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Show August 2011 C5 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE UMFA a hidden, untapped culture HANNAH JONES StaffWriter he Utah Museum of Fine Arts houses a diverse permanent collection, with works from around the globe and from as early as millennia before the Common Era. Unfortunately, even though we have extraordinary artifacts minutes away from the Union, students might go their entire college career without visiting the museum. I took a poll of eight random, non-fine arts students on campus to determine the extent to which it is common for students to go to UMFA. Two had never been, four said they had been one or two times—drawn by advertising for special exhibits—and two had been multiple times. All of these students were at least sophomores, and the majority only vaguely remember their trips to the museum. "I feel like they don't advertise enough," said Brooke Littlewood, a senior in political science and international studies, who has been to the museum once because UMFA partnered with the LDS Institute. "I think they should team up with other programs or departments to get more students into the museum." As an art history major, many of my class assignments have revolved around works in the museum. UMFA is an invaluable resource to students in the arts, and the department integrates UMFA's collection into the structure of fine arts courses. The museum allows students to move away from a classroom setting where art and history are merely pixels on a projector screen. Art is concerned with life and the tangible, and the only way to fully experience T WILLUS BRANHAM/The Daily Utah Chronicle the concepts taught in textbooks is to see and walk around the works themselves. However, on any given day at the museum, I have rarely met students from other disciplines also taking advantage of the rich, material culture so relevant to almost every field. Past special exhibits have brought in students who wouldn't ordinarily visit the museum. The Monet to Picasso and the Andy Warhol Exhibit were the most commonly referenced reasons students visited, and each had large attendance rates, according to UMFA's website. Because ad campaigns for these shows have been successful, UMFA should endeavor to reach out to departments and organizations to highlight its impressive permanent collection. Students from any background will benefit from increasing their exposure to the museum, and the museum should draw more of them in through advertising on par with that of its special exhibits. The collection features more than i8,000 objects, THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE IS HIRING NEWS WRITERS according to the UMFA website, and contains works that correspond to multiple majors and departments at the U. It is ripe with the potential to enhance diverse studies. Students of Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Italian can find important works from multiple periods in these cultures' histories. History and political science students will encounter world-renowned examples of Soviet painting. Additionally, temporary exhibits, such as the contemporary show "salt 3: Cyprien Gaillard," expose the community to current social, political and cultural issues. UMFA is a resource that can increase the depth and cross-disciplinary nature of students' educations, and the U needs to spread the word about its impressive collection. Professors from diverse backgrounds, as well as the students themselves, could be using it to enhance their educational experiences. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu CONTACT LAURA SCHMITZ 1.schmitz@chronicle.edu |