View source for DUBUQUE MUSEUM OF ART

[[Image:museumart.jpg|left|thumb|250px|]]DUBUQUE MUSEUM OF ART. The current Dubuque Museum of Art began in 1874 as the [[DUBUQUE ART ASSOCIATION]], the oldest cultural agency in Iowa.  The Association, originally located in the [[LORIMIER HOUSE]] at the corner of 8th and Main, was organized by a progressive group of community leaders who opened Association membership to the public and collected subscriber’s fees to purchase art.  The Association’s visibility was increased by holding public art exhibitions of the purchased art in a variety of locations throughout the city.  A fine arts gallery was opened in March, 1886; forty-two artists and amateurs were represented; 10 cents admission was charged. Through admission charged at these events additional purchases were made for the Association’s collection.    

The public library was established in 1859 and moved to its location on 11th Street in 1902.  Lacking funding, the Art Association which had operated in cooperation with the library, disbanded and donated fifteen pieces of art to the library.  The arts group reorganized in 1910 through the efforts of [[VAN DUZEE, Kate Keith|Kate Keith VAN DUZEE]] and Dr. E. R. Lewis.  Meetings and exhibitions were held at the library.  A listing of the Association’s founding subscribers has not survived, however the following individuals helped shape its growth in the early to mid 20th century: [[VAN DUZEE, Kate Keith|Kate Keith VANN DUZEE]], [[HALLIBURTON, Louise Herron|Louise Herron HALLIBURTON]], Adrian Dornbush, [[ROSSITER, Dorothy|Dorothy ROSSITER]], and [[WOOD, Grant|Grant WOOD]].   

In 1923 Mary Lull, the widow of a Dubuque physician, gave $5,000 to the library to spend on acquiring art. One of the first important acquisitions was a complete portfolio of native American pictures by nationally recognized Wisconsin photographer Edward Curtis. In 1927, $350 from the Lull Art Fund was used to purchase Grant Wood's painting "Appraisal."  "Victorian Survival" was purchased shortly afterwards for $800.  

In 1956, the Dubuque Art Association left the library.  In the 1970s the association moved into the [[BARN]] (Slattery Center) until 1975 when it relocated to the [[OLD JAIL]].  
  
The Dubuque Art Association established the Dubuque Museum of Art in 1987 and Jean Hunter, the first full-time director was hired.  In 1988 in its first capital campaign, the museum hosted a 50-year retrospective of Dubuque artist [[LICCIARDI, Frank|Frank LICCIARDI]].  The campaign took in one-half million dollars which was used to renovate the Old Jail building. 

By the 1990s, the board of the museum realized that the Old Jail could not be climate-controlled to the standards of the American Association of Museums. In 1999 the Museum purchased the former Statesman's Bank and hired Minnesota architect Joan Sorano to direct the renovation. The project was financed through the Woodward Foundation and Bob and Barbara Woodward, local banks, and loans from the City of Dubuque. At the same time, the public library chose to loan Grant Wood's "Appraisal" and "Victorian Survival" to the museum on a long-term basis.  

The Dubuque Museum of Art is fortunate to have a significant collection of early paintings by Iowa Regionalist Grant Wood, as well as a complete set of his lithographs, a set of decorative doors, and the Grant Wood oil paintings-- "Appraisal" and "Victorian Survival", on long term loan from the [[CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY]].   The Curtis collection was purchased from the library around 2008 for $500,000 by the Dubuque Cultural Preservation Committee, a group of local business and civic people.  That kept the collection in Dubuque after an offer of $1 million had be made from Texas.  The Museum also has the complete collection of Illinois artist/illustrator Arthur Geisert’s etchings completed for his series of children’s books.      

Around 2009, the Museum’s staff included four full-time and three part-time employees; its Board of Trustees included nineteen individuals living in Dubuque and in a twenty mile regional area.  Accredited by the American Association of Museums in 2005, the Museum sought to be responsive to artists within the region as well as to the general community through a variety of temporary exhibitions on a year-round schedule, gallery tours, outreach programs, and a variety of educational student classes and parent/child initiatives.   

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Sources:

Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County.

Ritts, Edwin  Jr. Director: Dubuque Museum of Art

Voight, Sandye. "Art Museum Traces Its Roots to 1874."  175 Years, Volume III, Telegraph Herald, Sept. 15, 2008, p. 144
  
                        
[[Category: Art Gallery]]