FALL 2018
MAGAZINE
DIRECTOR STORY HEADLINE
COVER: Kehinde Wiley, On Top of the World, 2008, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Aishti Foundation, Beirut © Kehinde Wiley
2
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
This Fall UMMA presents a show of global ambitions Beyond Borders: Global Africa. This landmark exhibition conveys the cosmopolitanism and broad influence of makers in and of Africa across Europe and the Americas and refutes any notion that African art ever existed in isolation from the rest of the world’s art history. And it explores the array of issues at play in the objects themselves and their histories, from identity, migration, slavery, colonization, and globalization. Also open this Fall, Abstraction, Color, and Politics in the Early 1970s hones in on a time in the United States of intense political upheaval and the monumental work by four American artists: Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, Al Loving, and Louise Nevelson made during that time. All four artists used abstraction to navigate and express evolving ideas about art, politics, and identity.
a museum-wide get-out-the-vote event in advance of the midterm elections. We’ll be registering voters, making political posters, and serving up (food here?) while we get ready for our most important act as a citizen: voting.
Fall is football season in Ann Arbor, and we celebrate the season with New at UMMA: LIFE Magazine 1947 Homecoming Photographs. Presenting a series of photographs made at Michigan’s (winning?) 1947 game, the show features a rare set of photographs recently given to the museum some of which haven’t been seen before publicly. Opening alongside that exhibition is Tristin Lowe: Under the Influence, an enigmatic rumination on the moon and its effects by this Philadelphia-based artist, and two other outstanding shows: Proof: The Ryoichi Excavations, and Paul Rand: The Designer’s Task.
It’s an exciting Fall season, and I hope you’ll visit UMMA to see Beyond Borders, and take in new ideas about African art and its global impact, and enjoy the breadth of dynamic programming on everything from Michigan football to 1970s politics
As always we also have a terrific roster of programs to keep you coming back. We’re partnering with Penny Stamps, the Ginsberg Center, and the Big Ten Voter Challenge for
I’m thrilled to share some important staff news. Vera Grant joins us as Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. Vera was most recently the Director of the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery, the Hutchins Center, Harvard University. Prior to that she was the Executive Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard. Grant is a Fulbright Scholar (University of Hamburg, Germany), has an MA in Modern European History from Stanford University, and was a fellow in 2016 at the Center for Curatorial Leadership. She brings a breadth of curatorial and teaching experience to the position, and deep knowledge of contemporary artistic practices, especially those centered on African American and European art. We’re eager to begin working with her on new exhibitions and programs at UMMA.
Go Blue!
Christina Olsen
U-M STUDENTS SPEARHEAD CAMPAIGN TO MAKE VOTING IRRESISTIBLE
UMMA’s Student Engagement Council and Education staff will be partnering on this effort with a Stamps School of Art & Design class, and the U-M Ginsberg Center which is leading the U-M Turn Up Turnout campaign. Stamps professors Stephanie Rowden and Hannah Smotrich will work with students in a fall course entitled “Voting is Sexy.” Says Rowden: “students will create and carry out a highenergy creative campaign to make voting irresistible.”
This fall the Big Ten Voting Challenge aims to harness the fierce but friendly competition among the fourteen Big Ten universities in a non-partisan effort to raise student voter turnout. President Schlissel wrote in his message to U-M students about the Challenge, “our democracy thrives best when all voices are represented, and students can play an integral role in shaping our collective future.”
UMMA will use its location in the heart of central campus and its relationships with artists and student leaders and groups and offer a series of special events with its partners this fall.
Check edu/events/votingissexy URL on our website for dates and events.
FA L L 2 018
3
EXHIBITIONS
AUGUST 11–NOVEMBER 25, 2018
|
A. ALFRED TAUBMAN GALLERY I
Beyond Borders: Global Africa
Laura De Becker
BEYOND BORDERS: GLOBAL AFRICA
10
In his monumental painting Hommage aux Anciens Créateurs (A Tribute to Earlier Artists), Chéri Samba (born Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1956) addresses cultural, temporal, and geographic borders to convey the global reach and scope of the art of the African continent. The artist, who lives and works in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, depicts himself seated at a table before a selection of historical sculptures, all of which originated in his home country. The text framing his portrait describes how he was “astonished” RIGHT: Chéri Samba, to encounter these magnificent Hommage aux Anciens objects in a museum in Créateurs (A Tribute to Switzerland, and, furthermore, Earlier Artists), 1999, acrylic and glitter on to discover that the man who canvas. Courtesy of the originally collected them, Han Contemporary African Coray (1880–1974), had never set Art Collection (CAAC), Collection Jean Pigozzi, foot in Africa. The painting thus Geneva, © Chéri Samba reflects on the history of the COMPANION PUBLICATION colonization and exploitation of Beyond Borders: Global Africa the African continent, which has led to some of the will be available in the UMMA Store in August. best collections of historical African art being located in Europe. It also speaks to a familiar story about the influence of African sculpture on Western artists. Many of Coray’s objects were acquired through the art dealer Paul Guillaume (1891–1934), a key figure in the avant-garde circle in Paris in the 1920s, and one of the first to organize exhibitions of African art in the city, often displaying it alongside the work of modernist artists such as Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) and Henri Matisse (1869–1954). While the role played by African art in the development of European modern art is well known, it is only one example of a long and complex history of intercontinental exchanges. Laura De Becker is the Helmut and Candis Stern Associate Curator of African Art at UMMA. A specialist in Central African art, she joined UMMA after a fellowship at Wits Art Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa. De Becker earned her PhD from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, United Kingdom, and worked at the National Museum of Rwanda in Butare. She has worked for museums in Europe and Africa, and has thus far curated two exhibitions at UMMA: Traces: Reconstructing the History of a Chokwe Mask and Power Contained: The Art of Authority in Central and West Africa .
Laura De Becker Helmut and Candis Stern Associate Curator of African Art Lead support for Beyond Borders: Global Africa is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Michigan Medicine, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the University of Michigan Office of Research, African Studies Center, and Department of Afroamerican and African Studies. Additional generous support is provided by the University of Michigan CEW Frances and Sydney Lewis Visiting Leaders Fund and Susan Ullrich.
4
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
FA L L 2 018
5
EXHIBITIONS
SEPTEMBER 22–OCTOBER 6, 2019
|
A. ALFRED TAUBMAN GALLERY II
ABSTRACTION, COLOR, AND POLITICS IN THE EARLY 1970s Can abstract art be about politics? In the early 1970s that question was hotly debated as artists, critics, and the public grappled with the relationship between art, politics, race, and feminism. It was a period of intense protest for racial and LEFT: Al Loving, gender-based equality, and of passionate Bowery Morning, opposition to the Vietnam War. In cultural 1971, acrylic on canvas. Courtesy spheres, critics and artists were articulating and the Estate of Al resisting the longstanding exclusions of women Loving and Garth and artists of color from the art world and its Greenan Gallery, New York. definitions of great art, especially great modern art. How should artists address and participate in these urgent struggles against war, sexism, and racism, and how, and what, should they paint? Abstraction played an especially fraught role in these emerging debates. One of the arguments against abstraction was the strong sense that it represented a retreat from politics and protest: an abnegation of a commitment to racial justice and civil rights. Women artists, as well, wrestled with abstraction and its relationship to gender and the status quo, and forced to “defend” their abstract work against stereotypes that it was too feminine (a charge against Helen Frankenthaler’s color field canvases), or too angry (in the case of Joan Mitchell’s gestural work). This exhibition presents ambitious, large-scale works by four leading American artists of the era: Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, Al Loving, and Louise Nevelson. By exploring their aesthetic choices of different forms of abstraction through the lens of the political climate of the period, the exhibition sharpens our understanding of the connections between visual art, hierarchy, and power then, and what we might glean from it now, in our own politically turbulent times. Christina Olsen UMMA Director Lead support for Abstraction, Color, and Politics in the Early 1970s is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Michigan Medicine, the Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment, and the University of Michigan Institute for Research on Women and Gender. Additional generous support is provided by the Robert and Janet Miller Fund.
6
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
FA L L 2 018
7
EXHIBITIONS
SEPTEMBER 29, 2018–FEBRUARY 3, 2019
|
PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY
PROOF: THE RYOICHI EXCAVATIONS
From 1985 to 2000, an enigmatic Japanese archaeologist, known only as Ryoichi, and his team of researchers secretly uncovered sites across the globe that reveal the previously unknown history of an ancient automobile culture. The story of Ryoichi and his transnational excavations are brought to life through photographs by Japanese-American artist Patrick Nagatani.
ABOVE: Patrick Nagatani, Ryoichi Yoshimura and Ryoichi, 1987–2001, gelatin silver print. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Thomas Wilson ’79 and Jill Garling ’80, 2013/2.506. © Patrick Nagatani Estate RIGHT TOP: Patrick Nagatani, Bentley, Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England R5, 1987, gelatin silver print. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Thomas Wilson ’79 and Jill Garling ’80, 2012/2.135. © Patrick Nagatani Estate RIGHT BOTTOM: Patrick Nagatani, Artifact 3:4 1986 R3 Artifact 25:9 1996 R25, 2001, gelatin silver print. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Thomas Wilson ’79 and Jill Garling ’80, 2013/2.520. © Patrick Nagatani Estate
This exhibition features images of the excavation sites, of artifacts, and of excerpts from the archaeologist’s detailed journal. The evidence includes depictions of cars buried among ancient ruins, as well as a fragment of an ancient tablet with cuneiform script—one of the earliest forms of writing—and an Etch-a-Sketch—a mechanical drawing toy first produced in the United States in the 1960s. Despite their documentary nature, Nagatani’s photographs shroud Ryoichi’s project with layers of mystery. Ryoichi’s astonishing discoveries and Nagatani’s subsequent documentation of them suggest an alternate history—one woven imperceptibly into the fabric of our own— in which elements of modern technology resurrected amid ancient ruins call into question our current understanding of the progress of human civilization. The provocative and playful story of Ryoichi’s excavations compels viewers to reflect on how photographs shape our knowledge of the past and present, and prompts us to consider whether we can trust what we see in them. Jennifer M. Friess Assistant Curator of Photography Lead support for Proof: The Ryoichi Excavations is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost.
8
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
EXHIBITIONS
OCTOBER 6, 2018–JANUARY 13, 2019
|
IRVING STENN, JR. FAMILY GALLERY
TRISTIN LOWE: UNDER THE INFLUENCE Tristin Lowe’s Under the Influence is a serene and surreal constellation of three interconnected works: Argonaut II, an oversize reflective door that leads viewers into the installation, which encompasses Lunacy, a twelve-and-half-foot-diameter white felt facsimile of the moon, and RIGHT: Tristin Lowe, Visither I, a blue neon-light Under the Influence, sculpture resembling a nomadic 2010, sewn felt, visiting spaceship. Lunacy, the PVC vinyl inflatable armature, aluminum, central component of the steel, neon glass, installation, is constructed of argon, transformers, 490 square feet of white felt door. Exhibition View: Under the Influence, pieced together by hand and Philadelphia Museum stretched around an inflatable of Art, Philadelphia, sphere. The surface is branded 2012. Courtesy the artist and Fleisher/ with craters and other markers Ollman Gallery, that meticulously render the Philadelphia. Photo: moon’s topography—scarred Constance Mensh over billions of years by the impact of comets, asteroids and meteorites. The installation creates a visceral feeling of time having stopped, as if the cosmos has magically been paused—a sensation that is both captivating and strange. The unlikely experience of encountering the moon at this scale deepens this bewilderment. Under the Influence is a hypnotic work with a conceptual openness that rebuffs obvious narrative or meaning. In the artist’s own words, “there’s a bit of the supernatural or otherworldly at work.” Kathleen Forde Adjunct Curator of Media Arts Lead support for Tristan Lowe: Under the Influence is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost, the Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment, and Richard and Susan Gutow.
10
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
FA L L 2 018
11
EXHIBITIONS
SEPTEMBER 15, 2018–FEBRUARY 10, 2019
|
THE JAN AND DAVID BRANDON FAMILY BRIDGE
Rand is perhaps best known for his role in the formation of the computer giant IBM’s corporate identity. He modernized everything from the company’s logo to its packaging, promotional materials, and letterhead in order to signal to IBM’s staff and to the larger public the innovative character of the corporation. Indeed, Rand brought the concept of corporate identity into the mainstream through his work with IBM and even, as seen here, to global markets.
2
PAUL RAND: THE DESIGNER’S TASK Paul Rand (1914–1996), a pioneering figure in the field of graphic design during the twentieth century, conceived of the “designer’s task” as the visual communication of a company’s or institution’s identity to consumers. He explained this idea in his 1947 text Thoughts on Design: “Visual communications of any kind … should be seen as the embodiment of form and function: the integration of the beautiful and the useful.” His visionary conceptions of corporate and non-profit brand identities—though often graphically minimal—embody the artist’s complex philosophy, interest in modernist aesthetics, and singular wit. The exhibition features a selection of posters and archival materials—including presentation materials, sketches, book covers, and unrealized projects— from a recent gift to UMMA by UM Professor of Art and designer Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips. Jennifer M. Friess Assistant Curator of Photography Lead support for Paul Rand: The Designer’s Task is provided by the Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment.
1 Paul Rand, Direction/Dancer, 1939, silkscreen on paper. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips, 2016/2.212
2 Paul Rand, IBM Latin America, 1981, silkscreen on paper. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips, 2016/2.205
3 Paul Rand, Earth Day ’95, 1995, offset lithograph on paper. University of
Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips, 2016/2.219
4 Paul Rand, SOS Children’s Village, 1996, offset lithograph on paper. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips, 2016/2.19
12
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
Rand worked for a variety of national and international organizations promoting initiatives for environmental and humanitarian issues, such as the annual global Earth Day event. In his poster Earth Day ’95, Rand conveys a poignant message of humanity’s capacity for love via a forest of green hearts.
3
In this poster version of a 1939 cover he designed for the arts and culture magazine Direction, Rand integrates two images of a dancer—one whole and one fragmented—on a vibrant red background. The movement of the dancer’s body is conveyed through the energetic gestures of the limbs, which are further emphasized by Rand’s curvilinear hand-cut shapes. This early design by Rand exhibits his adept use of collage—made popular by avantgarde artists working concurrently in Europe between the wars—and echoes the progressive views of Direction magazine.
1
This 1996 poster commission from SOS Children’s Village conveys the significant goal of this NGO (non-governmental organization): to care for displaced and orphaned children. By featuring the silhouette of a tumbling child, filled partially with a detail from Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s 1560 painting Children’s Games, Rand emphasizes that the efforts of this worthy NGO are unfortunately never complete.
4
FA L L 2 018
13
NEW AT UMMA
AUGUST 20, 2018–NOVEMBER 18, 2018
|
NEW AT UMMA
MICHIGAN HOMECOMING: LIFE MAGAZINE 1947
21 images highlight moments of team spirit In October 1947, just two years after the end of World War II, the popular weekly news magazine LIFE sent staff photographers Lisa Larsen and Ralph Morse to cover homecoming weekend at the University of Michigan. The subsequent article, “Michigan Homecoming,” which brought national attention to U–M’s athletic program, featured a seven-page spread with photographs of the campus during a much-anticipated football game between the number-one ranked Wolverines and the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers. This installation provides a unique opportunity to view twenty-one images of that weekend, many not published in the article, recently donated to UMMA by John and Susan Edwards Harvith. Presented alongside a copy of the magazine loaned from U–M’s Bentley Historical Library, these photographs of fervent fans, strolling couples, alumni making their annual pilgrimage, and the game itself suggest LIFE’s view of a giddy postwar public enjoying a return to American pastimes. About the donors John Harvith (AB ‘69, JD ‘73) and Susan Edwards Harvith (MMP ‘73) began collecting photography during their graduate school years at the University of Michigan. Inspired by exhibitions of photographs at UMMA, they wanted to learn as much as possible about the photographers that shaped the history of the medium. John remembers: “I was working at U-M Information Services and writing music criticism for The Ann Arbor News when one day the U–M news writers were told that old news files were being culled and they could take whatever they wanted from the out-of-date materials on top of the filing cabinets. I walked over, leafed through the piles, and saw old LIFE magazine photographs among them; as a photography historian I was immediately struck with their quality and decided on the spot to preserve them by adding them to our collection.” Jennifer M. Friess Assistant Curator of Photography
14
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
LEFT: Lisa Larsen, Untitled, 1947, gelatin silver print. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of John and Susan Edwards Harvith in memory of our mentors Jean Paul Slusser and Charles Sawyer, 2017/2.225 TOP: Lisa Larsen, Untitled, 1947, gelatin silver print. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of John and Susan Edwards Harvith in memory of our mentors Jean Paul Slusser and Charles Sawyer, 2017/2.217e BOTTOM: Lisa Larsen, Untitled, 1947, gelatin silver print. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of John and Susan Edwards Harvith in memory of our mentors Jean Paul Slusser and Charles Sawyer, 2017/2.216
FA L L 2 018
15
UMMA PARTNERSHIPS ADVANCE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION Educational offerings around literacy, art, and science bring new experiences to third grade students
TUNDE OLANIRAN HEADLINES SERIES OF EVENTS FOR BEYOND BORDERS: GLOBAL AFRICA
0/00
10/26
9/13
11/13
TUNDE OLANIRAN’S music and performance embodies what it means to be beyond borders, blending dance, electro, hip-hop and rock. His debut album,Transgressor (2015), “feel[s] like it was recorded by a dissonant, flourishing collective, rather than a man from Flint [...] whose only vocal training is choir practice to boot” (Pitchfork). He was named NPR’s Top Artist to Watch at SXSW 2017 and performed to an audience of 5000+ at MoPop Festival in Detroit. His previous recordings have been praised by The New York Times, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, Noisey, Afropunk and countless others. JIT EXCHANGE, a performance of cross-cultural dance and music presented in partnership with the Center for World Performance Studies, the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, the Zimbabwean Cultural Center of Detroit, and the School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
9/30 & 10/4
IN CONVERSATION. Exhibition curator Laura De Becker will host informal conversations in the gallery exploring questions of globalization, cultural hybridity, and colonial legacy.
16
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
“HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR ANCESTORS GOT THESE?” AFRICAN ART, ETHICS, AND LAW, a discussion facilitated by African Art Historian Ray Silverman with curators, scholars, and activists Nii Quarcopone (Detroit Institute of Arts), Sylvester Ogbechie (UC Santa Barbara), and Monica Udvardy (University of Kentucky) about what we can learn from the display of African art objects in western art museums, diving deep into the fraught questions of collecting, display, and repatriation.
VALUE THE VOICE, an evening of storytelling with U-M students where notions of border and boundary crossing will be the jumping off point to share personal experiences. UMMA will also partner with the U-M African Students Association to curate an evening to celebrate the many African cultures represented on campus; and Family Art Studio will offer families hands-on art making opportunities. Check out umma.umich.edu for dates and details.
This year, UMMA partnered with the U-M Center for Educational Outreach (CEO), local writing and tutoring program, 826Michigan, and an Ypsilanti elementary school, to offer a new type of field trip for third grade students based around literacy, art, and the third grade science curriculum. Through this focused partnership with Ypsilanti schools, UMMA learned new techniques and strategies for welcoming all students to the museum and producing successful and meaningful educational experiences for these young visitors. UMMA is excited to build on this success in the 2018-19 school year with the help of a U-M Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Innovation Grant (selected from a field of 120 applicants) which will provide bus funding to involve all Ypsilanti third graders in this partnership. “When we come visit with you and see wonderful and thought-provoking art, it is among my favorite of the entire semester. Thank you for these sessions!” ~ Bretney Moore, English 124: “In Humanity, Quiet is Our Dignity”: Black Women Writers of the late 20th and early 21st Century U-M classes directly related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion who visited UMMA to utilize its collection in
teaching grew from 26% in 2016-17 to 46% (or 116 of a total of 252 classes) in this past academic year, achieving significant growth in this area. Classes included longtime partners, such as Afroamerican and African Studies 111: Introduction to Africa and Its Diaspora and American Culture 371: Gender and Sexuality in the U.S., as well as new relationships with faculty such as Aliyah Khan (English and DAAS), who studies the postcolonial Caribbean, and Bryan Roby (Judaic Studies, CMENAS, ASC), a scholar of race, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East, North Africa, and Israel/Palestine.
ABOVE: Ypsilanti third grade students from the pilot program with UMMA and CEO gain skills in writing, art and science.
FA L L 2 018
17
UMMA WELCOMES PRINCESS AKIKO OF MIKASA, JAPAN
JON AND LIZZIE TISH HOST RECEPTION FOR UMMA DIRECTOR IN NEW YORK
UMMA was honored to welcome Princess Akiko of Mikasa of Japan on June 13. Christina Olsen, the museum’s director, and Natsu Oyobe, Curator of Asian art, greeted Her Imperial Highness and took her on a tour of UMMA’s collections. Princess Akiko,who holds a doctorate in Japanese art history, and her fellow researchers from the Gakushuin University visited UMMA’s study rooms, where Japanese pieces from UMMA’s collection were displayed for close examination by the scholars.
On Wednesday, April 25, Jon and Lizzie (AB ‘94) Tisch hosted a reception at their residence in New York to introduce new University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) Director Christina Olsen to more than 65 UMMA and U-M supporters. Olsen discussed her vision for the Museum and the important role that UMMA plays at the University.
1
1 John Tisch, UMMA Director Christina Olsen, Lizzie Tisch (AB ‘94) 2 Candy Barasch, Irv Stenn, Jr. (AB ‘52, JD ‘55) 3 Cecilia Vonderheide, Mark Vonderheide, Arik Ruchim (BBA ‘02), Amy Dubin 4 Nick and Elena Delbanco 5 Julie Solit (AB ‘89), Jessica Fredericks (AB ‘88), Marly Graubard (AB ‘90) 6 U-M Vice President for Development Jerry May, Ernie Ruben (BS ‘53) and Herb Ruben (BBA ‘51, JD ‘54) TOP: Princess Akiko and Professor Mamiko Ito, Gakushuin University, share a smile in the UMMA study room. ABOVE: Princess Akiko visits the Modern and Contemporary Galleries at UMMA.
2
3
7 Gillian Segal (AB ‘91) and Jenny Flexner Reinhardt (AB ‘93) 8 Mel Schaffer and Theo Dubin (AB ‘14) 9 David Burtka (BFA ‘97), Lizzie Tisch (AB ‘94), UMMA Deputy Director, Development and External Relations Carrie Throm 10 Ann Schaffer, Mel Schaffer, Marc Seglitz (BBA ‘64) and Ilene Steglitz (AB ‘64) 11 Erica Barrish (BFA ‘98), Nicole Schloss (AB ‘11), Loring Randolph (BFA ‘04, AB ‘04) 12 William Susman (BBA ‘86), Jon Tisch, Emily Glasser, and Lizzie Tisch (AB ‘94)
6
10
18
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
7
11
4
5
8
9
12
FA L L 2 018
19
EVENT RENTALS Make your memories absolutely unforgettable at UMMA. Each year, the Museum plays host to a range of special events—intimate anniversary dinners for twenty guests, wedding celebrations for 250, and corporate events for 500. Surround yourself with neoclassical sculpture and marble columns. Excite your guests with cuttingedge contemporary art. UMMA serves as a striking backdrop for any event. And, by hosting your event at UMMA, you are helping to support the Museum’s programs and exhibitions, which engage more than 240,000 art lovers each year. Learn more about renting UMMA: umma.umich.edu/event-rentals
20
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
FA L L 2 018
21
Why did you decide to study Art History and Museum Studies? Growing up in Washington, D.C., I found myself constantly surrounded by some of the best museums in the world, almost all of which offered free admission. I attended preschool within the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as a part of the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center (SEEC). As we visited every museum on the National Mall each month, I quickly grew to develop an appreciation for museums and the arts at and the arts at an early age. During my senior year of high school, I served as a member of the inaugural Teen Council at the Smithsonian’s Freer|Sackler Galleries. These experiences really made my decision to study Art History and Museum Studies at Michigan an easy choice.
1
2
QUESTIONS EVAN BINKLEY
is an LSA student studying Art History and Museum Studies at the University of Michigan. He is a Program Assistant at UMMA and a member of the Student Engagement Council.
Tell me about your role at UMMA. What are some of your favorite parts, favorite projects you’ve worked on? As a Program Assistant within the Education Department, I assist with a variety of daily office tasks, but I most importantly help to staff UMMA events throughout the week. A lot of my energy is dedicated to ensuring that the Museum’s extensive weekly program offerings run smoothly and continue to engage visitor audiences. As a member of the UMMA Student Engagement Council (SEC), I also help to manage The Annex, our student blog, and promote upcoming events all around Ann Arbor. I have most enjoyed working to institute UMMA’s weekend Pop-Up Music series. It continues to be a great pleasure to interact with new artists each week and to hear all of the positive feedback from visitors after listening to music in the galleries.
What do you hope to accomplish during your time at UMMA, and where do you hope to have your experience take you?
3
22
U M M A .U M I C H . E D U
During my time at UMMA, I hope to further ongoing efforts to make the Museum as accessible and responsive as possible to diverse audiences and new experiences. In working with the SEC, especially in light of ongoing renovations to the Michigan Union, I continue to work to ensure that more students know of the resources that UMMA offers related to spaces for clubs, events, and studying. With regards to my own career aspirations, I hope to work in a Smithsonian museum in a position related to Public Programs or Special Events.
4
In your view, what purpose does UMMA serve at the University of Michigan? As one of the most visible buildings on campus to students and residents of Ann Arbor alike, I think UMMA serves an incredibly important role at Michigan as a unique setting for not only classes during the day, but also for individual expression and discovery throughout the year. UMMA represents the convergence of a number of different audiences and in many ways the entire University under one roof. I find that it is within this diversity that the Museum has a tremendous power to inform and respond to campus climate but also advocate for the continued relevance of the humanities in a broader sense.
Favorite artist/artwork at UMMA? Why? My favorite piece at UMMA has always been Benjamin West’s The Death of General Wolfe ever since my first tour of the Museum on a campus tour ‑of Michigan. My A.P. Art History class in high school spent an entire unit on Benjamin West and battle landscapes, so it was really exciting to see one of his works at Michigan.
5
Shop online store.umma.umich.edu Store hours Mon–Sat 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Sun: 12 p.m.–5 p.m.
STORE FA L L 2 018
23
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE
PA I D ANN ARBOR, MI PERMIT NO. 144
525 South State Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1354 734.764.0395 umma.umich.edu
For up-to-date details on UMMA exhibitions and programs, visit umma.umich.edu or follow UMMA on Facebook or Twitter. CONNECT ONLINE
facebook.com/ummamuseum twitter.com/ummamuseum instagram.com/ummamuseum MAKE A GIFT
umma.umich.edu or umma-giving@umich.edu GALLERY HOURS
September–April Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Sunday 12–5 p.m. Closed Mondays STORE HOURS
Monday through Saturday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Sunday 12–5 p.m. BUILDING HOURS
September–April The Forum, Commons, and selected public spaces in the Maxine and Stuart Frankel and the Frankel Family Wing are open daily 8 a.m.– 8 p.m.
EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW THROUGH SEPTEMBER 9, 2018
Unrecorded: Reimagining Artist Identities in Africa THROUGH SEPTEMBER 23, 2018
Marcel Dzama: A Jester’s Dance THROUGH SEPTEMBER 23, 2018
See Through: Windows and Mirrors in Twentieth-Century Photography AUGUST 11–NOVEMBER 25, 2018
Beyond Borders: Global Africa AUGUST 28–NOVEMBER 1, 2018
Michigan Homecoming ’47: Life Magazine SEPTEMBER 15, 2018–FEBRUARY 10, 2019
Paul Rand: The Designer’s Task OPENS SEPTEMBER 22, 2018
Abstraction, Color, and Politics in the Early 1970s SEPT. 29, 2018–FEBRUARY 3, 2019
Proof: The Ryoichi Excavations OCTOBER 6, 2018–JANUARY 13, 2019
Tristin Lowe: Under the Influence
The Museum is always free.
THROUGH JUNE 3, 2019
$10 suggested donation appreciated.
Jim Cogswell: Cosmogonic Tattoos
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN BOARD OF REGENTS: Michael J. Behm, Grand Blanc; Mark J. Bernstein, Ann Arbor; Shauna Ryder Diggs, Grosse Pointe; Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms; Andrea Fischer Newman, Ann Arbor; Andrew C. Richner, Grosse Pointe Park; Ron Weiser, Ann Arbor; Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor; Mark S. Schlissel, ex officio CONTRIBUTORS: Lisa Bessette, Lisa Borgsdorf, Laura De Becker, Kathleen Forde, Jennifer Friess, Mark Gjukich, Katie Derosier, Lehti Mairike Keelmann, Ruth Keffer, Stephanie Rieke Miller, Sola Muno, Christina Olsen, Natsu Oyobe, Anna Sampson, Jakob Skogheim, Ruth Slavin, Leisa Thompson, Nettie Tiso, Carrie Throm EDITOR: David Lawrence DESIGNER: Mike McGowan