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D O N O R / V O L U N T E E R E V E N T SFebruary 27 2:00-4:00 p.m. New Member Tour, IMU, North Room

March 24, 31 5:00-6:30 p.m. Elliott Society lecture, University Athletic Club

March 25 7:00-9:00 p.m. All Donor Reception, IMU, Main Lounge

April 14 5:00-6:30 p.m. Elliott Society lecture, University Athletic Club (open to the public)

April 19 5:30-6:00 p.m. V.I.P. Preview for Lil Picard and Counterculture New York, Grey Art Gallery, NYU, New York City, NY

April 28 5:00-7:00 p.m. Volunteer Reception, IMU, South Room

March 5 7:30-9:30 p.m. Curator’s Circle Reception, University Athletic Club, 1360 Melrose Ave., Iowa City

June 4 6:00 p.m. Director’s Circle Reception, IMU, Main Lounge

January 21-May 23 In the Footsteps of Masters: The Evolution of the Reproductive Print, Figge Art Museum

Ongoing A Legacy for Iowa: Pollock’s Mural and Modern Masterworks from the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second St., Davenport, IA

March 27-June 27 Two Turntables and a Microphone: Hip-Hop Contexts featuring Harry Allen’s Part of the Permanent Record: Photos from the Previous Century, Iowa Memorial Union (IMU), Black Box Theatre

April 19-July 10 Lil Picard and Counterculture New York, Grey Art Gallery, New York University (NYU), New York City, NY (coming to the UI in Spring 2011)

March 16-June 6 Iowa: History Made Visible Through Art, Old Capitol Museum

P R O G R A M S

April 2 7:30-9:00 p.m. Reception: Iowa: History Made Visible Through Art, Old Capitol Museum

January 22 9:00-11:00 p.m. Graduate Student Reception, IMU, Main Lounge

February 25 7:30-9:00 p.m. Word Painters Reading, Old Capitol Museum, Senate Chamber

March 7 2:00-3:00 p.m. Gallery Talk: Ranelle Lueth, “Printmaking ‘Mastery’ in the Nineteenth Century,” Figge Art Museum

April 1 7:30-9:00 p.m. Artist Lecture: Harry Allen, Pappajohn Business Building, Room W151

April 11 2:00-3:00 p.m. Gallery Talk: Nathan Popp, “Refining Reproductive Prints in Rubens’ Workshop,” Figge Art Museum

April 20 -22 All day Mural workshop with Lady Pink and UI students, Studio Arts Building

April 21 7:30-9:00 p.m. Artist Lecture: Lady Pink, Van Allen Hall, Lecture Room 2

April 21 6:30 p.m. Gallery Talk: Kathy Edwards on Lil Picard and Counterculture New York, Grey Art Gallery, NYU, New York City, NY

April 22 7:30-9:00 p.m. Word Painters Reading, Old Capitol Museum, Senate Chamber

April 29 7:30- 9:00 p.m. Gallery Talk: Kembrew McLeod on Two Turntables and a Microphone, IMU, Black Box Theatre

February 7 2:00-3:00 p.m. Gallery Talk: Nathan Popp on In the Footsteps of Masters, Figge Art Museum

April 19 6:00-8:00 p.m. Opening Reception: Lil Picard and Counterculture New York, Grey Art Gallery, NYU, New York City, NY

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Sincerely,

Pamela WhiteInterim Director

Spring, a season of rebirth and promise, reminds me that the UIMA has much to look forward to in the upcoming months. I realize that we are all still struggling with the issues of the flood of 2008.The staff and I are involved in collection issues that will take some time for resolution, and we are not certain when

we will begin planning for a new Museum. However, there are many positive things enhancing the UIMA’s outreach. Chief among them is your support for the Museum, our exhibitions, and programs. The response to the Museum PartY! was overwhelming and heartwarming to all of us who love the UIMA. We thank you for all you do to help us not only maintain but excel!

We are thrilled to be back on campus! The Richey Ballroom space—now referred to as the “UIMA@IMU”—is open and serving students and the general public alike. We now have more than 500 works back on campus and accessible for class usage, and are looking forward to working with even more classes in the spring semester. On March 27, we open our first special exhibition in the Black Box Theatre space—Two Turntables and a Microphone: Hip-Hop Contexts featuring Harry Allen’s Part of the Permanent Record: Photos from the Previous Century that promises to be a lively and popular exhibition showcasing the cultural phenomenon that is hip-hop. We are looking forward to hosting Lady Pink and her art as well as welcoming back Harry Allen for a special lecture. This exhibition is curated in collaboration with Deborah Whaley, UI professor of American Studies and African American Studies, and Kembrew McLeod, UI professor of Communication Studies, which underscores the UIMA’s commitment and involvement in the UI’s mission of education.

We continue to enjoy public accolades from our “Legacy” exhibition in Davenport’s Figge Art Museum. Our collection is in Iowa…safe, accessible, and on public display. On January 21, we open In the Footsteps of Masters: The Evolution of the Reproductive Print at the Figge, comprised of prints

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Written and edited by Claire LekwaDesigned by Guldeniz Danisman Martinek

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

Front image: Lady Pink, Pink in the 3 Yard, 1983

primarily from our permanent collection. Curated by graduate assistant Nathan Popp, the exhibition gives us the opportunity to showcase more works to a new public. We enjoy our collaborative efforts with the Figge Art Museum staff, and look forward to planning even more unique and educational events in the future.

Dale Fisher, Director of Education, and the docents remain busy taking our hands-on educational art pieces “on the road” to the schools in the area. He has organized an exhibition of Iowa artists’ works to be presented in Old Capitol’s Hanson Family Humanities Gallery March 16 through June 6. It will coincide with the Pentacrest Museums’ program of school tours focused on Iowa’s history.

Looking forward, we are opening Lil Picard and Counterculture New York at the Grey Art Gallery, NYU, in April. This resumes a major effort for the UIMA—creating original traveling exhibitions. Chief Curator Kathy Edwards has done a masterful job pulling together the works by this original and charismatic artist into a historical art exhibition. We will present “Lil” in all her glory in spring 2011 in the Black Box Theatre.

The Envisioning Committee’s report will be released early next year and I am sure the thoughtful deliberations of this group will result in a renewed commitment to the UIMA and its future. We will make this accessible to all of our friends via a variety of methods, including a new and improved website.

We have many plans—and will be revealing them in the coming months. From touring our world-class collection to hosting distinguished speakers and creating educational outreach opportunities we are enthused and positive about our future. We look forward to sharing the exciting opportunities we have planned with you. Your support for our activities through the Museum PartY! sponsorship opportunities has made our year possible—and we want you all to know how much we appreciate your dedication to the UIMA.

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In one photograph from the UIMA exhibition Two Turntables and a Microphone: Hip-Hop Contexts featuring Harry Allen’s Part of the Permanent Record: Photos from the Previous Century, a young black man stands, shoulders cocked, black fedora perched atop his head, inside the doorway of WBAU 90.3 FM, a now-defunct student-run radio station at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. Wearing a glossy black leather jacket over a white mock turtleneck, he looks away from the camera and blows smoke.

Taken by Harry Allen, Hip-Hop Activist & Media Assassin with the seminal hip-hop group Public Enemy, this picture and 39 others form the core of Two Turntables and a Microphone, guest-curated for the UIMA by Deborah Whaley, a UI professor of

American Studies and African American Studies, and Kembrew McLeod, a UI professor of Communication Studies. The exhibition is on display in the Iowa Memorial Union’s third-floor Black Box Theatre from March 27 through June 27.

Alongside the photographs, additional archival materials help immerse viewers in the story of hip-hop: audio clips, a slide show highlighting the work of graffiti artist Lady Pink (see Q&A on page 9), and framed hip-hop flyers. Together, these elements document the well-entrenched tale of turntables, dance parties, sucker MCs and raucous DJs—but they also reveal another, less-familiar side of the genre.

The latter story is what Whaley and McLeod want to tell.

Two Turntables and a Microphone: Hip-Hop Contexts featuring Harry Allen’s Part of the Permanent Record: Photos from the Previous Century

Iowa Memorial Union, Black Box Theatre

By Maggie Anderson

March 27 - June 27

Run-DMC and Doctor Dre, outside of WBAU/90.3 FM, in the Adelphi University Center, Garden City NY, July 1983, Copyright © by Harry Allen.

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“We’re not interested in repeating the same hip-hop narrative,” says Whaley. “One of our largest tasks is to represent an era—the 1980s—and also complicate that memory in ways it has not been done, using a broader genre and regional framework.”

So, back to the picture of the man blowing smoke at the radio station. His name is Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, one of the founders of the hip-hop group Run-DMC (you know—they had that inescapable remix of the song “It’s Like That”: This speech is my recital / I think it’s very vital / To rock a rhyme / That’s right on time / It’s Tricky is the title. Here we go...)

Classic hip-hop, right? They had the attitude, they had the clothes (black fedoras and Adidas sneakers for all!), and they sure spit the rhymes.

“Run-DMC…made music that was as weird and hard as New York was supposed to be but with rhymes as direct as a cabbie standing in front of you, chewing you out,” wrote Sasha Frere-Jones in an essay for The Vibe History of Hip-Hop (1999).

But if we complicate the narrative, as Whaley says, we can see some departures. First of all, the group was from Hollis, Queens. Not the hood.

“They were definitely from the black middle class,” McLeod says. “They lived in the suburbs.”

The origins of hip-hop are firmly rooted in New York—places like the Bronx, where DJ Kool Herc, credited with inventing the hip-hop genre, spun records in the 1970s for street parties and isolated the “break” (the instrumental portion of the record that emphasized the drum beat), and where Grandmaster Flash perfected the seamless transition between records and beats. But hip-hop has a lesser-known connection with suburbia, the black middle class, and college campuses. These things, the total opposite of the hip-hop stereotype, served as a sort of centrifuge for development of the genre’s next stage in the late 1980s.

“Hip-hop is largely seen as antithetical to the formal sphere of higher education, but that is not correct. We want to show the connection between hip-hop’s various roots and expansions, which includes its emergence and growth on college campuses. There has always been a connection between hip-hop and education; the two spheres are complimentary,” Whaley says.

This particular college radio station, WBAU, was important for showcasing up-and-coming hip-hop artists such as Run-DMC and LL Cool J. It was one

of the first radio stations to play Run-DMC’s classic “Sucker M.C.’s” in 1983 and possibly the first to interview the trio, who would go on to be hip-hop’s first platinum act.

The station was also a home base for the future members of Public Enemy—including Harry Allen. Many students entrenched in the Long Island hip-hop scene would come to WBAU for Bill Stephney’s three-hour program, “Mr. Bill Show,” at 10 p.m. Monday nights. Members of the future P.E. crew helped run the show: Flavor Flav manned the phones and Chuckie Dee (then of Spectrum City mobile DJs; later Public Enemy’s Chuck D) played self-produced recordings of local groups during the last hour of the show. Other key hip-hop stars (Andrew “Doctor Dre” Brown) and eventual members of P.E.’s production crew, the Bomb Squad (Hank and Keith Shocklee, Terminator X, and Eric Sadler) were also station regulars.

As Public Enemy evolved as a group, Allen traveled with them and captured the budding hip-hop scene. He documented the beginnings at the radio station,

Grandmaster Flash On-Stage at the Ritz, NYC, Copyright © by Harry Allen

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the emerging street culture, and the lives of big names in the young movement.

The photographs are fascinating for the moment they capture: This is hip-hop on the brink of mainstream. This is hip-hop from young, black prophets, who maintain an aesthetic of cool and love what they do. The framed flyers offer a complement to the spirit of the photographs. When compared to the slick advertising and skin-bearing music videos of today, the flyers can seem almost quaint, yet their cartoonish figures and bombastic names (Jazzy Jay, Red Alert, Soul Sonic Force, EcstasyGarageDisco—ADM FREE!) maintain an undeniable appeal. And when these framed elements are viewed in sync with the graffiti visuals by celebrated street artists including Lady Pink and hip-hop sound clips from the likes of Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, MC Lyte, and Roxanne Shante, the multifaceted picture of the emerging hip-hop culture is evident. Interdisciplinary, cutting edge, politically engaged, and historic, this is the kind of music destined for the big time.

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This exhibition is made possible by the generous support of UIMA sponsors Scheels All Sports, Barbara Kirk, and The University of Iowa Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Thank you!

All Donor ReceptionMarch 25, 7:00-9:00 p.m.Iowa Memorial Union, Main Lounge

Artist Lecture: Harry AllenApril 1, 7:30-9:00 p.m.Pappajohn Business Building, Room W151

Related events

Gallery Talk: Kembrew McLeodApril 29, 7:30-9:00 p.m. Iowa Memorial Union, Black Box Theatre

T La Rock, backstage at Benjamin Franklin H.S., 1984, Copyright © by Harry Allen

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Working with Public Enemy, Allen became the group’s Media Assassin and Director of Enemy Relations, a position that had him mediating between P.E. and the public when the group’s militant lyrics and confrontational habits created conflict. This often involved using his writing skills to intervene on behalf of the group. For example, when Spin decided that the first hip-hop group to grace its cover would be the all-white New York rappers, the Beastie Boys, Allen wrote a stinging rebuttal letter-to-the-editor published in the May 1987 issue that questioned the racial politics of the music journalism: “Your decision to put a white crew on the cover of your magazine as Spin’s front-page presentation of hip-hop [Beastie Boys, March 1987] betrays: 1) the inherent phoniness of your ‘alternative’ stance; 2) your lack of facility with nascent black musical forms; and 3) your own racism.” Allen was also in charge of the group’s agitprop press releases, which worked steadfast to provide information about their music and to correct the dissemination of misinformation about the group, its politics, and its members.

“He was really the first member of a hip-hop crew to

One storyline Whaley and McLeod want to avoid in their exhibition is the declination narrative. This theory says that hip-hop has declined in quality over time and has lost its soul—that it has sold out. “You can’t deny change over time, but by dismissing hip-hop’s continual growth, you miss out on the people doing interesting things now,” McLeod says.

The challenge, then, is to show respect for an era without seeming too nostalgic—to acknowledge the groundwork laid by those in the past, and to also look forward. Whaley and McLeod are doing this, in part, by including hip-hop music primarily from the 1980s alongside a projection of graffiti images that span four decades.

Just for fun, let’s have a look at what some hip-hop greats have said about the living nature of their art form. All of the quotes are excerpted from Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn’s 2002 book, Yes Yes Y’all: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade.

“I see a lot of people today who are excited almost like back then. Back then it was more in its fresh mode, but now when I go to different countries you see all the different rappers…and a lot of these

fill the role of a writer, and at a time when hip-hop was completely misunderstood or ignored,” McLeod says. While Allen enjoyed photography, he didn’t see it as a way to make a living long term. Instead, using his writing talents, he became one of the first journalists to really dig into hip-hop and explore its place in history.

Allen continues to write for publications such as Vibe, the Village Voice, and Spin. He also hosts a Friday afternoon radio show on WBAI-NY/99.5 FM called Nonfiction. His early photographs only recently became the focus of public attention and were on display in the 2007 exhibition Part of The Permanent Record: Photos from the Previous Century by Harry Allen at the Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery in Manhattan, which is owned by Bill Adler, former Def Jam director of media relations.

The exhibition title provides a hint as to the role Allen sees himself playing in hip-hop history, McLeod says:“He’s almost working as an archivist. He’s interested in documenting hip-hop culture for the permanent record.”

people are becoming stars in their own right, speaking their own native tongues. The excitement that you see a lot of places outside of America, it’s more true to the hip-hop culture than America itself.”— Afrika Bambaataa, DJ who spread hip-hop throughout the world; known as the “godfather” of hip-hop and leader of the Zulu Nation

“We never felt like it was a fad. If you were there from the beginning, then you knew that this was real, this is a part of history. You can choose to listen to it, or you can choose not to listen to it, but this is just history. It’s just like blues, just like jazz. It’s just the way that it is.”— Sha-rock, one of the most celebrated female MCs

“I always know that…for those who never heard this music, that if they had a chance to hear this, they would have no choice but to love this. Because unlike all the other genres of music, there are no boundaries to hip-hop. We can lyrically describe and talk about anything that we want to. Musically, we could almost use anything. We don’t have to sing in key. We don’t have to have a bridge or a chorus. It doesn’t matter. This particular style of music…is it.”— Grandmaster Flash, one of hip-hop’s founding fathers and a DJ innovator

Hip-hop lives today

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Graffiti became a central component of hip-hop cultural expression in the 1980s, in addition to break dancing, beat boxing, mc’ing, rapping, dj’ing, record mixing, and scratching. New York artist Sandra Fabara, better known by her graffiti name, “Lady Pink,” pioneered the graffiti movement through the 1980s and ’90s and became one of the first women to gain international recognition from the art establishment for her graffiti work. In April, Lady Pink will visit the University of Iowa in conjunction with a slide show display of her work compiled by UI Professor Deborah Whaley for the exhibit Two Turntables and a Microphone: Hip-Hop Contexts featuring Harry Allen’s Part of the Permanent Record: Photos from the Previous Century, on display from March 27 to June 27 in the Iowa Memorial Union’s Black Box Theatre.

Lady Pink’s work has been included in exhibitions and collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Brooklyn Museum, achieving a success that allowed other female graffiti writers to engage in the art form. No longer practicing graffiti, she continues to make murals through public commissions and she gives workshops and lectures for children and college students. During her visit to the UI, Lady Pink will collaborate with UI art students and Turntables co-curator Whaley, to create an 8-foot by 20-foot mural. She will also present a lecture on her work. The artist spoke with the UIMA to share her perspectives on graffiti art and her experiences as one of the first women in the movement.PIn

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Lady Pink, Pink PIece, 1980

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Events with Lady PinkArtist Lecture: Lady PinkApril 21, 7:30-9:00 p.m.Van Allen Hall, Lecture Room 2

Mural workshop with Lady PinkApril 20 and 22, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., April 21, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.Studio Arts Building, 1375 Highway 1 West, Iowa City

UIMA: Can you describe some of the challenges in graffiti writing and art?

Lady Pink: It’s very scary stuff. You have to sneak in like a ninja or a burglar. It requires a lot of nerve. That’s the main reason why a lot of girls were not around. When I started in 1979, there were no other females at all. I had a hard time being taken seriously because I was a little femme. I wore make-up, dresses, and high heels. But I learned how to adapt and dress appropriately. It just seemed safer to dress like a little boy, with a hooded sweatshirt, bulky jacket, and baggy clothes. Getting arrested was the least of your problems. Underground, you can’t call mommy or the cops.

UIMA: What do you think is the motivation for graffiti?

Lady Pink: Graffiti is a backlash to the over-intellectualism, obscurity, and abstraction that the general art establishment has taken art to. It’s boring, it’s dull, it’s above most people’s heads; they don’t understand it, and they don’t like it. It’s being imposed on them just as offensively as graffiti is imposed on them down the street. Graffiti is a voice for young people; it’s a way to be cool. Finally we have art that is cool.

UIMA: A critical point in the graffiti movement was the transition from writing on subway cars to freight trains. Can you talk about this transition?

Lady Pink: The subways in New York City became clean in 1989. Contributing factors included the city’s introduction of stainless steel subway cars, tighter security, and a more aggressive campaign to scrub clean graffiti. Mostly though, it had to do with internal strife in the graffiti movement. The level of violence escalated and established ethics went out the window. Nobody wanted to put up their best work, because before the paint would dry it would either get erased by the city or crossed out by another writer. It was dangerous and people didn’t want to lose their lives. I began painting freight trains in the early nineties. That’s where the real graffiti movement went. It wasn’t about subways that went from the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens anymore. It was about freight trains that went from New York,

to Chicago, to L.A. Cities were competing with each other and the playing field got bigger. UIMA: Can you address some of the misconceptions and stereotypes associated with graffiti?

Lady Pink: People fear graffiti because they don’t understand it. They think it’s evil, scary, and that crime will soon follow. Graffiti is just a form of expression and a mild form of rebellion. For God’s sake, it’s just paint. It is necessary and questions the status quo. Also there is a huge misunderstanding that murals done in spray paint are graffiti, but they aren’t. The difference between murals and graffiti is obvious— it’s permission. The medium is irrelevant. Once permission is given, the art ceases to be graffiti.

Lady Pink, The Death of Graffiti, 1982

Q&A with Lady Pink

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Emerging from his scholastic research and familiarity with the UIMA collection, Nathan Popp’s exhibition In the Footsteps of Masters: The Evolution of the Reproductive Print examines the role of printmaking in the development of visual culture. Popp, a UI Curatorial Graduate Assistant to Chief Curator Kathy Edwards, realized the UIMA had not presented an exhibition addressing the history of the reproductive print and that a number of works in this category had never before been exhibited. On Edwards’ advice and with her continued support, Popp pursued the topic, a project that would take three years. “After Nathan completed his B.A. in Art History and decided to pursue an M.A., I offered him an opportunity to curate an exhibition,” Edwards, whom Popp has worked with for over four years, said. “This experience has led Nathan to expand his knowledge of print history to such a degree that he has pursued

the topic in his studies separate from his employment at the UIMA. We are all very proud of him.” The exhibition covers a span of 500 years, featuring approximately 80 Western reproductive prints from the 15th to the 20th century. It will be on view from January 21 through May 23 at the Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second St. in Davenport. UIMA donors receive free admission to the Figge with their Donor Courtesy Card, as do UI faculty, staff, and students with their UI ID card. Included in the exhibition are original prints and drawings by artists like Albrecht Dürer, Annibale Carracci, Jusepe De Ribera, Edouard Manet, Jean-Baptiste Corot, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, William Blake, Francisco Goya, and Grant Wood, as well as reproductive prints made after the works of famous masters such as Raphael, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, Jan Van Eyck, Titian, Michelangelo, and others.

Cornelis Galle the Elder (Flemish; Antwerp, 1576-1650)Procne Showing Tereus the Head of his Child (after Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish; Antwerp, 1577-1640), c. 1637, Engraving, Museum purchase 1980.92

By Elizabeth Timmins

In the Footsteps of Masters:The Evolution of the Reproductive Print

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January 21 — May 23 Figge Art Museum

With his exhibition, Popp said he seeks to discover new relationships between the art works while also examining debated historical questions. “One of the curator’s tasks is to educate and to pose new questions about art,” Popp said. “I want to present an academic narrative that is derived from the works in the exhibition, which in turn become illustrations or evidence for what I’m sharing. One of the stories that I want to tell is about how Western printmaking started, how it changed over time, and how it evolved into its own independent medium separate from painting and drawing.” During the Renaissance, printmakers created woodcuts, engravings, and etchings after notable paintings. With the advantage of being mass-produced and easily distributed, prints allowed artists to engage with each other and exchange ideas. This propagated individual artists’ fame, facilitated art education, and initiated technical advancement. As the status of the printmaker as an independent artist grew, artistic expression within the reproductive realm was possible. Printmakers began altering compositions or creating prints after their own works. “Advancements in the reproductive print evolved through the centuries depending on various needs and purposes and who was orchestrating them,” Popp said. Working at the UIMA has allowed Popp to study objects firsthand and has aided his development as an art historian. “I knew I couldn’t see a Raphael or Rubens painting here in Iowa City, but the UIMA collection includes many prints after them,” he said. “Utilizing the UIMA collection has helped advance my study of art history as I pursue my degree. The works in the exhibition still serve an important educational purpose, just as they have since their creation and will continue to do.” Originally Popp anticipated utilizing a gallery at the UIMA’s former Riverside Drive building for the exhibition. However after the 2008 flood, the UIMA’s partnership with Davenport’s Figge Art Museum offered a much larger space, allowing Popp to incorporate additional works. Although the majority of the pieces in the exhibition are in the UIMA permanent collection, collectors Alden Lowell Doud, John and Trish Koza, and G. Ron Kastner have lent prints for this increased gallery space. “This could not have been possible without the generosity of our friends and donors,” Popp said. “The 2008 flood had a drastic impact on the Museum, but it has not slowed our work. The support from the Figge and these wonderful collectors has been instrumental in keeping the project on track. I’m sincerely grateful for their participation and I am continuously inspired by the sense of community, which has made my exhibition a reality.”

All located at the Figge Art Museum,225 West Second St., Davenport, IA

Gallery Talk: Nathan Popp on In the Footsteps of MastersFebruary 7, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Gallery Talk: Ranelle Lueth, “Printmaking ‘Mastery’ in the Nineteenth Century” March 7, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Gallery Talk: Nathan Popp, “Refining Reproductive Prints in Rubens’ Workshop”April 11, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Related events

William Blake (English, 1757-1827), Joseph of Arimathea Among the Rocks of Albion (after Michaelangelo, Italian; Florentine, 1475-1564), 1773/1820, Engraving; 2nd state, Gift in memory of William Thomas Goodwin and Gertrude Chauveau Goodwin from the David Goodwin Collection 2003.302

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This exhibition is sponsored by and an Anonymous Donor.

UIMA Chief Curator Kathy Edwards had finished her first year working at the Museum when the UI received an incredible gift: the Estate of Lil Picard. This gift includes several hundred of the 20th century New York artist’s artworks as well as 40 linear feet of archive material—Picard’s papers, diaries, photographs, writing, and letters.

Upon receiving the gift in 1999, the UIMA exhibited a small selection of Picard’s artwork for three months in early 2000, and Edwards took notice. “The kind of art that I really enjoy and that I have found always engages students is art that is on the edge, art that blurs the lines between life and art,” she said.

Now, 10 years later, a retrospective exhibition curated by Edwards—Lil Picard and Counterculture New York debuts in New York City at New York University’s Grey Art Gallery from April 19–July 10. The exhibition

provides the first major exposure for the little known feminist artist, taking a comprehensive look at almost 30 years of Picard’s work, spanning the years 1949 to 1984, with over 70 of the artist’s paintings, assemblages, and drawings in the UIMA permanent collection. It will open locally in February 2011 at the Iowa Memorial Union’s Black Box Theatre, which has been renovated for periodic use as an on-campus space for UIMA exhibitions.

The exhibition immerses viewers in Picard’s world of the 1960s and 1970s underground New York art scene. During this momentous time for artistic expression, Picard frequented Andy Warhol’s Factory and mingled with cohorts like Carolee Schneemann and her famous lovers, Al Jensen and Ad Reinhardt. Capturing the scene’s diverse experimental energy, the exhibition will include two re-created environments of Picard’s “happenings.” An interactive computer program and

V.I.P. PreviewApril 19, 5:30-6:00 p.m.

Opening ReceptionApril 19, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Gallery Talk: Kathy Edwards on Lil Picard and Counterculture New YorkApril 21, 6:30 p.m.

UIMA Travel Opportunity! April 16–20, 2010: Join us in New York for the premiere opening of Lil Picard and Counterculture New York. Travel arrangements by Meacham Travel Service. Call (319) 351-1360 ext. 110 or(800) 777-1360 ext. 110 for information.

(From left) Monica Moen, a Lil’s List sponsor, and Linda Paul, a Silver Exhibition Sponsor for Lil Picard and Counterculture New York, stand in front of the sign for the exhibition at New York Uni-versity’s Grey Art Gallery during a November 2009 trip to New York City.

Related events All held in New York City at New York University’s Grey Art Gallery

Lil Picard and Counterculture new YorkApril 19–July 10 • grey Art gallery,

new York University, new York City By Claire Lekwa

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Lil Picard, LOVE, 1958-59, Oil and collage on wood, 115/16 x 115/16 inches each , © Estate of Lil Picard, University of Iowa Museum of Art, 976.1999

two films about Picard by Silviana Goldsmith will complete the exhibition.

Picard was born near Strassbourg, Germany in 1899. Throughout her career, she referenced her own life and surroundings in her art. Her collage paintings, sculptures, drawings, and assemblages, like LOVE (shown left), are comprised of the pieces of her everyday life—tickets, wine, and cigarette labels, cloth, cosmetics, as well as found and painted paper and cardboard materials. Her later work synthesized her many life struggles, with a recurring theme on the trauma of war. Because of her Jewish heritage, Picard was forced to immigrate to New York in 1937 from Berlin, where she had been a cabaret actress, writer, and artist. Picard died in New York in 1994.

“I knew Picard had never really had her due. I made a promise to her, and I’m following through on it,” Edwards said. She hopes the exhibition will encourage recognition for Picard and scholarship on her. “The UIMA and UI Libraries Special Collections are tremendous resources for students and scholars

In collaboration with the Pentacrest Museums, the UIMA has organized an exhibition focusing on Iowa’s artistic past using art works from the permanent collection. Iowa: History Made Visible Through Art will be on display in the Old Capitol Museum’s Hanson

Family Humanities Gallery from March 16 through June 6. The exhibition is geared toward Iowa City fifth grade students, who visit the Old Capitol and the Museum of Natural History each year to learn about the state’s history. The UIMA will augment the Pentacrest Museums’ current collections and exhibitions by introducing elements of Iowa’s visual culture, culminating in a well-rounded learning experience about the state. The exhibition will survey Iowa’s artistic history, including works by the Mesquaki peoples, regionalist Grant Wood, photographer A.M. “Pete” Wettach, and other artists.

Grant Wood, American, 1892-1942, Sketch for the Birthplace of Herbert Hoover, 1931, Charcoal, graphite, and chalk on tan paper, Gift of Edwin B. Green in Tribute to Nan Wood Graham, 1985.92.

working in this area. Conceptual and performance art is a very significant historical theme in many departments at the University of Iowa, and the Picard collection builds on that theme,” she said.

For Edwards, presenting the exhibit in New York is a meaningful way to honor Picard. “What she did could only have happened in that place and time,” Edwards said. “We’re bringing her home.”

The exhibition will be accompanied by a UIMA-published 125-page full-color catalogue authored by Edwards and distributed by University of Washington Press.

Lil Picard and Counterculture New York is supported in part with a leading gift from Silver Exhibition Sponsors Doug and Linda Paul, and to the following sponsors contributing to Lil’s List: Margaret C. Clancy, Pat and Kevin Hanick, Myrene R. and H. Dee Hoover, Monica B. Moen, Carrie Z. Norton, Serena D. Stier and Steven J. Burton, Madeline Sullivan, and Pamela White.

- Ben Lipnick

Iowa: HIstory Made VIsIble tHrougH art

The exhibition A Legacy for Iowa: Pollock’s Mural and Modern Masterworks from the University of Iowa Museum of Art is ongoing at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport. Featuring not only the famed Pollock painting, the exhibit includes some of the most important works from the UIMA’s collection by artists Philip Guston, Lyonel Feininger, Alexej von Jawlensky, Max Beckmann, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Marsden Hartley, and Robert Motherwell. Each of the paintings is an iconic example of visual experimentation, innovation, reformation, and transformation—all themes that reside at the heart of the UIMA’s remarkable collections. The UIMA@Figge is sponsored by

March 16-June 6, Old Capitol Museum, Hanson Family Humanities Gallery

The Legacy Continues

Jackson Pollock, Mural, 1943, oil on canvas

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The UIMA@IMU provides students with a resource they had lacked for 15 months—a comprehensive, on-campus visual classroom space. The installation, located in the Iowa Memorial Union’s third-floor Richey Ballroom, includes more than 250 objects from Africa, China, Japan, Tibet, and the Ancient Americas, as well as 20th-century European and American ceramics, conceptual art, and figurative art. In addition, the UIMA@IMU stores 250 prints, drawings, and photographs for a total of more than 500 available objects.

During the Fall 2009 semester, over 70 class visits were made to utilize the art at the UIMA@IMU. Students in the Arts of Africa class spent time handling masks and figures from the renowned African art collection. This unique experience contributed to students’ analytic skills and provided an understanding of the objects from firsthand observation.

“It’s extremely important for the students to have the art accessible to them,” said Karissa Bushman, a graduate teaching assistant for the class. “When you see an object in person, your mind will think in a different way. You’ll think of new questions and be able to understand the object better.”

UI senior Erin Damisch agrees with the necessity of having art accessible on campus. Her Painting 1 class, instructed by UI Professor Laurel Farrin, examined pieces in the UIMA@IMU and incorporated elements from the objects into self-portraits.

“When a teacher shows us images on a TV screen, it’s not the same as seeing it in person,” Damisch said. “You can’t see the paint, the thickness, and the texture. You can learn so much more about the painter’s process by examining the real painting.”

After more than a year without paintings from the UIMA collection on campus, Farrin is happy to have some back. “[Last year,] we didn’t have anything,” she said. “We had the world around us as a source to build paintings, but no history of culture in hand. When you’re an artist, you’re material-based. The Internet can’t satisfy that. You need to be physically experiencing art objects and feeling intimacy with another artist’s work.”

From the perspective of the community, Sharman Hunter, a UIMA supporter and member of UI President Sally Mason’s Envisioning Committee, appreciates having a collection, especially the African objects, available for enjoyment and education again. Raised in Nigeria and Liberia, she fell in love with the UIMA’s collection of African art during her first visit to Iowa City. The Museum of Art was one of her deciding factors when moving here with husband, William “Curt” Hunter, the Dean of the UI Tippie College of Business.

“Museums are important because they store our history and represent what our collective cultures are all about. Museums tell our story. Art is vital to us while we are here and after we’re gone,” Hunter said. “I feel more comfortable in a museum than just about anywhere…. We absolutely need to replace the Museum as quickly as we can. It belongs to everyone at the University, and everyone in Iowa.”

UIMA@IMUFree and open to the public

Hours:Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.Thursday: 10 a.m.—9 p.m.Saturday and Sunday: 12 p.m.—5 p.m.

The UIMA@IMU: ART BACK on CAMPUS MAKeS An IMPACT

Students in the Fall 2009 UI Arts of Africa class carefully handle a Yoruba Ere Ibeji twin figure at the UIMA@IMU.

The UIMA@IMU is sponsored by Yvonne L. McCabe in memory of Dr. Brian F. McCabe.

To schedule a class visit: www.uiowa.edu/uima or call (319) 335-3232

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The UIMA is always looking for ways to involve students in the Museum’s mission, so when the new UIMA@IMU opened last September, four students joined the staff to provide friendly faces at the front desk for visitors to the space. They answered a few questions for the UIMA magazine to help you learn a little about who they are.

UIMA: As a non-art history major, how are you dealing with the challenge of learning a lot of new material fairly quickly for your job at the UIMA@IMU?

Esser: Learning the new material was intimidating at first, but it has become much more enjoyable as I’ve begun building a base of knowledge about the pieces in the gallery. Now that I know general concepts, it’s been intriguing to make connections between the artists, their works, and the time periods in which they were made. As a political science major, I frequently use the historical timeline I’ve learned to anchor a lot of the pieces in the gallery. For me, the art really enhances that timeline of history. In my classes, I spend significant time talking about heads of states or pivotal political characters of a given time, but it’s easy to forget about the other millions of people that were alive then too. The art gives a view into what the average person was experiencing, and I think that is really interesting.

ChRISToPheR eSSeR, SenIoR PoLITICAL SCIenCe MAJoR

UIMA: How have you found that your time spent with the art at the UIMA@IMUhas influenced your writing?

McCully: As a writer, I find the art very inspiring. The attention to detail each artist

puts into their work is something I strive to do in my own poetry. A couple years ago, my writing teacher took our class to the old Museum to see the VOOM PORTRAITS exhibit and learn about ekphrasis writing, or in other words, writing based on the art we saw. I wrote a poem about the portrait of JT Leroy, and this continues to be an exercise I return to. There are many pieces in the Museum now which intrigue me and I think could be used to create many great stories. What’s in the Gap bag? Where is the Chintz Girl running to? Who is Tom? What spirits do these ancient idols possess? Are they dancing? Art can be a great starting point for any piece of writing.

neD MCCULLY, SenIoR engLISh MAJoR

UIMA: You are currently developing a project as part of your work with the UIMA about the art on the UI campus. Tell us about that.

Wathen: The University has amazing art spread out

across the campus and much of it is overlooked as we rush from class to class. We do not yet have a comprehensive guide to that art, so my goal with this project is to help visitors explore the campus in a new way through art. There are some hidden gems on this campus. For example, as I’ve compiled a list of all of the art, I have really been drawn to the sculpture by Elizabeth Catlett in the lobby of the Iowa Memorial Union. There are also several sculptures near the Eckstein Medical Research building. When the project is complete, there will be handouts and a map available from the UIMA to give visitors a guided tour of these pieces. It will be both interactive for children and informative for adults. New visitors to campus will find it a unique way to get acquainted with the UI.

AShLeY WAThen, JUnIoR ART hISToRY MAJoRUIMA: Being from Davenport, what are your thoughts on having the UIMA collection at the Figge Art Museum?

Lipnick: Davenport is an especially important part of Iowa’s artistic heritage and it has been especially

meaningful for me to have the UIMA collection in my hometown. A temporary home at the Figge gives us the advantage of close proximity to our collection and we can rest assured knowing that our art is in one of the Midwest’s premiere museums. Architect David Chipperfield’s building has provided an exciting new context for the UIMA’s collection, allowing visitors to engage in new ways with the art. The arrangement made between the two institutions has been one of the most innovative and creative collaborations attempted by two museums.

Ben LIPnICK, SenIoR ART hISToRY MAJoR

Get to know the UIMA@IMU student staff

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The UIMA will begin the first major conservation effort undertaken on its world-renowned collection of African art with the help of expert Dana Moffett this spring.

In April, Moffett will set up shop for one week at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, where the UIMA’s permanent collection is currently being stored, to begin treating 39 “First Priority” objects, a $40,000 project that is imperative to the preservation of the UIMA’s rare and important African artworks. Among these include pieces such as masks and wooden figures from Liberia, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burkina Faso.

“A museum is a collecting institution and one of our main concerns is to protect and preserve the collection so that it can be displayed for the public and utilized by students, faculty, and scholars,” said UIMA Chief Curator Kathy Edwards.

Moffett, currently a conservator in private practice, worked for the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. for 16 years. Throughout her experiences working with African art, she has found the UIMA collection to be one of the finest in the country. “I’ve had the privilege of working on five different collections of African art, and the UIMA collection is one of the best,” Moffett said. In December 2007, Moffett came to Iowa City and spent several days evaluating the condition of

212 objects and textiles in the Stanley Collection, which were donated to the UIMA by Max and Betty Stanley of Muscatine, Iowa. Using a checklist and the UIMA database, she analyzed and documented the condition of each piece. Based on the condition of the objects, Moffett labeled each with a priority number categorizing the urgency of treatment: levels one through four. “Priority One” objects demanded immediate attention due to issues such as deterioration or detached pieces while “Priority Four” objects required no treatment. Moffett classified 39 objects as “Priority One,” 26 objects as “Priority Two,” 99 objects as “Priority Three,” and 48 objects as “Priority Four.”

While analyzing the collection, Moffett documented a variety of issues—instability due to insect activity (in African art, bugs sometimes eat away the interior wooden areas of an object), flaking pigment, unstable beadwork, cracks that could become breaks, and broken, chipping, or brittle pieces attached to the artwork.

“It’s important to have these objects treated because the problems can get worse and the objects can deteriorate further,” Edwards said. Usually, once objects have been properly treated and remain in a museum setting, they will not need to be conserved again unless they become damaged.

Conservation work is remarkably labor-intensive, Moffett said. She estimates that treating all 39

Democratic Republic of Congo, Boa people, Mask, wood, The Stanley Collection X1990.602

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Conservator Dana Moffett works on contemporary sculpture from Nigeria.

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elliott Society Lecture SeriesUIMA donors at the Elliott Society level ($150 and above) have the opportunity to attend the spring 2010 lecture series, “The Art of Conservation & Preservation.” All talks will take place at the University Athletic Club, 1360 Melrose Avenue, Iowa City. Join us for a brief social at 5:00 p.m. Lectures will begin at 5:30 p.m. Please RSVP to attend these events at (319) 335-3676. For information on becoming a donor, contact the Museum at (319) 353-2847 or visit our website at www.uiowa.edu/uima. March 24Salvage of Art and ArchivesNancy Kraft, Preservation Librarian at the University of Iowa Libraries and a founding organizer of the Iowa Preservation and Conservation Consortium, and Gary Frost, Library Conservator at the University of Iowa and winner of the American Library Association’s Banks/Harris Preservation Award, will illustrate the amazing role of Iowans in the salvage of art and archives from danger and disaster. They will also address new programs now under way to prepare the cultural community for response to the next disaster. March 31Disaster Response and Recovery of fine Art CollectionsHeather Becker, CEO of The Chicago Conservation Center, will discuss disaster response and recovery for fine art collections, as well as preventative measures to reduce their exposure. The Center has been caring for the UIMA collection for a number of years and was instrumental in helping save the collection from the flood of 2008. April 14UIMA African Art Conservation: A Matter of PrioritiesOpen to the publicConservator Dana Moffett, owner of the private practice, Objects Conservation, in Washington D.C. will discuss the process of prioritizing the conservation needs of the UIMA’s African art collection. She will also talk about the work on specific African art objects at the Figge

“Priority One” objects will take around 440 hours. “Conservation sounds romantic, which it is, but it can also be very painstaking,” she said.

Despite the difficulties of the process, the end reward of a stable collection makes the hours worth spending. “There are a lot of important reasons (to collect and preserve African art),” Moffett said. “Africa is a changing continent. It’s important to preserve its history and museums help facilitate that.”

The conservation of the UIMA African art collection is sponsored by Richard H. and Mary Jo Stanley, Richard H. and Mary Lea M. Kruse, J. Randolph and Linda Lewis, Marc Moen and Bobby Jett, and Monica Moen.

Democratic Republic of Congo, Bushoong people, Mask, wood and feathers, The Stanley Collection X1990.650

Event Sponsor: Robert A. Rasley

Susan Lohafer holds a B.A. from Harvard, an M.A. from Stanford, and a Ph.D. from New York University and teaches courses in both the UI Nonfiction Writing Program and American Literature. She has written several scholarly books, most recently Reading for Storyness: Preclosure Theory, Empirical

Poetics, and Culture in the Short Story (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), and her essays on short fiction theory have appeared in various journals and collections, including The Art of Brevity: Excursions in Short Fiction Theory and Analysis (University of South Carolina Press, 2004) and its sequel, Less is More: Short Fiction Theory and Analysis (Novus Press, 2008). She has also published short stories in venues such as The Antioch Review and The Southern Review. In the late seventies, she headed the original graduate program in nonfiction at Iowa, and has taught courses in essay writing ever since.

Jennifer Percy grew up in the High Desert of central Oregon where much of her childhood was spent listening to Garth Brooks and eating T-bone steaks. Her writing

tends toward the unknown and has taken her to an Eskimo soccer game in Brazil, an insane asylum in Russia, a gynecology conference in New York, and a demon camp in Georgia. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Rosebud, The American Literary Review, The Atlantic, Redivider, The Indiana Review, and The Literary Review. She was a finalist for the Arts & Letters Susan Atefat Prize for Creative Nonfiction and has received awards from the Iowa Arts Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and most recently, a Stanley Award for International Research to study aphorisms.

Honor Moore is the Spring 2010 Bedell Visiting Distinguished Writer in Creative Nonfiction at the University of Iowa. Her recent memoir, The Bishop’s Daughter (W. W. Norton, 2008), was named an Editor’s Choice by The New York Times, a “Favorite Book of 2008” by The Los Angeles Times, and was a finalist

for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Moore is the author of three collections of poems, and her play, Mourning Pictures, was produced on Broadway and published in The New Women’s Theatre: Ten Plays by Contemporary American Women, which she edited. She has received awards in poetry and playwriting from the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council for the Arts and the Connecticut Commission for the Arts. In 2004 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction. She is an M.F.A. graduate from the Yale School of Drama and she received her undergraduate degree from Radcliffe College, Harvard University.

Kerry Howley is a contributing editor at Reason, an Iowa Arts Fellow in the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program, and a former features editor of the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times. In addition to Reason, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The American Prospect,

The Los Angeles Times, Reader’s Digest, and The New York Sun. She has been a guest on NPR’s On the Media, American Public Media’s Marketplace, and Fox News’ Red Eye. She writes on issues of migration, taboo markets—including those of human tissue and genetic material—globalization, and sexual politics. Howley is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she received a B.A. in philosophy and English. She lives in Iowa City with her puppy, Winston Peter, and her partner, Will Wilkinson.

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S WoRD PAInTeRSCreated in the fall of 2006 to foster writing about the visual arts, the UIMA’s annual Word Painters collaborative writing program invites four University of Iowa nonfiction Writing Program (nWP) Master of fine Arts candidates to think critically about the intersection of art and life.

Kerry Howley and Susan LohaferThursday, April 22

Jennifer Percy and Honor MooreThursday, February 25

Programs will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Old Capitol Museum’s Senate Chamber.

Word Painters receive an honorarium to work on writing projects, including an art-based essay, and two students read from their work each semester alongside well-known writers from the faculty of the UI’s famed writing programs.

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With the help of the Iowa Memorial Union (IMU) Marketing and Design team, the UIMA will debut its new and improved website at the beginning of the spring semester!

UIMA merchandise items, including eco-friendly tote bags (below right), art posters, mugs, magnets, notecards, and t-shirts, are now available online at the University Book Store website! Just visitwww.book.uiowa.edu to purchase any of these great gifts and show

your support for the UIMA! All merchandise can also be purchased at the UIMA offices in the Studio Arts Building, 1375 Highway 1 West, Iowa City, and at the Figge Art Museum Store, 225 West Second St., Davenport, IA.

Learn about the Museum’s history in the UIMA’s newly released 40th year anniversary book, Building a Masterpiece: Legacy of the University of Iowa Museum of Art (above), available for $10.00. Illustrated with images from the permanent art collection and the Museum’s 40-year history, the book celebrates the story of the Museum’s founding, the people who have enabled the UIMA to carry out its mission over the years, and UI President Sally Mason’s vision for the future. The limited edition

redesigned online: New UIMA website launches for spring semester

(From left) Iowa Memorial Union Marketing and Design staff members Ben Lewis, webmaster, and Ben Speare, lead designer, worked as key developers for the UIMA’s new website during the Fall 2009 semester.

A s p e c i a l g i f t : U I M A m e r c h a n d i s e , n o w a v a i l a b l e o n l i n e

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book was written for the UIMA by Abigail Foerstner, journalism professor at Northwestern University and author of James Van Allen: The First Eight Billion Miles (University of Iowa Press, 2007) and Picturing Utopia (University of Iowa Press, 2005). Copies of the anniversary book can be purchased at the UIMA administrative offices in the Studio Arts Building or by calling (319) 335-1727.

Without a permanent Museum building, the UIMA’s website and other online components, like the “Art Matters” blog, Facebook, and Flickr pages, have functioned as critical communication lines. To maximize the effectiveness of these outlets and better provide information for the community, UIMA Marketing and Media Assistant Claire Lekwa collaborated with the expert IMU Marketing and Design staff to build the Museum its brand new online home.

“The redesigned website is going to be a huge asset for the UIMA as it continues to wait for a permanent building,” Lekwa said. “We’ve built the site to make it easier for people to find information about the UIMA in this often confusing transitional stage.”

The new website features an eye-catching, sleek design by lead designer Ben Speare, simpler navigation, and better incorporation of the UIMA’s social media platforms. Visit www.uiowa.edu/uima to check it out!

Photo by Molly Kempf / Impact Photography

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1. Frank and Doris Abboud2. Rosanna and Mark Seabold (Members Council), Christine Boyer3. Jack Piper (Members Council), Cassie Piper, Crystal Schiller4. Music was provided by The Recliners5. Judy and Steve Atkins (Members Council)6. Kristin Hardy (Museum PartY! Chair and Members Council) and Joyce Summerwill (PartY! Honorary Chair) 7. Katherine Moyers, Kristin Summerwill (Members Council President and PartY! Host), Charlie Anderson8. Cheryl and Dean Carrington, Jessica Tucker, Mary Westbrook9. Sharman and William “Curt” Hunter (PartY! Hosts), Nora Roy, Liz Swanson (PartY! Host)10. Madgetta Dungy, Polly Lepic (Members Council), Linda Thrasher, Freda Stelzer11. Colleen Rhodes, Paulina Muzzin (PartY! Host), Jennifer Oliver 12. Garry and Susann Hamdorf (UIMA Advisory Board), John and Randee Fieselmann13. Michael Lensing and Abigail Foerstner14. Tom Shapiro and Laurel Bradley

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What a night! Once again, UIMA donors demonstrated their ongoing commitment to the Museum of Art. On October 24, 2009, The Museum PartY! became an evening to remember, celebrating “40 years of friends” with fabulous music, delicious food, and dancing. With the support of over 200 guests, we raised more than $154,000, which will go toward funding the Museum’s 2010 programs, events, and exhibitions. This evening also saw the release of the UIMA’s 40th Anniversary book by Abigail Foerstner, Building a Masterpiece: Legacy of the University of Iowa Museum of Art.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to two very dedicated Museum members: Kristin Hardy (6, left) for her time, talent, and expertise in chairing this phenomenal evening, and to Honorary Chair Joyce P. Summerwill (6, right), whose enthusiastic speech on the future of the Museum was greatly appreciated by those attending the PartY!

The donors at events like The Museum PartY! play a pivotal role in making the UIMA’s mission possible. Linda Paul, a member of the UIMA Advisory Board and a friend and supporter of the Museum since she became involved as a docent in 1998, knows the value of investing in art for the community. “In Iowa City, art is what we’re known for,” she said. “Art provides something that other areas simply do not—it inspires a passion for living.”

The UIMA Staff would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of our donors for the show of support we received at The Museum PartY!, and throughout the year!

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Ben Lipnick, a UIMA student staff member and a student representative on the Envisioning Committee, provides a month-by-month overview of the Committee’s progress through the Fall 2009 semester.

“My first two years at the UI were pre-flood. Now I am a senior graduating in May, and I’m not alone in saying that the absence of a permanent UIMA building has profoundly impacted my academic experience. I consider it an honor and an important responsibility to serve on the Committee representing the 30,000+ students at the UI who anxiously await the UIMA’s full return.

In the future Museum building, I see a space that’s more useable and inviting to students

and faculty. If the flood has shown us anything, it is that adversity can lead to creativity and excellence when all people involved are tenaciously committed to the same vision. I am confident the Envisioning Committee’s recommendations will positively affect the future direction of the new UIMA.”

- Ben Lipnick

August 29, 2009 UIMA Interim Director Pamela White updated the Committee on what has happened with the UIMA since the flood, summarizing the collaboration for storage and display of the permanent collection at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport. She also discussed the opening of the UIMA@IMU and the plans to hold temporary exhibitions starting in Spring 2010 at the Iowa Memorial Union’s Black Box Theatre.

September 23, 2009The Committee discussed the various audiences who have an important stake in the Museum, including faculty, students, school groups, and members of the community. UI Professors Paula Amad (Cinema and Comparative Literature), David Klemm (Religious Studies), and Bunny McBride (Ceramics, School of Art) covered how the UIMA’s collections and exhibitions played crucial roles in their courses. UIMA Volunteer Chair Polly Lepic spoke on the importance the Museum holds for schoolchildren and community members.

October 25, 2009Museum consultant Tom Shapiro, founder of Cultural Strategy Partners in Chicago, presented on the importance of strategic planning and current issues affecting museums, including collections management, form-versus-function design, the importance of collaboration, and funding challenges. Laurel Bradley, Director of Exhibitions and Curator of the College Art Collection at Carleton College, encouraged the Committee to think about the Museum’s many purposes when considering what the new facility should include.

November 13, 2009Ginger Ertz, a museum educator from the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, spoke on the challenges of reaching university audiences. The Tang Museum at Skidmore College is one of the country’s leading “teaching museums,” encouraging interdisciplinary study of its collections and exhibitions. UIMA patrons Mary Jo and Dick Stanley gave a donor’s perspective on the future UIMA.

December 11, 2009Former president Sandy Boyd, spoke about his comments contained in the paper, “The Exciting Future of the University of Iowa Museum of Art.” The paper gives a brief history of the Museum and its original mission. President Sally Mason talked briefly on the breadth and scope of her Charge to the Committee, the reasoning behind the membership of the committee, and the issues that should be addressed

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Guest presenter Tom Shapiro speaks to the Envisioning Committee in the Iowa Memorial Union on Oct. 25, 2009.

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Thank you for keeping the University of Iowa Museum of Art (UIMA) vital! The success of the annual Museum PartY! fundraiser on October 24 illustrates the loyal generosity of UIMA friends, who pledged more than $154,000 to help fund Museum operations for 2010. That night was your success. Such overwhelming support provides clear evidence of the value our community places on this important cultural resource.

As we envision the future of the Museum, we must pause long enough to savor the post-flood accomplishments that have been achieved. Among many notable triumphs is the tremendous financial support the UIMA has received over the last 16 months.

The transformation of the Richey Ballroom in the Iowa Memorial Union is nothing short of spectacular. The roughly $1 million renovation was funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the University of Iowa. This space provides reliable access to great works of art for all visitors, the most essential service of the UIMA and a crucial component of higher education. Be sure to visit this exceptional exhibition space, which currently features more than 500 works from the UIMA collection.

The UIMA will present the world premiere exhibition, Lil Picard and Counterculture New York, opening in New York City, in April. This much-anticipated show will feature a body of work by groundbreaking artist and art critic, Lil Picard, and already is garnering international attention for the UIMA. The exhibition has been made possible by the priceless gift of art from Picard’s estate, paired with private support from donors like you. Counterculture will come to campus in February 2011. Picard’s complete body of work will reside permanently at the UIMA and provide a significant resource for scholarship and research.

And one final inspiring example of the conviction of our Museum patrons can be seen in a very special gift made by the UIMA docents. These committed volunteers rallied to show that their support goes even beyond giving their precious time —as a group, they pooled their contributions and made a sponsorship gift in support of the Art and Museum Education Programs. The gift will help fund a timely campus visit by a national leader affiliated with a prominent university museum, who will offer valuable insight as we envision the future of the UIMA.

To each of them, to those of you who supported the Museum PartY!, and to every treasured Museum donor, you have our sincere gratitude. Thanks to you, University of Iowa students and faculty, the UIMA staff, and all gallery visitors continue to benefit from the presence of visual arts in our community.

Whether you make an annual gift, select a sponsorship (several opportunities are still available for 2010), or plan a bequest that will serve the Museum in years to come, your support is truly valued. Every gift to the Museum strengthens our resolve to rise above the present challenges, and confirms the inherent value of art in all of our lives.

Thank you for supporting the UI Museum of Art.

Pat HanickAssociate Director of Development, UI Museum of Art, The University of Iowa Foundationpat-hanick@uiowa.edu(319) 335-3305 or (800) 648-6973

To learn about a variety of gift-planning options for the Museum of Art, through the University of Iowa Foundation, visit: www.uiowafoundation.org/giftplanning. To make a gift for the UI Museum of Art online today, please go to: www.givetoiowa.org/uima.

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