Historical:

The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) houses the second largest art collection in the state of Michigan, offering a rich permanent collection supplemented by an active special exhibition program. In addition, the many and varying art collections assist in teaching at the university. The collections of Chinese and Japanese paintings and ceramics; Old Master and contemporary prints and drawings; and Whistler prints are particularly strong.

The museum was established in its present form in 1946. The University Regents declared in November 1945 that the Museum of Art and Archaeology be abolished and that two separate units (the Museum of Art and the Museum of Archaeology) take its place. At their January 1946 meeting, the Regents further stipulated that the Museum of Art be maintained as "a separate administrative unit for the purpose of collection, conservation, study and exhibition of works of art and the preparation of publications with respect thereunto." The university's art collections had their origins long before 1946, however. Early systematic collecting began in 1855 when Professor Henry S. Frieze purchased a number of art works, chiefly engravings and plaster casts, to illustrate his courses in classical art and archaeology. In 1862 Frieze was instrumental in acquiring the university's first significant original work of art, Randolph Rogers' Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii.

The collection grew sporadically in the following decades, in large part through gifts from individuals as well as from graduating classes. The Henry C. Lewis bequest came to the university in 1895 and contained more than four hundred paintings and other works of art. With a modest budget for acquisitions, the museum's first director, Jean Paul Slusser, maintained a focus on collecting modern painting, sculpture and graphics and was quite successful due to his aesthetic expertise, knowledge of the New York art market and connections with Ann Arbor art organizations. The collection was further supplemented by gifts, including the Carl F. Clarke bequest of French and American landscape paintings and the Margaret Watson Parker bequest in 1936 (transferred to the museum in 1954 and 1955) of more than 600 Asian and Western works including Japanese prints and paintings by James NcNeill Whistler. Dr. Walter R. Parker (Margaret's husband and professor of ophthalmology at the university) further bequeathed funds to house the collection and to support future acquisitions.

During the very early years, efforts were made to display the collections. In 1857-1858 they were housed in the North and South Colleges. Space was allocated in the no longer extant library (newly erected in 1883), but even with the additional space gained when the library was enlarged in 1898 the facility could not adequately accommodate the growing collections. In 1910 the collections were moved to Alumni Memorial Hall, sharing the building with the Fine Arts Department and the Alumni Association. The hall has undergone renovations on several occasions. In 1957-1958, a Unistrut system of internal scaffolding was designed by professor of architecture William Muschenheim and installed in the museum apse. This installation increased gallery space. The Unistrut installation was subsequently removed in the early 1970s. Remodeling in 1966-1967 created additional gallery space; modernized the museum's heating, cooling and lighting systems; and provided areas for storage and behind-the-scenes work. The Museum of Art became Alumni Memorial Hall's sole occupant at this time. In 2003, planning was begun for a major expansion designed to increase the building's capacity by 55,000 square feet, to be used for additional gallery space, an auditorium and classrooms, and for a complete renovation of the existing facility.

Important components of the UMMA's program were added as it continued to expand its exhibitions program. In the late 1950s director Charles Sawyer began presenting museum seminars which, by 1963, had developed into the Museum Practice Program. The program, continued through 1995, provided training for many budding professionals in the museum field and organized numerous successful exhibitions for the UMMA over the years. (The training of museum professionals was revived at the university in Fall 2003 when an interdisciplinary Museum Studies Program was created under the auspices of the Rackham School of Graduate Studies.) The Friends of the Museum of Art was founded in 1968. This group supports the UMMA's acquisitions and other programming. Under director Bret Waller, the Docent Program was established in 1975 to provide tours for school classes and other visitors. In the first decade of the 21st century, under the leadership of James Steward, UMMA undervent a $42 million expansion and restoration and secured over $62 million in capital, endowment and operational gifts. During this period the museum's collection has grown by some 3,500 works of art, bringing it to a total of nearly 19,000 objects -- an increase of more than 20 percent in a decade. Under the leadership of Joe Rosa, between 2010 and 2016, UMMA underwent a $40 million capital campaign. UMMA established new digital initiatives, hosted culturally relevant exhibitions featuring emerging contemporary artists, established new photography, design, and media galleries at the museum, and expanded the curatorial team to include specialists in photography and African art. During this period, UMMA was ranked number one among public university art museums in the U.S. by Best College Reviews. In fiscal year 2016 the Museum saw almost 250,000 visitors -- a record attendance.

Museum Directors

Date	Event
1946-1956	Jean Paul Slusser
1957-1972	Charles H. Sawyer
1973	Robert A. Yassin (acting)
1973-1980	Bret Waller
1980	Clifford Olds (acting)
1981-1988	Evan M. Maurer
1988-1989	Graham Smith (interim)
1990-1997	William Hennessey
1997-1998	Carole C. McNamara (interim)
1998-2009	James Christen Steward
2010-2016	Joe Rosa
2016-present	Christina Olsen

Partial Listing of Museum Assistant Directors

Date	Event
1961-1963?	Charles Chetham
1963-1964	Samuel Sachs II
1965-1969	Paul L. Grigaut
1970-	Robert A. Yassin
1974-1978	John E. Holmes
1981?-1983	Jacquelyn Baas Slee
1981?-	Mary Kujawski Roberts
1990-1996?	Ellen A. (Nan) Plummer
1997-2014 (?)	Carole C. McNamara
2014-present	Natalie Vasher

Acquisition Information:

The bulk of these records was transferred (Donor No. 3195 ) in 2003. Periodic additions are expected.

Processing information:

In preparing digital material for long-term preservation and access, the Bentley Historical Library adheres to professional best practices and standards to ensure that content will retain its authenticity and integrity. For more information on procedures for the ingest and processing of digital materials, please see Bentley Historical Library Digital Processing Note. Access to digital material may be provided either as a direct link to an individual file or as a downloadable package of files bundled in a zip file.

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Material

Researchers may also be interested in the personal papers of several early museum leaders which can be found at the Bentley Historical Library:

1. Paul L. Grigaut papers, 1929-1969
2. Charles Henry Sawyer papers, 1930-1966
3. Jean Paul Slusser papers, 1905-1978

Alternative Form Available:

Digitization: The Library has undertaken the digitization of a number of sound recordings within this collection. The resulting audio files are available for playback only in the Bentley Library Reading Room. Links to item images and additional information are available within this finding aid. Original sound recordings are only available for staff use.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Art.
Art -- Exhibitions.
Artists.
Art.
Art -- Exhibitions.
Artists.

Formats:

Photographs.

Names:

University of Michigan. Museum of Art.
University of Michigan. Museum Practice Program.
University of Michigan. Graduate Seminar in Museum Practice.