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$25K gift establishes Diversity Acquisition Fund at CU Boulder Art Museum

In fall semester 2020, Hope Saska, decided to create a new collection plan for the University of Colorado Boulder Art Museum.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a document to articulate what we collect and why we collect it, and what our mission is,鈥� says Saska, curator of collections and exhibitions at the museum. 鈥淚t also is a history of the collection, so we can better understand past motivations.鈥�

Started in the 1940s, the art museum鈥檚 collection accumulated over the decades in a broad, general direction. Saska thought it was a good time to sharpen the focus.

鈥淚t occurred to me that we should be more intentional about charting a direction for the future, thinking about where opportunities might be to expand, and thinking about diversity was really important,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e needed to find a clear path, and if we were reimagining, why not be as broad and diverse as possible.鈥�

Enter Ann Bateson, a long-time Boulder resident who earned a PhD in mathematics in 1977 and spent much of her career working at the Center for the Study of Earth From Space鈥攏ow the at CIRES, the .听

A current member of the museum鈥檚 collection committee, Bateson made a $25,000 donation as a seed endowment of the new Diversity Acquisition Fund, which will be used to acquire works by historically underrepresented artists such as artists of color, artists with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ artists.

Once fully endowed, the fund will spend 4% of its principal annually to purchase work for the collection.听

鈥淎nn鈥檚 seed gift will hopefully encourage others to , to help the museum develop this aspect of our collection,鈥� Saska says.

鈥淚鈥檓 very excited to be a part of it,鈥� Bateson says. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited that the museum is creating a space that feels inclusive to all students and addresses issues of importance to them.鈥�

Bateson鈥檚 sister is an artist (鈥渂ut I鈥檓 not at all!鈥� she says) and she grew up in Dallas, a significant regional hub for the arts. She鈥檚 always been struck by the story of , a domestic worker in Dallas who was able to build her career as an artist only after receiving a small trust fund from her former husband鈥檚 mother upon her death.

鈥淪he became an accomplished folk artist and built up a reputation,鈥� Bateson says. 鈥淏ut she couldn鈥檛 practice and develop her work until she received that support.鈥�

Because the fund won鈥檛 be in a position to purchase art immediately, the museum has designated funds in its interim collection plan to bridge the gap, Saska says.听

The museum has already begun developing a network of connections to curators and institutions across the nation to build on their expertise in creating a more diverse collection. 听

鈥淲e are able to have Zoom meetings with artists working in New York or Chicago or Los Angeles, and talking to curators,鈥� she says. 鈥淚n a strange way, the (COVID-19) pandemic has allowed us to have these conversations; being isolated has encouraged this moment of network building and re-evaluation.鈥�

But Saska says there is already one clear direction for acquisitions: works on paper, building on the $1.35 million 2018 acquisition of the 鈥溾�濃��750 original works and 2,000 related materials from the Lyons-based printmaking studio started by artists Bud and Barbara Shark in the 1970s, now known as Shark鈥檚 Ink.

鈥淭here are a lot of artists of color who are printmakers,鈥� says Saska, who wrote her doctoral dissertation at Brown University on 18th-century graphic satire and caricature. 鈥淲e will be able to acquire this kind of work, in terms of funding, and it鈥檚 also very easy to use in teaching. This provides a focus on something that is attainable.鈥�

Works on paper are also easy to use in teaching, will facilitate the museum鈥檚 ongoing effort to expand interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching and fit into the university鈥檚 efforts to meet the needs of future students.

鈥淎nchored by (the) study of, and interaction with, campus collections of material culture and natural specimens, this academy has the potential to impart skills across disciplines, modeling applications of 鈥榯ransfer learning鈥� where knowledge gained in one domain is applied to another,鈥� Saska wrote with Jessica Brunecky, director of visitor experience and finance at the CU Art Museum in a 2019 paper for the university鈥檚 Academic Futures initiative.

While the museum鈥檚 diversity fund won鈥檛 be dedicated exclusively to works on paper, Saska says building on the Sharkive will make CU Boulder 鈥渁 real center of gravity for this material, regionally.鈥澨�

鈥淪ometimes the rap on museums is that they are elite places for only certain types of audience,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e hoping to get away from that, and this is will help us be more responsive to our community.鈥� 听

Donations to the CU Boulder Art Museum Diversity Acquisition Fund can be made on .