A Day in the Life of an Art Museum Intern

I began interning with the Art Museum at Uk with the White Elephant Rummage Sale in July. It is now November and we are working hard towards making Art in Bloom 2014 a tremendous success. Over the past four months I have learned a great amount about versatility. From refreshing sponsorship letters to researching lesson plans, compiling support for a famous Kentucky artist and folding and mailing a never-ending amount of letters, I’ve learned to let myself be used in as many ways as possible. The staff at the Art Museum is remarkable, trusting me with a wide array of tasks and showing great patience when I become confused. Of course, the best part of all in working in an Art Museum is getting a sneak peak at exhibitions and then seeing those great works of art every day!

I was not sure what to expect when I began this internship, but Amy (interim director, Amy Nelson) immediately put me to work updating donor lists and mailing materials. I come in, she gives me a task(s) and I get right to work. After four months, I cannot begin to count how many names and mailing addresses I’ve entered into Microsoft Excel. But, these are the tasks of someone working with non-profit development. You must develop and constantly nurture your donor base, keeping them updated and engaged with what your organization is doing. Art in Bloom is our largest fundraiser by far and it has a fantastic and beneficial mission. It will be such a reward to see a great turnout at the event in February and then run the numbers afterwards to see how much we will be able to donate to support art education in Kentucky schools! Before we pop the top on Art in Bloom, we have to do the hard work.

Charles Calhoun

Are you up for the Challenge?!

The GoodGiving Guide Challenge—a partnership of Blue Grass Community Foundation and Smiley Pete Publishing—is an online charitable giving campaign which celebrates the diversity of 108 nonprofits in the Bluegrass Region by allowing people to learn about and contribute to their important work. Donors can make a donation to one or more charities using a credit card at the secure website www.goodgivingguide.net. Donations made via the GoodGiving Guide website will have an even greater impact thanks to hundreds of thousands of dollars in challenges, match pools, and grant money provided by sponsors. 

The Art Museum at UK is relying on this fabulous resource more than ever to drive our annual fund campaign. Your donations help us:  

• Purchase mats and frames for artwork, like six Andy Warhol prints donated by The Warhol Foundation 

• Provide art supplies for educational and outreach events 

• Pay for rental, shipping, and installation of special exhibitions 

• Conserve valuable artwork in our permanent collection 

• AND MUCH MORE! 

Please help the Art Museum continue to serve, not only the University community, but all of Central Kentucky.  You can reach our donation page on the GoodGiving Guide website here: www.goodgivingguide.net/ukartmuseum 

Thank you in advance for your support! 

 The GoodGiving Guide Challenge runs from November 1 at 8:00 am and ends on December 31 at 11:59 pm. 

Amy Nelson Young

Congratulations to our very own Amy Nelson Young for receiving one of the 2013 University of Kentucky Outstanding Staff Awards presented by the UK Staff Senate.

Amy became Director of Grants and Assets for the Art Museum in 2002. In this position she coordinates the Museum's advisory board and oversees all aspects of the Museum’s fundraising including the annual fund, corporate sponsorships, federal and foundation grants, and special events. Amy has also served as the Museum's Interim Director since the resignation of Kathy Walsh-Piper this past August. She earned a BA from Brigham Young University, an MA in Art History from the University of North Texas, and is currently a PhD student at the University of Kentucky.

But,the Art Museum staff knows Amy for her cheerful, positive, will-do attitude. She is the beautiful smiling face you see at every Museum reception. Way to go Amy!!!

Behind the closed office doors of the Art Museum, many people contribute time, energy and hard work to develop programs and events that enliven art and give it a voice. Our Education program is currently working with two interns, students who wear many different hats.

One of the interns who has been working with the education team this fall is Grace Wyatt, a German and Art History major from Transylvania University. Her projects have included writing teachers’ guides, researching works of art, helping plan and implement Artful Sundays, helping with tours and assisting in the less glamorous aspects of program management. She provides the Museum with extra hands and inspiration, while gaining insight into the museum world. Working with interns is essential to our educational mission. Their conversations inform us about the ideas and concerns of our college and university visitors, and we get to play a part in training the leaders of tomorrow’s museums.

Grace’s favorite work of art, at least for today, is John Christen Johansen’s Portrait of a Woman. Next time you visit the Museum, see if you can find this beautiful painting.

Passing of a Great Friend

October saw the passing of a great Kentucky artist and long-time University of Kentucky professor, Robert James Foose. The Museum was fortunate to host a retrospective of his work in 2002, which really brought to light his versatility as an artist. His oil paintings and watercolors are stylistically different. Many of his oil paintings are large abstractions of a familiar landscape, while his watercolors focus on line and the subtle changes in atmosphere. He was also known as a great innovator in the area of artist’s books. He influenced the lives of many through his art and teaching and leaves a great legacy for the University of Kentucky.

ROBERT JAMES FOOSE American, 1938-2013, Frenzy, 2001, oil and alkyd on canvas, gift of the artist

Photography Exhibition and Lecture

How many photos do you have on your phone, on Facebook, on Instagram? Our first featured artist for the 2013-2014 Robert C. May Photography Lecture series explores the sheer volume and anonymity of contemporary photography. Penelope Umbrico, examines the notion of how photography exists in the digital age, making prints of ephemeral electronic images, culling samples, and then building them into installations of multiple images that offer a revealing snapshot of who we are. Her work can be displayed on walls, on Flickr, or in other spaces for the viewer to discover including drawers. Photography today is constantly changing and Umbrico’s work explores its dichotomies including the tension between producer and consumer, the individual and collective, and the material and immaterial.

Make sure to see her special installation in the Art Museum which opens this Friday, October 18. It will be on view through November 10. And don’t miss her lecture Friday, October 18, 2013 at 4 pm in the Worsham Theater of the UK Student Center. Both her lecture and admission to the exhibition are free.

PENELOPE UMBRICO, Screen Shot 2012-07-26 at 5.29.54 PM of 16 Screenshots of People Holding the Sun at Sunset, 2012, digital c-print. Courtesy of the artist, Mark Moore Gallery, LA, and LMAK projects, NYC

This is Not Your Mother's Textile Exhibition

Museum staff and interns are busy this week installing the next exhibition INNOVATORS AND LEGENDS: Generations in Textiles and Fiber. In addition to interesting weavings and painting-like embroidery the crates have revealed amazing sculptures including cats made of wire and nylon and larger than life-size “sound suits” with hand-stitched sequins.

It’s the variety that makes this exhibition exciting: representational and abstract styles, a range of media from the unusual (Tyvek and holographic film) to everyday (teacups and wire), and a palate from monochromatic to day-glo.

Please join us for the exhibition opening, Sunday October 13 from 2 -4 pm in the Museum galleries.

Image Credit: NICK CAVE, Soundsuit, mixed media