CU Art Museum News - October 2020 Newsletter

The CU Art Museum will remain closed to the public while the university continues to monitor the impacts of COVID-19.

We miss you and are committed to bringing the museum into your home by examining artwork in the collection as seen through a variety of personal perspectives. Please check out our virtual Close Looking programs and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

This month Jessica Brunecky, Director of Visitor Experience and Finance, responds to an artwork in our collection.

We are experiencing a reckoning in the museum field.

The confluence of a global pandemic that fundamentally changes how we experience the world around us; an unprecedented economic crisis that may see more than 33% of museums close forever; and a long overdue examination of the role museums have in reinforcing racism have come together to create chaos, dread, and sleepless nights for many of us.

We are being challenged to rethink everything we thought we knew about the field, unsure of what museums will look like when we come out on the other side. The existential fear for our future is palpable when speaking with peers across the state, region, and country. That is all to say that when I was asked to write about a work in the collection for this newsletter, I struggled to find inspiration in the face of all that we’re examining in our field. Until I came across Jenny Holzer’s “Inflammatory Essays”, and this one in particular: [Fear is the most elegant weapon...]. Holzer pasted these essays in public places throughout New York City from 1977-1982, hoping to shock readers out of complacency and into action on a variety of issues. 

The collective fear our field is experiencing is very real. It has certainly resulted in terror-induced immobilization for some as they continue as if nothing has changed. 

It’s people that give me optimism when the fear gets too heavy. Our team at CUAM is incredible and actively doing the work to come out of this better than we started. We’ve already committed to pay equity, recognizing that labor is never free and ensuring that students are paid for their work with the museum. Our student employees, Delainey, Ella, and Sophia, are a bright spot for me: they are working remotely to engage their peers in a formative process to develop student programs that create space for creativity and discussion of mental health, couched in our upcoming exhibition content. Our team has made a graceful pivot to remote engagement too: rethinking our in-gallery and study center learning sessions in a remote modality, social media engagement to promote greater awareness of our collection, and campus outreach efforts to make sure we are still serving students as best we can in these trying times. I’m proud that our team has seen this time as not simply an overwhelming challenge, but an opportunity to find ways to build upon past successes, grow, and explore radical re-envisioning of what a museum might be in the future.

With optimism,
Jessica Brunecky
Director of Visitor Experience and Finance, University of Colorado Art Museum, and President of the Colorado-Wyoming Association of Museums 

Image credit: Jenny Holzer, American, b. 1950, Inflammatory Essays [Fear is the most elegant weapon...], 1982, Offset lithograph. Gift of Polly and Mark Addison to the Polly and Mark Addison Collection, 91.04.79.17.

Virtual Activities

During our COVID-19 closure we’ll be sharing artworks from our collection so that you can do some close-looking exercises from wherever you are. Invite a friend and do it together (virtually or physically distanced) to spark conversation or do it by yourself for some relaxation.

Feel Good Fridays goes remote! You are invited to this weekly workshop to learn about a work of art and then participate in a related mindfulness practice. The powerful, guided meditation can undo stress, soothe the nervous system, and help you feel relaxed and revitalized. If practiced regularly, the meditation teaches a method for feeling calm, easeful, and resilient, even when facing life’s challenges. Meditations are open to students, faculty, staff, and the public. All are welcome and there is no need for past experience with meditation. Registration is required.