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Museums must evolve to flourish. The historic mission of
an art museum is that of caretaker and preserver of objects of art, no
matter the form or substance. No longer is it
simply enough to hang art on the walls and place objects in a gallery.
The museum patron has evolved from "arms-length observer" to a
participant in the arts dialogue with an educated desire for a more
complete understanding of the arts. So too has the art museum evolved
from caretaker of objects to caretaker of ideas, as well as the
contextual
environment of the idea's creation. Thus, the natural evolution for a
museum is the need for archival material to augment and facilitate the
understanding and research of the visual process and its components.
University art museums are a unique breed. A university
art museum has the responsibility to exhibit art, yet its mission must
be accomplished in the context of the larger educational overlay of the
university dialogue. For a university art museum to fulfill its role
within the university structure, it must participate in the education of
artists,
art historians, and others. Part of the educational mandate is
facilitating research into the process of making art, the business of
art, and the examination of the experiences of
successful artists -- all of which enriches the learning experience for
the student. An archive provides such a fertile environment for the
exploration of the visual arts.
There are few national repositories of archival material for visual
artists -- most notably is the Smithsonian Archive of American Art.
There are far too many important artists working in this country to be
served by only one broadly-focused archive. The art world needs new
locations for the repository of visual arts materials and ephemera, thus
the establishment of an additional archive in the visual arts will
provide an extraordinary
service. Our Museum is the logical place for an archive; the University
of Arizona has already demonstrated its understanding of the importance
of archival materials
for research when it established the Center for Creative Photography.
The University of Arizona Museum of Art's new research arm, the Archive
of Visual Arts (AVA), has been part of the Museum's vision for over
seven years. The Archive of
Visual Arts will take the Museum to the next level and afford us the
opportunity to expand our focus on the creative arts to include the full
spectrum of the visual arts.
Through the AVA, we will collect artists' papers and
materials to support the study of creativity and document the
motivations that inspire individual
artists to do their best work. We seek the types of material and papers
that document and contribute to the success of an individual artist.
These materials include diaries,
business and personal correspondences, financial planning documents,
contracts, wills, technical data, slides, photos, videos, and other
ephemera. The study of these
materials will allow future artists to develop their own success models
for their own business and art and allow art historians to gain new
insights into the visual arts. Our archive, the
AVA, will not only support research in art history,
it will also provide a fertile repository for the study of creativity
itself and creative processes and technologies. It will facilitate research in related and tangential
fields such as art business, law, estate planning, marketing,
entrepreneurship, museum studies, philosophy, and criticism. The AVA
will also provide insights into the many subjects that artists endeavor
to explore and interpret in their work.
I am pleased to share with you that the AVA has received
its first major contribution. Robert McCall, an enormously gifted artist
and illustrator, is gifting over 200 paintings
and drawings to the University of Arizona Museum of Art, along with his
full collection of documents and support materials to the Archive of
Visual Arts. This collection will chronicle his career as an artist and
illustrator who created work for NASA, national magazines, films such as
2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek, as well as his museum exhibitions.
Robert McCall's substantial gift will also offer insights into
distinctions between his career as a successful artist and as a
sought-after illustrator.
In addition, to support the establishment of the AVA and
to facilitate Robert McCall's gift, two prominent alumni of the
University of Arizona, Norman McClellan and John
Norton have each pledged, as a result of their foresight and generosity,
significant challenge gifts to stimulate the Archive's endowment
campaign. It will be our pleasure
to see the campaign grow in intensity and visibility in the months to
come.
University of Arizona President, Dr. Robert Shelton, has
acknowledged the importance of the Archive of Visual Arts to the
University. He applauds Robert McCall's gift as one that bridges the
divide between the sciences and the arts and promotes the study and
understanding of creativity across disciplines. Dr. Shelton recently
responded to McCall's gift by stating, "Few have captured the
American spirit of ingenuity, hope, and imagination as eloquently as
Robert McCall. That is why preserving his art for future generations
is so important for our students and our community."
Obviously we
recognize the challenges and opportunities the creation of the AVA
presents; new facilities are on the drawing boards to meet storage
requirements for
the McCall gift and other gifts to come. We look forward to the
opportunity to continue our discussions with the Archive of American Art
at the Smithsonian in Washington,
DC and to include access to their microfilm database in Tucson, thus
further enhancing the research component of our Museum. Similarly, we
are exploring a collaborative
project with one of the major museums/archives in London. For now,
however, our biggest challenge and opportunity will be to focus our
collections by carefully
choosing whom and what we collect, as well as to utilize the latest
technologies to provide the greatest possible public access to our
collections as they evolve.
Last July, I celebrated my seventh year as executive
director of this great Museum. I have watched it succeed and evolve in
both substance and stature. The Museum's success has provided the
perfect opportunity for the realization of my long-held desire to create
an important national archive. The University provided fertile soil for
the realization of that vision.
The University administration and the
Museum's National Advisory Council have
been receptive and eager for the Museum to reach its full
potential.
I strongly believe
that if a museum is to meet the expectations of contemporary society, it
must bring more to the table than paintings and sculpture in a gallery
setting. A museum must lead in the national arts dialogue and must
contribute to educational research in the visual arts for students,
scholars and the public alike. The University of Arizona Museum of Art
has taken that leadership role by creating the Archive of Visual Arts.
The AVA establishes our Museum as an evolving scholastic institution at
the forefront of the museum field.
-Charles A. Guerin, Executive Director
$250,000 Emerald Foundation
gift helps meet the Archive
fundraising goal
UAMA: (520) 621-7567 
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