UI Museum of Art looking to rebound from funding decline

IOWA CITY - Cash giving to the University of Iowa Museum of Art, which has been without a permanent home since the June 2008 flood, declined nearly 41 percent from fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2010, and about 38 percent the year before that.

Cash giving totaled $192,870 in fiscal 2010, which ended June 30, compared with $324,550 in cash gifts in fiscal 2009 and $523,024 in 2008, according to numbers from the University of Iowa.

Museum officials say the decline likely was driven by the bad economy, as donors are more careful with their dollars and stock market drops affect estate values, and the fact that the museum was purposefully raising less. Without a permanent home, there are fewer large exhibits and shows for which the museum needs to raise money, officials said.

“I hope very, very soon, as quickly as I can get the ship moving, we'll be increasing the activities,” new Director Sean O'Harrow said. “I think the mood is very positive.”

The June 2008 flood forced the removal of the 12,000 piece collection from the UI Museum of Art. Much of the work is on display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, from where O'Harrow was hired, and on campus in an Iowa Memorial Union gallery space built post-flood.

The former museum building on the west bank of the Iowa River has been deemed uninsurable for housing the art collection. Planning for a new museum is on hold while UI officials await word from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about an appeal of FEMA's decision not to fund a replacement building.

Donors optimistic

Donors and patrons in recent months were concerned enough about the status of the Museum of Art that in June they met with then-UI Provost Wallace Loh to discuss a list of questions, including queries about the UI's commitment to a new building and when fundraising would start.

But several donors said there is more optimism now, with a new director in place and forward movement near. O'Harrow was hired in August and started Monday.

“I think people are more hopeful,” patron and Iowa City resident Hope Solomons said. “The reality is, though, we're not going to get a new museum overnight.”

Solomons and her husband, Gerry, both retired UI professors, have been museum donors since it opened. Hope Solomons said there was some question among backers “where the museum was going,” but she thinks the economy also played a major role in declines in giving.

“I think it's basically not so much a question of emotional support for the museum or failure thereof, I think the problem really lies with the economy,” she said.

There also were issues of changes to museum leadership, patron H.D. Hoover, an Iowa City resident and retired UI professor, said. During fiscal 2010, the museum had two interim directors, and the search for a new director took a good portion of the year, which affects fundraising, Hoover said.

“If a year from now nothing has been done and we're in the same boat we're in today, then it would be worrisome to me and I think everybody,” he said. “So I think this next year is critically important.”

Hoover's wife, Myrene Hoover, is a member of the Museum Advisory Board. She said donors are eager to get started on fundraising and planning.

“I don't think there will be a problem of enthusiasm once we get some momentum going,” she said. “We've been in sort of a holding pattern since the flood.”

Art to the people

While officials wait for FEMA word about possible funding for a new museum, which could cost between $40 million and $50 million, discussions are taking place about the museum's mission, and how to better get art in front of the people, O'Harrow said.

He envisions more traveling exhibits around Iowa, more partnerships with smaller museums in communities like Fort Dodge and Sioux City and more of an effort to get the art in front of students and citizens of Iowa.

O'Harrow calls it the “democratization of art.” Rather than building a box and bringing people into that box as the only option, why not take the art to the people, he argues.

It's a concept he thinks the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics does well. The hospital has a permanent collection of more than 4,303 original works of art and 2,500 reproductions. It is seen every day by thousands of visitors, patients and staff.

“I think the answer lies in putting art everywhere. The question is can I physically do it,” O'Harrow said. “My objective over the next couple of years, in addition to seeing a new facility, is to bring the museum back into people's lives.”

Faith in donors

O'Harrow believes when the time comes to raise money for a new building - though he strongly hopes the FEMA appeal will come through - that donors will be ready.

He notes the museum had more estate gifts from patrons who died in fiscal 2008 and 2009 than it did in 2010, which could help account for the 2010 decline in gifts. The museum also had a large estate gift matching challenge in 2008, which helps explain the spike that year, he said.

The annual fall fundraiser, held in September, raised about $100,000 this year, slightly less than in past years but a total officials are pleased with, O'Harrow said.

“I've been open about my thinking, and I think people see this as a great opportunity to make a new start,” he said.