Our Meeting was called to order by President Mike McKay

Goat Rider: Christopher Peters

 

 

Rtn. Devin van Holsteijn introduced our program speaker, Susan Horan. Susan is the Associate Director of Development of the University of Iowa Museum of Art.

 

Susan Horan provided our club with the history of University of Iowa Museum of Art. The UIMA opened in 1969, although, many of the museum's most important paintings were acquired during the 1940 and 1950s. Jackson Pollock's Mural was given to the University by Peggy Guggenheim in 1951.

The UIMA quickly earned recognition as one of the nation's finest university art museums. A gift from the late industrialist Roy Carver, of Muscatine, Iowa, made possible the construction of a major 27,000 sq. ft. addition, which opened in 1976 and housed the University of Iowa Foundation and the University of Iowa Alumni Association in addition to portions of the museum. Maxwell and Elizabeth Stanley, also of Muscatine, collected African art throughout the 1970s and, in 1979, much of their collection came to the museum.

The Alumni Association and UI Foundation moved out in 1999, leaving the entire 70,000 square foot building to the Museum of Art. In the summer of 2003, the long-awaited renovation of the former Alumni Center, or north wing, of the building began.

The North Gallery for Special Exhibitions debuted in the fall of 2004.The old Print Study Room was converted into the Hoover-Paul Gallery for Works on Paper. The North Gallery added an additional 6,000 square feet of exhibition space to the museum for a total of 30,000 square feet for exhibitions.

In June 2008, the UIMA was flooded and forced to evacuate its collections. In the weeks following the flood, the remaining art was evacuated to join the rest of the collection in secure art storage in Chicago.

In January 2009, the Figge Art Museum in Davenport offered the UIMA space in its state-of-the-art building for storage and exhibitions until a permanent home on the UI campus becomes available. In March, the UIMA began moving its collection to the Figge.

In August 2009, the UIMA opened a new on-campus art venue in the Iowa Memorial Union. 400,000 people,out 11 Iowa counties, have been able to interact with works of art from our 15,000-object collection The new University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art building project is expected to being in during the summer of 2018, with completion to happen in 2019, with a public opening in 2020. Susan shared many details of the building design. The Stanley Museum of Art will be situated on the site of the current surface parking lot that is close to the corner of Burlington and Front Streets, adjacent to Gibson Square Park and between the University of Iowa Main Library and the UI Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.  The building will be 63,000 square feet total with 16,500 square feet of gallery space. Our building will exceed the mark for the 500-year ood plain. The building will include an art lounge, visible storage, a three-story light well –which brings non-damaging light into the building, classrooms and underground parking.

 

The project’s estimated cost is $50 million, which will be funded through a combination of private support and University of Iowa facility corporation bonds. $13.4 has been raised to date. Please visit foriowa.org/mymuseum for more information. If you have an interest in helping with the campaign, contact Susan Horan, Associate Director / Email: susan.horan@foriowa.org 319-467-3407.

 

President Mike thanked Susan Horan for her presentation and opened the floor for any comments.