UIMA Fall 2011

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FEATURED ARTISTS Alison Bechdel Dan Clowes R. Crumb Chris Ware MORE INSIDE... uima.uiowa.edu

CONTENTS

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S 5

From the Director

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Graphic Language • Exhibition Overview • Events and Programming

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UIMA@IMU

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Lectures • Art and Museum Guest Lecture Series • Elliott Society

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Education • New Learning Objects

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Collection News • On- and Off-Campus Partnerships

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First Fridays

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Future of the UIMA • Sponsorship Opportunities • Strategic Plan

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pARTy! Time

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Vounteers

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From the University of Iowa Foundation • Friend-raising before Fund-raising

Contemporary Mexican-born artist, Enrique Chagoya (cover), combined a number of modern and traditional print techniques in homage to George Cruikshank (left), a prolific and controversial British printmaker of the 19th century. Both artists exemplify the artistic tradition of employing satire to address important social issues. The cover image depicts President Barack Obama tormented by the problems he inherited with his presidency, such as healthcare reform, the war in Iraq, and the recession. Both works are included in the Graphic Language exhibition.

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Cover: Enrique Chagoya (American, born in Mexico 1953) The Headache, after The Headache by George Cruikshank, c. 1830, 2010 Etching and chine collé, 16 1/2’’ x 20 1/2’’, Museum purchase © Enrique Chagoya

MUSIC THAT'S BEEN CATCHY FOR 300 YEARS. Conversations that provoke thought. Stories that reveal the artist’s inner secrets. And live performances of the world’s greatest music. Iowa’s only true Classical station.

Listen with all your heart.

F H F T S

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L O C AT I O N S & H O U R S

University of Iowa Museum of Art Temporary offices at the Studio Arts Building: 1375 Highway 1 West/1840 SA Iowa City, IA 52242-1789 319.335.1727 uima.uiowa.edu Temporary locations:

Iowa Memorial Union, third floor UIMA@IMU (Richey Ballroom) 125 North Madison St., Iowa City 319.335.1742

Figge Art Museum 225 West Second St. Davenport, IA 52801 563.326.7804

An on-campus visual classroom featuring an expansive installation of art from the Museum’s permanent collection.

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

Black Box Theater On-campus space for UIMA special exhibitions.

Free admission for University of Iowa students, faculty, and staff with UI ID cards and UIMA donors with their Donor Courtesy Cards.

Levitt Center for University Advancement One West Park Rd,, Iowa City A selection of art from the UIMA’s African art collection.

Open by appointment only. Call 319.335.3232 for more information.

The UIMA Magazine is sponsored by Hands Jewelers: William Nusser and Elizabeth Boyd

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Thursdays 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

Sundays 12–5 p.m.

Support www.uifoundation.org/uima Museum Merchandise Shop for UIMA merchandise online at book.uiowa.edu 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.

Sign up to receive our E-newsletter at uima.uiowa.edu.

Connect Find us on Facebook Facebook.com/UIMuseumofArt Follow us on Twitter Twitter.com/UIMuseumofArt NEW! Scan with a QR Reader on your smartphone

Edited by Erika Jo Brown | Written by Erika Jo Brown, Meghan Centers, and Steven Parrott Illustrations by Steve Erickson | Design and layout by Rodrick D. Whetstone Copyright 2011

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EVENTS

FALL 2011 Calendar of Events EXHIBITIONS Fall Semester Fall Semester Sept. 2–Dec. 10

Sept. 24–Dec. 11 Ongoing Ongoing

Labyrinths and Other Daily Exits: The Art of Tom Aprile, UI Main Library Video Classrooms, Studio Arts and UI Main Library Life and Death on the Prairie: Photography by Stephen Longmire, Humanities Gallery, Old Capitol Museum Graphic Language: The Art and Literature of Comics, Black Box Theater, IMU UIMA@IMU, Third Floor, IMU A Legacy for Iowa: Pollock’s Mural and Modern Masterworks from the UIMA, Figge Art Museum, 225 W. Second St., Davenport, IA

PROGRAMS August 5 5:00 p.m.

August 14 September 2 5:00 p.m.

September 6 7:45 p.m.

September 28 7:30 p.m.

October 2 2:00 p.m.

October 5 October 6–7–8 October 7 5:00 p.m.

October 18 7:30 p.m.

October 20 7:00 p.m.

October 29 5:30 p.m.

November 3 7:30 p.m.

November 4 5:00 p.m.

November 17 6:00 p.m.

December 2 5:00 p.m.

First Friday, hotelVetro, 201 S. Linn St., Iowa City UIMA@Iowa State Fair, Iowa State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, IA First Friday, hotelVetro Art and Museum Education Speaker Series: James Elkins, W151 Pappajohn Business Building Gallery Talk: John Dilg on the legacy of Tom Aprile, Second Floor North Reading Room, UI Main Library Public Reception: Graphic Language, South Room, IMU Class Act Comics: Workshop for grades 7–12, Main Lounge, IMU Graphic Language Symposium, Main Lounge, IMU First Friday, Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City Art and Museum Education Speaker Series: Doris M. Srinivasan, Shambaugh Auditorium, UI Main Library Visiting Artist Talk: Tibetan Artist-in-Residence Tenzig Rigdol, Shambaugh Auditorium, UI Main Library The Museum Party!, Main Lounge, IMU (call 335-1725 for tickets) Graphic Language Curators’ Panel Discussion, Black Box Theater, IMU First Friday, Takanami Restaurant, 219 Iowa Ave., Iowa City UIMA/Figge College Night, Figge Art Museum First Friday, Raygun, 103 E. College St., Iowa City

DONOR/VOLUNTEER EVENTS August 23 4:00 p.m.

August 27 5:30 p.m.

September 13 5:30 p.m.

September 23 4:00 p.m.

October 12 5:00 p.m.

November 9 5:00 p.m.

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Volunteer Tea, The University Club, 1360 Melrose Ave., Iowa City Director’s Circle, The University Club David Watkin Lecture (Sponsor Level and above), The University Club Donor Preview: Graphic Language, North Room, IMU Elliott Society Lecture: Kathy Edwards, The University Club Elliott Society Lecture: David Riep, The University Club

FROM THE DIRECTOR

What a fascinating year so far! Negotiating with federal bureaucrats to manage flood recovery.

Working to stop politicians from hocking our Iowa masterpieces. But what opportunities at the same time! Collaborating with professors and students to integrate real objects in the classroom.

Educational activities across the state, from elementary schools to retirement homes.

Art Events in popular venues in Iowa City and the surrounding communities.

There are a lot of exciting initiatives to pursue as we start planning our new museum facility. Looks like 2011 is only the beginning of great things to come.

Onward!

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GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

EXHIBITION Graphic Language: The Art and Literature of Comics September 24 - December 11, 2011 | Black Box Theater, Iowa Memorial Union Corey K. Creekmur Associate Professor, English and Cinema and Comparative Literature

Félix de la Concha (American, born in Spain 1962) Diary of portraits with an object, Madrid, 2000 Oil on canvas 11’’ x 9’’ (from a series of 80 pieces of the same size) © Félix de la Concha

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The original art of comics was never meant to be seen by the public, much less displayed for aesthetic appreciation in museums.

Comics—the awkward term now encompasses newspaper strips, comic books, and graphic novels—were seen as mass culture, intended for diverting consumption in cheaply printed, ephemeral formats. Created through a series of distinct stages and often through an industrial model involving many hands, original comic art typically derives from an unfinished phase of the full sequence of production, unlike most “polished” works of art deemed worthy of public exhibition.

For this very reason, however, original comic art exerts a distinct fascination: it provides a vivid glimpse of the creative process itself.

Most people only encounter comics after they have rolled off the printing press and been distributed in published formats. But the rare opportunity to examine the original pencil lines and brush strokes of comics legends like Winsor McCay, Hal Foster, Milton Caniff, Jack Kirby, or Steve Ditko, as well as remarkable contemporary talents such as Alison Bechdel or Gilbert Hernandez, places us just one step away from the skilled hands that began the sequence we usually only experience in its final form. And because comics

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OVERVIEW were often published without much concern for visual quality, original comic art also allows us to directly witness the precise details—as well as the human flaws and skillful corrections— eventually hidden from the view of millions of fans of this popular art and craft. Original comic art returns us to the artists at the source of the works we otherwise experience far removed from the material traces of pencils, ink, and the drawing board.

The UIMA exhibition Graphic Language: The Art and Literature of Comics allows audiences to peer over the shoulders of some of the greatest comics artists in history, as well as contemporary creators who will be visiting campus (see page 8).

Drawing upon two extraordinary local collections as well as the Museum’s rich resources, Graphic Language stages a long-delayed encounter between the humble “funny pages” of the newspaper, or of the comic book, and the space and function of a university museum serving the goal of art education.

As the exhibit forcefully demonstrates, placing original art next to its published versions yields revealing comparisons: an original page by the legendary Wally Wood for a 1952 war comic shows the extraordinary attention to detail he must have known would be lost in the cheap paper and blurry color of the era’s comic books. On the other hand, a rare view of all of the original drawings for one of the last stories created by the great Will Eisner leads us through the steps towards a carefully crafted visual

narrative and elegant publication.

Original pages by Chris Ware, viewed in conjunction with their final versions, provide a compelling illustration of the artist’s creative options during the process of crafting an ambitious, major work. In virtually every example on display, original comic art summarizes the delicate balancing act of creative imagination and technical skill that yields the unique form we call comics.

questions about the meaning of comics within the rarified setting of an art museum. In addition to the original material on display, this exhibit extends a historical context to include canonical precursors such as Goya, Blake, and Picasso. As the exhibit blurs easy distinctions between comics and fine art, it also embeds comics within a commercial environment that includes a wide variety of publication formats as well as material artifacts that extend popular characters from the page to the toy box.

In this exhibition, comics are thus presented as an increasingly vast, cross-cultural, and historically varied form found in a range of shapes, sizes, and materials. This exhibit finally attempts the impossible task of both containing comics for public consideration while allowing them to stretch beyond their always expansive panel borders.

“...a rather unique combination of visual and verbal elements...”

That form, scholars now emphasize, may constitute a rather unique combination of visual and verbal elements: most comics are written and read as well as drawn and viewed.

Comics may therefore be approached as a form of literature as well as visual art, and while many earlier comics divided duties between writers and artists, most independent comic creators, ranging from underground legends like Robert Crumb and Kim Deitch to their spiritual heirs such as Daniel Clowes and Phoebe Gloeckner, write and draw with a highly self-conscious awareness of their juxtaposition of word and image. Graphic Language thus locates comics solidly within the mission of the UIMA as well as within the “writing university” tradition of the University of Iowa, itself embedded within the UNESCO City of Literature that Iowa City became in 2008.

Still, this exhibit considers lingering if increasingly residual

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GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

EXTRAORDINARY COLLABORATI associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese; and Rachel Williams, associate professor of Art, and Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies.

“The coordination of these events represents an inspired collaboration between programs, centers, and funding sources at the University of Iowa, as well as welcome support from local businesses and individuals,” Creekmur notes. “The goal of involving a wide-ranging audience—from area school children to University faculty and the surrounding community—is underway, as enthusiastic support from a uniquely diverse group has already demonstrated.”

Here’s a rundown of the events:

Graphic Language: The Art and Literature of Comics, an exhibition at the Black Box Theater

in the IMU, September 24 through December 11 The show, guest-curated by Creekmur, Merino, Williams, and UIMA curator Kathy Edwards, will feature original comic art, including works by historical figures such as Winsor McCay, Milton Caniff, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby; legendary EC Comics artists like Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Johnny Craig, and Bernard Krigstein; contemporary creators including Robert Crumb, Kim Deitch, Chris Ware, Alison Bechdel, Gilbert Hernandez, Jessica Abel, Jeff Lemire, and Dan Clowes; and historic prints from the UIMA Matt Madden (American, born 1968) collection by Blake, Goya, Hogarth, and Picasso.

Odds Off, page 117 Highwater Books, 2000 “Comics, Creativity, and Culture: International Non-photo blue pencil, ink on Bristol board 11” x 14.5” and Interdisciplinary Perspectives,” a © Matt Madden symposium featuring major comics creators and Courtesy of UIMA School Programs Collection scholars, October 6–8 This symposium, free and open to the public, will Extraordinary collaborations have resulted in a bring together international scholars and artists to series of extraordinary events focusing on comics discuss comics—broadly defined to include comic this fall at the University of Iowa. strips, comic books, and graphic novels—to foster exchanges about the creative practices of making The Museum of Art will kick off its major autumn and publishing comics, and the critical practice of exhibition, Graphic Language: The Art and Literature analyzing the cultural function of comics for readers of Comics, featuring original comic arts, at the Black around the world.

Box Theater in the Iowa Memorial Union (IMU), September 24 through December 11.

Keynote speakers include Gilbert and Jaime Joint events include a symposium featuring talks by Hernandez (Love and Rockets), Joe Sacco (Palestine and Footnotes in Gaza), Jessica Abel (Artbabe and La over a dozen major comics creators and scholars, a special course for UI graduate students, and outreach Perdida), Matt Madden (Odds Off and 99 Ways to Tell efforts to junior high and high school students from a Story: Exercises in Style), James Sturm (The Golem’s Last Swing and Market Day), and Phoebe Gloeckner fifteen cities and towns across the state.

(A Child’s Life and Other Stories).

Three faculty members from the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are the prime movers: Corey Creekmur, associate professor of English, and Cinema and Comparative Literature; Ana Merino, 8 u i ma. uiowa.edu

ATION, EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS A special presentation on editing and publishing comics will feature Craig Yoe of Yoe! Studios and Yoe! Books, who has been described as “the Indiana Jones of comics historians” by Vice magazine.

Visiting scholars will include Jeet Heer, Toronto; Craig Fischer, Appalachian State University; Charles Hatfield, California State University, Northridge; Frency Lunning, Minneapolis College of Art and Design; John Lent, Temple University; Jose Alaniz, University of Washington; and Bart Beaty, University of Calgary.

A special one-credit course for graduate students, The Obermann Center Special Topics Seminar (650:280:001): “Comics, Creativity, and Culture: Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives,” led by Creekmur, Merino, and Williams This course represents a new effort on the part of the Obermann Center to offer graduate students the chance to experience in-depth preparation for participating in its annual Humanities Symposium.

Students will meet for four weeks before the symposium, read and discuss the work of visiting artists and scholars, interact with those visitors at the symposium, and debrief following the symposium.

“Comics in the Classroom,” June 22 and “Class Act Comics Conference,” October 5 Rachel Williams and Dale Fisher, UIMA director of education, have made arrangements with teachers in fifteen Iowa middle, junior high, and high schools to sponsor two on-campus events: a workshop for art teachers on June 22 and a mini-conference and workshop for both teachers and students on October 5. Williams and Fisher have also offered to go to Iowa schools for workshops prior to the October conference.

The October 5 workshop will provide students with opportunities to display their own art, and to share their work with other students and professional comics artists who will give them critical feedback. The one-day conference includes public presentations by James Sturm, Phoebe Gloeckner,

Jeff Lemire (Canadian, born 1976) Tales from the Farm, page 41 Top Shelf, 2007 (Later in The Collected Essex County, Top Shelf, 2009) Pencil, ink on Bristol board Size: 15” x 22” © Jeff Lemire Courtesy of UIMA School Programs Collection

and Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, co-authors of Drawing Words and Writing Pictures.

Students and teachers are attending from Bondurant, Cedar Rapids, Columbus Junction, Fairfield, Glidden-Ralston, Grundy Center, Iowa City, Marion, Muscatine, Solon, Spencer, Storm Lake, Waukee, West Branch, and West Des Moines.

Without critical support from the following sponsors, Graphic Language would not have been possible.

The UI Museum of Art • Daydreams Comics • The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies UI International Programs • UI Lecture Committee • UI Center for the Book The Ida Beam Visiting Lecture Program • The Office of the Vice President for Research UIMA Education Partners

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UIMA@IMU

UIMA

@IMU

• American modernist jewelry • Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints on loan from UIMA donor, volunteer, and former Iowa City Mayor Naomi Novick • Prints by prominent AfricanAmerican artists Elizabeth Catlett, Glenn Ligon, and Kara Walker • Dutch and Flemish paintings on loan from Davenport’s Figge Art Museum

This semester, the Museum’s on-campus visual classroom— the UIMA@IMU—will feature one hundred newly-installed paintings, prints, illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, silver, modernist jewelry, and sculpture from the permanent collection and on special loan from UI and private collections.

The UIMA@IMU provides a laboratory for exploration and investigation that complements conventional curriculum with hands-on, object-based discussions. Objects on display cover a range of locales and periods, including sections devoted to ancient art, 16th–20th century European and American art, contemporary art, modern studio ceramics, and the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Ancient Americas.

Elizabeth Catlett (American, born 1915) A Second Generation, 1992 Lithograph 22 3/4’’ x 18 3/4’’ Museum purchase 2006.74h

Rotating displays have served a variety of UI academic departments, including Art History, Studio Arts, Music, Library Science, English as a Second Language, the Center for Diversity and Enrichment, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Cinema and Comparative Literature, the Center for the Book, American Studies, Art Education, History, Foreign Languages, and more.

UIMA staff work with instructors to create optimal visual experiences based on individual course objectives.

John Langlands (English, active in Newcastle 1796–1802) Teapot, 1789–1799 Silver 6.5’’ x 9.5’’ x 4.5’’ Gift of Owen and Leone Elliott 1969.135

UI faculty members Chunghi Choo, Julie Hochstrasser, and Barbara Mooney have provided guidance throughout the planning for the Fall semester installation. Works on display will include:

During the 2010–2011 academic year, the UIMA@IMU served over 3,800 students, in over 205 classes, from 11 academic programs, including visits from four other academic institutions.

• Masterpieces from the UIMA’s collection of English and American silver • Medieval illuminated manuscripts on loan from UI Libraries Special Collections

In addition, the UIMA@IMU stores over 3,000 prints, drawings, and photographs available to view by appointment. Within the space is a separate study room

Ray Graves (American, active 1960s– 1970s) Ring, n.d.

21K gold with amethyst and opal 2’’ Gift of Don and Helen M. Sulentic 1980.194

designated for closer examination of the works.

The UIMA@IMU is located on the third floor of the Iowa Memorial Union in the Richey Ballroom. Admission is free and open to the public. Hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 12–5 p.m.

Class visits can be arranged by calling 319-335-3232 or using the online form at uima.uiowa.edu/ book-a-tour.

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LECTURES

ART AND MUSEUM GUEST LECTURE SERIES James Elkins “Strategies of Museum Display” Tuesday, September 6, 7:45 p.m.

W151 Pappajohn Business Building

Imagine going to an art museum with the aim of spending an hour in front of only one work of art. You don’t go with friends, and you avoid other people by going during off-peak hours. You don’t even read the labels describing the work, but you promise yourself you’ll go back to see it again.

This is what James Elkins calls “immersion,” a very different way of approaching art. Elkins will discuss the techniques of immersion as well as its philosophical and practical problems during his lecture, “Strategies of Museum Display.”

James Elkins is Professor and E.C. Chadbourne Chair in the Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native of Ithaca, N.Y., he earned bachelor’s degrees in English and art history at Cornell University. After earning a graduate degree in painting, he went on to earn both a master’s degree and doctorate in art history, all from the University of Chicago. He has taught at the School of the Art Institute since 1989.

Elkins’ writing focuses on the history and theory of images in art, science, and nature. Current projects include a series called the Stone Summer Theory Institutes, a book called The Project of Painting: 1900–2000, a series called Theories of Modernism and Postmodernism in the Visual Arts, and a book written against Camera Lucida.

Doris M. Srinivasan “Alexander’s Legacy in South Asia” Tuesday, October 18, 7:30 p.m.

Shambaugh Auditorium, Main Library

The dawning of Hindu and Buddhist images nearly avoids trial-and-error in the usage of religious symbols. Gods such as the Buddha, Bodhisattvas, Vishnu, Siva, and Devi, arising in Greater India during the 1st–3rd centuries A.D. were, almost from the start, fashioned in an iconographic language so stable that some of the conventions remained in use for centuries. But where did this mode of religious expression originate?

This talk will discuss Western influences, specifically Hellenistic and Roman traditions, which passed through the ancient regions of Parthia (modern Iran) and Bactria (northern Afghanistan and Central Asia), before being adopted—or adapted—in Greater India. Srinivasan will discuss how motifs were incorporated into South Asian art because either no precedent existed for a needed symbolic expression, and/or because the foreign symbol also carried meaning in the indigenous culture.

Srinivasan has published extensively on Hindu iconography, and Western and local expressions in Gandharan art. She is the author of the seminal texts Many Heads, Arms and Eyes: Origin, Meaning and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art and On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kusana World.

One of her current works in progress focuses on icons (in Gandhara and Mathura) of deities who possess children. She is a research fellow at the Center for India Studies at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

Both lectures are free and open to the public.

Sponsored by Mary Calkin, Buffie and Dick Tucker, and Margaret C. Clancy 12 u i ma. uiowa.edu

Kathy Edwards

David Riep

“Acquiring Works on Paper” Wednesday, October 12, 5:00 p.m.

University Club

“Acquiring African Art” Wednesday, November 9, 5:00 p.m.

University Club

Each year the Museum brings new works of art into its collections through gifts and purchases. Chief Curator Kathy Edwards will Diana Mantuana Italian (before 1542–1612) discuss prints by The Madonna and Child with the Infant artists such as Saint John the Baptist, after Raffaelino da Reggio, c. 1576 Antoni Tàpies, Engraving, 11 3/8’’ x 8 1/2’’ Fanny Palmer, The Leola Bergmann Fund, 2010.25 Diana Mantuana, Lyonel Feininger, and others recently added to the UIMA permanent collections.

Edwards will discuss particular pieces resulting from fascinating biographies. For instance, Diana Mantuana was the first woman to sell her prints under her own name. She received papal permission to publish her engravings in 1576 and eventually established her own successful art production workshop.

Advertised as ‘Coloured Engravings for the People,’ prints published by Currier & Ives were colored by hand on a production line, usually one assistant to each color. Fanny Palmer was one of the most talented and prolific artists employed by Currier & Ives, completing over 7,500 lithographs.

Kathy has been UIMA Chief Curator since 2006. She began her work at the UIMA in 1998, as Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. During her tenure at UIMA, she has overseen the addition of hundreds of works of art to the collection, and curated numerous exhibitions, including the acclaimed Lil Picard and Counterculture New York; Acting Out: Invented Melodrama and Contemporary Photography; From Hayter to Pettibon: American Workshop Prints; and Life is Art/Art is Life: The Graphic Work of Dieter Roth. Prior to coming to the UIMA, Kathy was the Director of The Print Center in Philadelphia.

ELLIOTT SOCIETY

ELLIOTT SOCIETY SPEAKERS SERIES

The UIMA is fortunate to have one of the finest collections of African art throughout the world. Since the first Ph.D. in African art history Dr. David Riep (right) posing with Ntate was awarded to Dr. Pusetso Khoali, a healer who practices Roy Sieber by the in South Africa and Lesotho.

University of Iowa in 1957, the collection has developed into a rare teaching resource with countless masterworks.

The UIMA recently acquired a number of significant pieces from southern Africa—some of which are especially unique—in order to bolster the collection in an area that is typically underrepresented in museum holdings.

Several South Sotho artworks were collected by David Riep during his fieldwork between 2008 and 2011. The stories of these acquisitions are informative and intriguing, highlighting the notions of how, where, and why we look for objects, and their significance in building a representative collection of African art.

Riep received his Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Iowa in 2011, with a focus on the arts of Africa. While completing his coursework, Riep served as the Assistant Curator of African art at the UIMA, where he developed two gallery installations, and broadened the permanent collection. In 2008, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to South Africa, where he conducted dissertation research among South Sotho populations for nearly two and a half years. Aside from his written work, Riep has produced several documentary films on the arts of southern Africa, including titles on pot making and mural arts.

Both lectures are open to UIMA donors at the Elliott Society level ($150 and above). Join us for a brief social time at 5:00 p.m. Lectures begin at 5:30 p.m. Please reply to attend these events by calling (319) 335-3676. For information on becoming a donor, call the Museum at (319) 353-2847 or visit our website at uima.uiowa.edu.

Sponsored by Robert E. and Karlen M. Fellows

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E D U C AT I O N

Ed-Spread: New Learning Objects 1

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Through the support of Education Partners, 4,870 students were able to experience—see, handle, compare, and contrast—original works of art last year, through presentations on UIMA Collections, African Art, and American Indian and First Peoples Art. New programs this year will include the Art of India and the Art of Comics and Graphic Novels, which showcase purchases specifically suited to the pedagogical needs of the community. Below are some examples of recent acquisitions.

1 Ho Che Anderson (British, born 1969) King 3, pages 10–11, panel 5 Pencil, ink, color pigment, and comic book art board 7.25” x 12” King is an illustrated biography that recounts the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., from his childhood in Atlanta to his leadership in the civil rights movement. It even includes a moving rendering of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

In this graphic novel, Anderson artfully blends historical nonfiction with expressionistic brushstrokes.

2 Jeff Lemire (Canadian, born 1976) Tales From the Farm, page 44 Pencil, non-photo blue pencil, ink on Bristol board 15” x 22” Lemire’s Tales from the Farm depicts a fictionalized comingof-age account, grounded in a rural setting—in this case, the author’s hometown in Essex County, Ontario. His black-and-white illustrations are equally powerful in recreating the solitary nature of farm life, as well as a young boy’s fantasy world of superheroes and alien invaders.

3 Bryan O’Malley (Canadian, born 1979) Street Angel Pinup Non-photo blue pencil, ink on watercolor paper 11” x 15” O’Malley, better known for his graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, composes compelling stories and drawings. Dale Fisher, Director of Education, explains: “Street Angel Pinup by Bryan Lee O’Malley portrays a homeless orphan. In the narrative, she takes on an assortment of nefarious characters (from ninjas to mad scientists, from spacemen to a giant squid), using her wits and skills as a skateboarding prodigy.

In conquering these foes (perhaps a metaphor for the harsh realities of life on the streets), her victories offer hope needed for her day-to-day struggle for survival.”

4 Anonymous Pabuji Phada Hanging Textile Painting on cotton Rajasthan, India 236.22” x 52.75” The artist of the Pabuji Phada Hanging Textile used a gumbased gouache to paint a scene in a variety of vibrant colors: blue, green, yellow, pink, orange, maroon, red,

and grey. This textile served as an illustration for a traveling bard, who told tales based in Hinduism, often accompanied by live music and dance.

Fisher notes that “this scroll was used as a traveling backdrop for storytelling in India. Now we’re taking it school to school, teaching its history. So, in sense, it’s being used for its original function.”

5 Devendra Kumar Jha (Indian, born 1969) Rama & Sita Nuptials Painting Paint on paper 36.6” x 26.5” The folk tradition of Madhubani-style paintings was handed down by generations of women, who depicted mythological events and traditional designs on the floors and walls of their houses using crushed wet rice and natural dyes. This practice influenced contemporary Madhubani painters, who still use a canvas of handmade paper or pure mulberry silk fabric and organic fabric colors. Jha, whose painting celebrates a Hindu marriage rite, was mentored from an early age by his mother.

Sponsored by UIMA Education Partners: Anonymous Family Foundations (2), Mary K. Calkin, E. Anthony Otoadese and Claudia L. Corwin, Rob and Paulina Treiger Muzzin, Polly S. and Armond Pagliai, Douglas J. and Linda Paul, Mary Frances Ramsey Memorial Fund, Scheels All Sports,William and Marlene W. Stanford, Gordon B. and Faye Hyde Strayer, US Bank, Gail P. Zlatnik and Frank J. Zlatnik 17

E D U C AT I O N

Hey, UI students—

FREE BUS TRIP UI students are invited to sign up for a FREE bus trip to College Night at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, located one hour east of Iowa City. The trip gives students the opportunity to see highlights from the UIMA collection currently on view at the Figge in the ongoing exhibition, A Legacy for Iowa: Jackson Pollock’s Mural and Modern Masterworks from the University of Iowa Museum of Art .

Bring your UI ID card for free admission to the Figge Art Museum.

Seating is limited! Reserve your seat by calling (319) 335-3676.

For more information, visit uima.uiowa.edu.

Buses from downtown and parking at the Studio Arts Building are available.

to the Figge Art Museum!

Thursday, November 17 College Night at the Figge is a unique program that gives museum visitors the opportunity to experience an art talk and a tour in a convivial atmosphere.

Meet your friends, enjoy live music, indulge in a bite to eat, then head to the galleries.

This evening will be centered around the exhibit, Turn of the Century Posters from the Krannert Art Museum Collection, which

Bus Schedule Leave: 6:00 p.m.

From UI Studio Arts*

1375 Highway 1 West

Iowa City, Iowa Return: 12:00 a.m.

Back at Studio Arts

includes work by Pierre Bonnard, Alphonse Mucha, Jan Toorop, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The show features a range of color lithographs, from mass-produced consumer ads to intimate prints for literary journals and playbills.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events.

If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the University of Iowa Museum of Art in advance at (319) 335-1727.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) Le Photographe Sescau, 1894 Crayon, brush, and spatter lithograph Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) France-Champagne, 1891 Lithograph Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) Divan Japonais, 1893 Crayon, brush, spatter, and transferred screen lithograph Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

18 u i ma. uiowa.edu

Bus trip sponsored by Lynne Lanning and Richard Smith

COLLECTION NEWS

Collection News Did you know that you can see selections from the UIMA’s collection at museums around the country? Loan requests made by other museums illustrate the significance of UIMA artwork and enrich the scholarship of objects through catalogs and re-contextualizations.

The UIMA will be lending a “visual journal” of Beatrice Wood to the Santa Monica Museum of Art, which will mount an exhibition, Beatrice Wood: Career Woman–Drawings, Paintings, Vessels, and Objects, September 7, 2011–January 7, 2012.

In her long career as an artist, Wood was known as “the Mama of Dada” before focusing her creative energies on clay.

Her roles as an educator, cinematic muse (said to be the inspiration for the characters of Rose in Titanic and Catherine in Jules and Jim), writer, and painter will be revisited with this addition.

The Whitney Museum of American Art is exhibiting the UIMA’s seminal painting, In a Village Near Paris (Street in Paris, Pink Sky) in a major retrospective, Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World, June 30–October 16, 2011.

Primarily recognized

for his geometric oil paintings, this exhibition aims to illustrate Feininger’s breadth and diversity as a caricaturist, photographer, woodcarver, and violinist.

Our loan reveals his German Expressionist influences, reflecting a nuanced blend of abstraction and imagery.

Several ancient ceramic pieces will be loaned to Kirkwood Community College, as part of the inaugural Iowa Clay Conference, “River to River.” An exhibition, 4000 Years of Ceramics, co-curated by local artists Clary Illian and Conifer Smith, Assistant Professor of Glass and Ceramics at Kirkwood, will display a survey of historical and ethnic pottery from local collections. Located in the Iowa Hall Gallery at Kirkwood’s Cedar Rapids campus, the show will run September 1–28, 2011.

As part of its ongoing

campus outreach, the UIMA has improved access to extraordinary video art. Last semester, a new screen was installed at the Oasis Fix in Studio Arts, which looped highlights from the collection, including shorts by innovators like Man Ray, William Wegman, Bill Viola, and Charles and Ray Eames.

This fall, look for new screens in the Food for Thought Café area in the UI Main Library.

Labyrinths and Other Daily Exits: The Art of Tom Aprile, an exhibition of work by the late School of Art and Art History professor and sculptor, guest-curated

by SAAH Professor John Dilg, is open in the second floor north reading room of the UI Main Library.

Aprile, who passed away in September 2010, was a passionate voice and presence for excellence in teaching and the world of sculpture. On September 28, Dilg will present a

gallery talk on “Retracing the Path of the Labyrinth: A Close Look at Tom Aprile’s Real & Mythic Daily Exits,” at 7:30 p.m.

The UIMA has partnered with the Old Capitol Museum for an exhibition entitled Life and Death on the Prairie, September 2–December 10, 2011 in the Hanson Family Humanities Gallery.

Landscape photographer and historian, Stephen Longmire, documented local plant species and historical burial markers in Rochester Cemetery, a patch of native Iowa that’s been left wild for nearly two centuries. The site has become the center of controversy, with some citizens petitioning for the land to be mowed, while naturalists fight for the preservation of brush and tall grasses that have existed since the first European settlements.

Beatrice Wood (1893–1998) Come to Europe, Helen, 1932 Journal (67 pencil and watercolor drawings, collaged typewritten letters) Gift of Francis M. Naumann, 1985.103 16 1/2’’ x 12 1/2’’ x 1 1/2’’ Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956), In a Village Near Paris (Street in Paris, Pink Sky), 1909 Oil on canvas Gift of Owen and Leone Elliott, 1968.15 39.75’’ x 32’’

Eastern Nigeria Kaka or Mambika people Terracotta, 19” Gift of Robert Lubetkin, 2000.89

Thomas R. Aprile (1953–2010) Untitled (detail), 2010 (unfinished) Wood and other materials

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F I R S T F R I D AY S

FIRST FRIDAYS...

The UIMA Bureau of Friend-Raising Affairs wants you to friend them.

But this is no virtual community. The Bureau, a subcommittee of the UIMA’s Members Council, has developed monthly “First Fridays,” an ideal chance to usher in the weekend and mingle with other artenthusiasts for a great cause. The idea is to create opportunities for people with a passion for the arts to connect on a regular basis—and to build a stronger base of support for the UIMA. So far it’s working. Hundreds have attended First Friday events since its inauguration this past April.

A variety of artists from the community have displayed work at these receptions—from UI M.F.A. students in ceramics and printmaking to talented young photographers who exhibited under the 20 u i ma. uiowa.edu

auspices of We Are the World, a local nonprofit dedicated to engaging at-risk youth.

First Fridays feature highlighted shorts from the UIMA’s video collection. Looped screenings have included such greats as Der Lauf der Dinge (The Way Things Go) by the contemporary collaborative duo Fischli/Weiss, a compendium of early footage by video pioneer Nam June Paik, as well as Man Ray’s controversial 1926 “cinepoem,” Emak Bakia (Leave Me Alone).

Curated music, either spun by area deejays or performed by live bands, are an integral component of First Fridays, as well.

Furthermore, organizers have found willing partners in Marc Moen of hotelVetro, George Etre of Formosa Asian Cuisine, and Brett DePue of Raygun, a downtown apparel shop.

Above photo (clockwise from bottom left) Some members of the Bureau: Anna Moyers Stone, Pope Yamada, Scott Finlayson, Leslie Hollis, Catherine Champion, Kumi Morris, and Mark Seabold

...an ideal chance to usher in the weekend and mingle with other art-enthusiasts...

The Bureau of Friend-Raising Affairs is a decidedly welcoming group, including Anna Moyers Stone (chair), David Bright, Catherine Champion, Craig Eley, Scott Finlayson, Leslie Hollis, Kumi Morris, Mark Seabold, and Pope Yamada.

As Stone recalls, “We were having lunch, and Catherine brought up the idea of an after-hours party. Even though the UIMA doesn’t have a building in which to do that right now, we wanted to create the same connections.”

“It goes back to a passion for the arts,” adds Finlayson. “It’s really important to maintain connections in Iowa City and beyond—to keep the Museum of Art in front of people and to let them know that we’re still a relevant part of the culture.”

In other words, this group is serious about “friendraising” as a step towards “fund-raising.”

Bureau members are well versed in the theory of the “pyramid” of philanthropy, in which most funds come from a few very generous donors.

Their ultimate goal is to build a larger base for the pyramid. Getting more people to become UIMA members at $25 a year will help not only now, but also in the future.

“Over time, we’ll expand the base of the pyramid, and eventually people will offer more of their time, talent, and money to the Museum,” Stone says.

In the meantime, it’s a great opportunity to have a blast while contributing to a great cause!

All photos by stef shuster

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SPONSORSHIP 22 u i ma. uiowa.edu

Sponsorship Opportunities Museum programs the Art and Museum and exhibitions are Guest Lecture blossoming in scope Series. Additionally, and significance the Elliott Society this year, due to the presents four lectures generosity of our a year, exclusively patrons. for UIMA donors, on acquisitions and other Now in its fourth year, collection topics. the UIMA fundraising approach dovetails Examination and the urgent needs of conservation projects, the Museum with the made possible Dale Fisher, Director of Education, leads an interactive talk about African art at the Kalona Public Library. specific interests of through research donors, allowing us to sponsorships, are Museum fans can sponsor a deliver art to the community vital to the maintenance masterpiece from the UIMA despite the lack of a of our world-renowned collection; previous options permanent exhibition space. included Grant Wood’s Plaid collection, which requires extra management without Sweater, Juan Gris’s The The UIMA has pinpointed a permanent facility. This Black Guitar, and Albrecht four areas of interest— Dürer’s Portrait of Maximilian year, we’re committed Exhibitions, Collections, to documenting UIMA I. This fall, our on-campus and Marketing; Education, visual classroom will feature activities through our Online Programs, and Outreach; UI Publishing Initiative. Our newly installed paintings, Research and Scholarship; goal is to increase access to prints, bound illuminated and, Philanthropy and Patron manuscripts, ceramics, silver, our programs and exhibitions, Appreciation—to enable through both public and jewelry, and sculpture. direct financial support to behind-the-scenes footage. programs that most appeal A Family Day is in the works, to individuals. which would provide hands- In collaboration with the UI Nonfiction Writing Program, on activities and delightful Donor support enables special four graduate student Word interactions between exhibitions, such as the recent children and their caregivers Painters will be provided with shows, Two Turntables and the opportunity to produce as they experience art. a Microphone, Ere Ibeji, In the brilliant essays relating Footsteps of Masters, and Lil The UIMA hosts campus to the UIMA collection, Picard and Counterculture New visits by national scholars on complete with a public York. Upcoming plans include cutting-edge topics during reading alongside members the spring 2012 Black Box of distinguished UI writing Theater installation and longfaculty, plus publication in term loan, The Technology of this very magazine.

Chinese Art: Selections from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation; First Fridays are our principal the fall 2012 cross-campus “friend-raising” affairs. Each exhibition Napoleon and the month, a Bureau of young Art of Propaganda; and the professionals organize a spring 2013 interdisciplinary reception in an elegant project Carnivale!, which will location, with food, cocktail include exhibitions and artist specials, live music, artwork residencies, culminating in from the community, and a parade. a video screening from the UIMA collection.

During the 2010–2011 academic year, the UIMA@ We hope that you will Graffiti artist Lady Pink conducts a IMU served over 3,800 consider supporting one our graffiti workshop in conjunction with students, in over 205 classes, great projects! the Two Turntables and a Microphone exhibition. from 11 academic programs.

THE FUTURE OF UIMA

UIMA strategic plan: New building and lots of experimentation The UIMA’s new four-year strategic plan starts with two basic concepts.

“First, we want to be in our new building and be in full swing operationally by 2015,” UIMA Director Sean O’Harrow explains. “Second, before we move into our new building, we want to experiment with new ways of being as effective as possible in serving the most people possible, including within the University and across the state.”

the nation’s top dozen university art museums. The UIMA collection makes that possible with “significant representation” in 20th century American art, early 20th century European art, and Sub-Saharan western African art, O’Harrow says.

These resources will be further enhanced with a renewed emphasis on teaching and research, not only by UIMA staff but also by reconnecting with faculty in the UI School of Art and Art History, whom O’Harrow calls “our main partners.”

The UIMA continues to find ways to provide art experiences across campus.

New works will be exhibited this fall in the UIMA@IMU Visual Classroom, and a new initiative to create “video Flood of 2008 classrooms” across campus will be launched during the The strategic plan builds on fall 2011 semester. the report of the Envisioning The UIMA will continue to Committee, which was reach out to Iowans beyond appointed by UI President Iowa City with exhibits Sally Mason to chart a future at the Figge Art Museum for the UIMA in the wake in Davenport, where a of the flood of 2008. The large portion of the UIMA subsequent closing of the collection is being housed, and former UIMA building through the development of a has created a vacuum on loan and exhibition program campus, the committee with other Iowa art museums. concluded, adding, “There The strategic plan will be a is a great urgency to bring back the University’s premier “living document” subject to collection and to house it in a continuous update, O’Harrow building worthy of it and the notes. Indeed, feedback from UI administrators, faculty community.” and staff, members of the The plan assumes that a new UIMA Advisory Board, the building and its contents Members Council, volunteers will allow the UIMA to aim and docents was essential for being considered among in refining the document

produced by O’Harrow and UIMA staff.

Meanwhile, the UI’s efforts to obtain federal help for a new building are at the third stage of appeals with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

After the regional FEMA office denied the UI’s request for funding, a further appeal has been submitted to FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Flood of 2008

FEMA’s regional office took the position that the UIMA building suffered less than 50 percent damage and could be restored to use as a museum.

But the UI contends that the former building, even after repairs, cannot be used to house fine art. Lloyds of London, which insures the UIMA’s artwork, has stated it would not insure the collection if it were returned to the building, and the other viable fine art insurers have also declined. The UI appeal is supported by Senators Harkin and Grassley and Representative Loebsack.

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T Dr. O’Harrow, you say

is when?

Join us at the annual UIMA Museum Party! on Saturday, October 29, 2011, in the Iowa Memorial Union, Main Lounge.

This Party! promises to be an action-packed evening celebrating Graphic Language: The Art and Literature of Comics, a cutting-edge exhibition of original comic art, located in the IMU’s Black Box Theater, just two levels above the Museum Party!, running September 24–December 11.

There is no better time to show your support for the Museum than during this spectacular annual event, which—through 24 u ima. uiowa.edu

innovative sponsorship opportunities—provides vital private funds for UIMA exhibitions, programs, and activities.

This year, experience the fantasy of comic books brought to life, thanks to Scott Finlayson and Kay Irelan, Museum Party! co-chairs, who have joined forces to create an otherworldly wonderland for guests. Our honorary chairs will be Dick and Mary Jo Stanley.

On October 29, demonstrate your own superpowers by choosing one or more projects, or works of art, to sponsor through either an outright gift

or one-year pledge. Generous giving during the Museum Party! is crucial to our dual missions of research and community outreach (see Sponsorship Opportunities article on p. 22).

Over the past two years, the Museum Party! has raised more than $300,000 in support for the Museum. With your help, we can sustain this incredible effort. And partygoers will learn about the UIMA’s exciting plans for 2012.

“This is a unique time for the Museum,” said Finlayson.

“There is an inherent need to ensure that the community is

TIME October 29th!

Order your tickets now and I will see you there!

reminded that we’re still here.

Planning this extraordinary fundraiser is the way to do it.”

“We’re without a building,” Irelan added. “But since we’ve been without a building, many more creative options have been developed. The Museum has become more things to more people as we are constantly challenged to keep the UIMA’s mission alive.”

For the first time, the UIMA is offering a two-tiered ticket structure. Guests have the option of buying a ticket for a formal, sit-down dinner, complete with a preceding social hour beginning at 5:30

p.m., with a ball to follow, for the price of $125. Or, attendees can opt out of dining and just come to have a ball starting at 8:00 p.m., at an evening that will include music, hors d’oeuvres, unique photo opportunities, and elegant decorations, for just $35.

If you’d like to get involved, or order tickets, please contact Betty Breazeale at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, 319-335-1725.

We would like to thank the following for their support: Party! Sponsor Integrated DNA Technologies

Party! Hosts Alan and Liz Swanson Gerald and Leesa Elseman Gerry Ambrose and Kristin Hardy H. Dee and Myrene Hoover Hayes Lorenzen Lawyers, PLC Kristin Summerwill Lowell Doud Margaret C. Clancy Mary Westbrook Neumann Monson Architects Oaknoll Retirement Residence Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Walker, Tucker, & Gelman, L.L.P. Pleasant Valley Flower Shoppe Rob and Paulina Muzzin Rohrbach Associates PC Architects Shive-Hattery, Architecture-Engineering 25

VOLUNTEER

Thank You, Volunteers!

Alyss Vernon Photography Graduate Student

Every year, the UIMA relies on a team of loyal volunteers to staff events and exhibitions. Last Spring, UIMA Members Council Volunteer Chair Teresa Kelly was faced with the challenge of scheduling gallery attendants for Lil Picard and Counterculture New York, an exhibition which was open for thirteen weeks. Kelly gratefully acknowledges all of the volunteers who generously donated their time throughout the semester, especially the student volunteers who filled in at the Black Box Theater.

“Without the students, gallery hosting would have been a very different job for me,” Kelly said. “I mean it when I say that I couldn’t have filled the attendant schedule without the student volunteers.”

And the benefits seem to go both ways. While Kelly and the entire University of Iowa Museum of Art benefited from their volunteer hours, the students, too, gained valuable experience and appreciated the value 26

Jeova Flores Sophomore studying Microbiology

Emily Lennon Art Graduate Student

their role played in the success of Lil Picard and Counterculture New York.

Emily Lennon, a recent University of Iowa graduate studying Studio Art and Art History, became interested in volunteering as a way to stay involved in the community. The Iowa City native has a lot of pride in her hometown and understands the importance of art in a local setting.

“I’m from Iowa City and plan on staying in the area,” said Lennon, who became a UIMA volunteer in March. “I think it’s important to stay involved and this has been the perfect way to do so. Being able to help support the Museum during this unstable time has been infinitely rewarding.”

And for Lennon, volunteering didn’t seem like a time-consuming job.

She plans on continuing her work with the UIMA by becoming a docent.

“I was able to meet a lot of art enthusiasts and influential people in the Iowa City area by working here,” she said.

Spotlight

“I have made a lot of great connections by working in the exhibition.”

Lennon’s co-volunteer, Alyss Vernon, agrees.

Vernon, who spends much of her time in the Studio Arts building as a Photography graduate student, saw flyers requesting volunteers and inquired.

“I’m interested in Museum work, being behind the scenes, and wanted to learn more,” Vernon said.

“This was the chance to see a variety of art and meet many different people.”

No matter what their reason for wanting to volunteer for the UIMA, both Lennon and Vernon agree that anyone who is looking to get involved in the community should consider giving their time to the University of Iowa Museum of Art. “It’s not always the most glamorous job,” explained Vernon, “but it gives you a unique chance to be surrounded by one-of-akind art and see all the different reactions it acan create.”

Jeova Flores first became interested in volunteering for the UIMA after taking a class taught by Professor Christopher Roy, where he learned about the Ere Ibeji and the Fall 2010 exhibition which featured more than 300 of the spiritual figures. Flores was immediately intrigued and signed up to become a student volunteer. He has been giving his time to the UIMA since then and most recently worked in the Lil Picard and Counterculture New York exhibition.

“The Lil Picard and Counterculture New York exhibition was simply amazing! I was able to bring people from my rhetoric class as an extra credit opportunity, as well as a big group of my friends. We toured the exhibit as well as the gorgeous pieces at the Richey Ball Room . . . they had no idea there was an art gallery at the IMU; and they absolutely loved it!”

—Jeova Flores, student volunteer since October 2010

DEVELOPMENT

Friend-raising before Fund-raising All of us who love the University of Iowa Museum of Art (UIMA) are eager to begin earnest conversations about creating a new Museum. We continue to wait patiently—while the appeal process works through the Federal Emergency Management Agency—to determine, once and for all, the possibility of funding for our building. In the meantime, we are wondering what else we could be doing.

The answer? Friend-raising.

While you have heard more about “fundraising” than you have about “friend-raising,” both are absolutely essential to the Museum’s future. While private gifts support the UIMA’s daily operations, the Museum’s long-term success depends upon us expanding the UIMA community of friends and supporters. And the best way to achieve that goal is to continue making new friends.

That’s why we’re asking our patrons like you to renew your personal involvement with the UIMA—and to bring your friends with you. We’re asking you to get excited about the enriching Museum events described in this current issue and talk them up with your peers and colleagues.

Start a conversation that will bring your chums to the UIMA to experience for themselves what you care about, and go out of your way to welcome unfamiliar faces while you’re there.

Friends often share similar passions and are willing to invest in their mutual interests. Making friends—and growing our patron base—is an essential step along the path that leads to increased charitable giving. The UIMA has many loyal friends and is actively seeking more (see First Fridays article on p. 20). By helping the Museum make new friends, you will be ensuring an exciting present, and a vibrant future, for a place that brings people together and connects them with a world of art and inspiration.

We remain truly grateful for your enduring commitment to one of Iowa’s most significant cultural resources and promise to initiate a Museum building campaign as soon as the time is right.

Meanwhile, you gotta have friends.

Pat Hanick Director of Development University of Iowa Museum of Art The University of Iowa Foundation P.S. Please know that deferred and outright gifts to the UIMA remain an undeniable statement about the Museum’s promising future. For more information about how private support can benefit the UIMA during this transitional period, please visit www.uifoundation.org/uima.

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

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What to wear to a UIMA First Friday?

Hands is proud to support the UIMA and encourages your support, too.

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