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Beach Blog

Category: Behind the Scenes

WHAT’S HAPPENING…BEHIND THE SCENES  

Collections

Two years after the exhibition “Art for Every Home” filled the Beach Museum of Art galleries and then traveled to New York City and Syracuse, New York, the original prints, paintings, fabrics, and ceramics featured in the exhibition have returned to their respective homes. Borrowed from museums and private lenders across the country, a little over 100 objects were brought together to complement works of art in the Beach Museum’s own collection to present a comprehensive overview of the New York-based business, American Associated Artists.

While the registrars and collections management team are charged with the care and documentation of the permanent collection, they are also responsible for coordinating agreements, transportation, and care of loaned works of art for exhibitions. Such loans require special attention, including custom packaging, separate insurance, and climate-controlled, secure shipping. Sometimes, Beach Museum of Art staff coordinate professional conservation treatment that may be needed before an object can be loaned. In the case of “Art for Every Home,” the Beach Museum sent eighteen prints to conservation laboratories for treatment. The staff members often spend months preparing loan documents prior to an exhibition opening and, in the weeks after the exhibition closes, they communicate with lenders to coordinate the safe return of artwork.

All of the museum’s exhibitions involve extensive work behind the scenes, but those that include art loans and that travel to other museums require even more resources to help connect the museum’s collection with the larger world. Community support is vital for providing the resources museum staff members need to develop exhibitions and create meaningful experiences in the galleries and beyond for you, the viewer.

– Sarah Price, Registrar/Collections Manager and Theresa Ketterer, Assistant Registrar

Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art receives Reaccreditation by AAM

MANHATTAN — The Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University is being recognized for continued excellence.

The American Alliance of Museums, the premiere museum professional organization in the country, has reaccredited the university’s art museum following a review process that included an extensive self-study by museum staff and a site visit by an accreditation team.

“Reaccreditation means the Beach Museum of Art continues to meet national standards and best practices for the nation’s museums,” said Burt Logan, chair of the American Alliance of Museum’s Accreditation Commission and director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection, in a congratulatory letter to Linda Duke, Beach Museum of Art director.

“It also shows the Beach Museum of Art remains a member of a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence,” Logan said.

“I’d like to thank university administration and most especially, our hard-working and talented museum staff, Friends and Advisory Council members, and Board of Visitors for helping the museum retain this important status,” Duke said.

Logan also noted in his letter that through a rigorous process of self-assessment and review by its peers, the Beach Museum of Art has shown itself to be a good steward of its resources held in public trust and is committed to a philosophy of continual institutional growth.

“The Beach exemplifies the role of museum as connector, sharing its knowledge with its university community and using technology to fulfill its obligation to serve Kansas audiences,” Logan said. “We also note that the education staff’s calculated experimentation and proactive approach to program development steeped in current cutting-edge research is exemplary.”

While the Beach Museum of Art’s reaccreditation is assured, Duke said the site visit report did list one important concern: the need to ensure additional funding for the museum. Current levels of donations and endowment income have limited the museum’s budget and necessitated reduced operating hours.

But Duke said the site report also praised campus leadership for the value it places on the Beach Museum of Art and its mission to further the teaching, research and service functions of the university through its programming and educational outreach efforts. One such example is the introduction of Visual Thinking Strategies to the campus and community. This educational methodology is based on looking at works of art to help develop cognitive, communication, observation and social skills.

From the site review report, reviewers wrote: “In many ways, K-State President Richard Myers encapsulated the power of the museum’s educational outreach with his observation that the museum plays a key role in helping students and other audience members to think about the nature of communication through close, directed attention to works of art but, even more powerfully, to think about the very question of what one might want to communicate. Reflecting on the museum’s sensitivity to matters of diversity, community and inclusion, President Myers noted that the museum helps its audience to consider how we see ourselves and who we want to be.”

Site review report authors included Mark Chepp, executive director of the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio, and Anne Collins Goodyear, co-director, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine.

The Beach Museum of Art serves as home to the university’s art collection, which now includes more than 10,000 objects. Its exhibitions and programs connect regional art, culture, and interests with the larger world.

The museum’s next self-study for reaccreditation will be due Nov. 1, 2026.

¡El Graficomobile está en Manhattan, Kansas!

The Graficomovil is in Manhattan, Kansas, have you been to check it out in the museum parking lot and make your own print October 3-9, 2017:

Oct. 3-6, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Beach Museum of Art.
Oct. 7, noon-4 p.m., Art in Motion, a free celebration of art, Beach Museum of Art #ArtInMotion
Oct. 8, 1-4 p.m., Oct. 9, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Manhattan Public Library

Graficomovil is a mobile printmaking studio/gallery created by artist Artemio Rodríguez, who is one of the two artists featured in the exhibition Fronteras/Frontiers.
http://beach.k-state.edu/explore/exhibitions/fronteras.html

We would love to see your prints and pictures on our Facebook page. Like and follow the Beach Museum of Art to stay up to date on everything happening at the Beach!