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