Blaffer Art Museum: Difference between revisions

|director = Steven Matijcio 2019-present2019–present; Claudia Schmuckli 2009-20162009–2016; Terrie Sultan 2000-2008 2000–2008

'''Blaffer Art Museum''' is a non-collecting contemporary art museum located in the Arts District of the [[University of Houston]] campus. Housed in the university’s Fine Arts Building, it is part of the [[Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts]]. It was founded in 1973 and has won several awards, including the Coming Up Taller Award as part of the [[President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities]].<ref name=imls>{{cite web|url=http://www.imls.gov/news/2009/110609a.shtm|title=IMLS Director Anne Radice and First Lady Michelle Obama Honor Arts and Education Programs for Underserved Youth|publisher=[[Institute of Museum and Library Services]]|accessdate=11 November 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409111753/http://www.imls.gov/news/2009/110609a.shtm|archivedate=9 April 2010}}</ref> The museum exhibitspresents focus and major monographic and group exhibitions of national and international contemporary artists as well as artwork by University of Houston School of Art students.

The Sarah Campbell Blaffer Gallery was founded in 1973,<ref>[http://www.mitchellcenterforarts.org/public/PagBlaffer.aspx Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208054740/http://www.mitchellcenterforarts.org/public/PagBlaffer.aspx |date=February 8, 2007 }}</ref> named in honor of the late [[Sarah Campbell Blaffer]], who during her lifetime made available to the University a collection of major artworks dating from the 15th century to modern day. This collection was purchased in 1979 by the [[Jane Blaffer Owen|Blaffer Foundation]], an independent organization which is unrelated to the museum and the University, and ishas presentlybeen housed at [[The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston]] since that time. The income from the investment of the sale proceeds provides a portion of Blaffer Gallery's program budget. The Blaffer Art Museum has presented over 250 exhibitions. The current exhibition policy, adopted by the Advisory Board and University Regents in 1986, focuses upon art of the past 100 years and its artistic, cultural and intellectual antecedents. In 1999, the museum expanded.

Under the directorship of Claudia Schmuckli In 2010, Blaffer Gallery was renamed to Blaffer Art Museum in the context of a major capital campaign for the museum's redesign.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blafferartmuseum.org/history |title=Museum History |publisher=Blaffer Art Museum |accessdate=December 11, 2013}}</ref> The newly-renovated museum facility designed by the New York-based firm Work Architecture Co. opened on October 12, 2012.

The museum presents and originates between six and eight exhibitions annually. The annual schedule may include major traveling exhibitions that have a particular relevance to [[Houston]] audiences; mid-sized retrospectives of national and international artists; exhibitions of regional artists; thematic surveys which place artists' work into new contexts; student exhibitions; and special projects and performances by local artists. Blaffer Art Museum is dedicated to conducting original scholarship and research in contemporary art history. The museum frequently forges collaborative partnerships from among Houston's wealth of cultural organizations and educational institutions. Exhibition-related public programs and activities complement and elucidate each exhibition, from casual Brown Bag Lunch Tours to lively audience interaction during their "Contemporary Salons."

Recent major exhibitions of artists include [[Radcliffe Bailey]] (2001); [[Fred Wilson (artist)|Fred Wilson]]: Objects & Installations, 1979-2000 (2003); [[Chuck Close]] (2003); [[Jessica Stockholder]]: Kissing the Wall, 1988-2003 (2004); [[Urs Fischer (artist)|Urs Fischer]]: Mary Poppins (2006); [[Amy Sillman]] (2007); Jean-Luc Mylayne (2007); [[Chantal Akerman]]: Moving Through Time and Space (2008); Existed: [[Leonardo Drew]] (2009); [[Jon Pylypchuk]] (2009); [[Josephine Meckseper]] (2009); Gabriel Kuri (2010); [[Tony Feher]] (2012); Andy Coolquitt (2013); Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art (2013); Zineb Sedira (2013); [[Candice Breitz]] (2014); Miguel Amat (2014); [[Mel Chin]] (2015); [[Janet Biggs]] (2015); [[Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler|Hubbard/Birchler]] (2015); [[Zina Saro-Wiwa]] (2015); Matthew Ronay (2016); [[Hilary Lloyd]] (2016); [[Slavs and Tatars]]: Mirrors for Princes (2016); [[Analia Saban]] (2017); Blake Rayne (2017); [[The Propeller Group]] (2017); Sergio Prego (2017); [[Anton Vidokle]] (2018); Richard Rezac (2018); [[Alfred Leslie]] (2018–19); [[Rebecca Morris]] (2019); [[Amie Siegel]] (2019); [[Paul Mpagi Sepuya]] (2019-20); [[Mariam Ghani]] (2020); [[Rodney McMillian]] (2020); [[Simon Fujiwara]] (2020); and [[Stephanie Syjuco]] (2020); [[Martine Gutierrez]] (2021); [[Jamal Cyrus]] (2021); [[Molly Zuckerman-Hartung]] (2021); and [[Monira Al Qadiri]] (2022).

== References ==

[[Category:Art museums and galleries established in 1973]]

[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Texas]]