[ad_1]
Santa came early to the University of New Mexico as the Terra Foundation for American Art has given the UNM a $75,000 grant for the installation of “Hindsight/Insight 2.0: Portraits, Landscapes, and Abstraction” from the UNM Art Museum Collection.
“More significant than the dollar amount is that it provided national recognition of the work the museum has done over the past few years from a respected foundation,” said Arif Khan, UNM Art Museum director. “The grant will support our upcoming permanent collection exhibition, which will promote critical inquiry about the role of university museums and the practice of collecting, asking the viewer where art objects come from, why they look the way they do, what they have meant to their collectors, and what earned them their place within the museum.”
This spring, the UNM Art Museum will energize this initiative by showcasing the permanent collection throughout the museum. “Hindsight/Insight 2.0” offers a fresh perspective from over 50 artworks, and this exhibition is also showcasing recent acquisitions, such as those made possible by UNMAM’s Acquisitions Fund for Diversity and Equity.
“What makes this different from other collection exhibitions is that UNM students and faculty will be actively involved with the selection, writing and interpretation of the artworks to be displayed,” Khan said. “Each year, we are lucky to work with a talented group of UNM students who assist in different areas of the museum, such as visitor services, marketing, and events.”
Though the historical importance of the objects in “Hindsight/Insight 2.0” is noteworthy, the exhibition encourages critical thought and conversation on the role of university museums and the practice of art collecting. This exhibition asks where art objects come from, why they look the way they do and how they earned their place within the museum walls.
The art museum is working with the university community to “decenter curatorial authority and institutional voice, using bilingual wall text and labels while honoring student perspectives.”
“At the UNM Art Museum we will include diverse artists from the UNMAM collection to convey complex narratives about artworks in our collection,” Khan said. “We strongly believe that it is the museum’s responsibility to provide opportunities for students to ‘see’ themselves in the galleries and support faculty curricula across disciplines invested in these perspectives.”
UNM Art Museum curator Mary Statzer is working in collaboration with guest curators throughout the exhibition, with current Art History PhD student Eleanor Kane and Assistant Professor of Art and Art History Marcella Ernest leading off. Lobo students and faculty are invited to respond to the exhibition in the galleries and at artmuseum.unm.edu/journal.
The UNM Art Museum hopes Spring 2023 builds off the momentum created in 2022.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, the museum drew many visitors.
“This year, we have welcomed nearly 9,000 visitors to the museum and that has been encouraging to see because we are getting close to returning to our pre-pandemic number of average visitors per year,” Khan said.
The Terra Foundation grant programs totaling nearly $3.1 million were awarded to 45 arts and cultural organizations in the United States to support permanent collection projects that share full and representative histories of American art with the public.
[ad_2]
