Acquiring Art
Students Reflect on Selecting Art for the SMCMoA’s Permanent Collection in the 2024 Spring Experimental Course
By CORE 370 Students: Trinity Durfee, A.T. Johnson, Gabrielle Ly, Isabella Ruiz, and Jillian Yano
Trinity’s Reflection
CORE 370: Acquiring Art was an incredible experience. This class helped me learn about how artworks are added to museum collections and more about the role of the museum industry. We learned that art acquired in museums can be used to express different voices. I found it very interesting to learn about different museums and how their mission statements greatly affect the art added to the collection. I particularly enjoyed going to visit a gallery and an artist’s studio. Going to these spaces and interacting with people in the art world provided great real-world experience. However, the most influential aspect that I will take away from this class was being able to create an acquisition report in addition to doing a pitch for artwork to be added to the permanent collection of our museum.
Learning how to look at a piece of art and think of how it connects to the world around us is an amazing skill. I enjoyed this process as it taught me to see art differently. The piece that I pitched to be added to our permanent collection was Tobias Tovera’s Cosm III. I believe it fits with collection priorities and represents the whole person, which our museum mission and school greatly emphasize. This project was a great way to learn how to present a piece of art while also considering how it fits in with the curriculum, museum policy, and the community around us. CORE 370: Acquiring Art was an eye-opening experience that I highly recommend.
A.T.’s Reflection
As a student in the History and Art History departments, most of my classes have been lecture and research-heavy, with only a sprinkle of hands-on work. CORE 370 was a rare opportunity to put theory into practice in a way that encouraged community connection with museum supporters at Saint Mary’s College.
At the end of this course, we were required to conduct a public proposal of artwork we wanted to acquire for the permanent collection. I allowed myself to be guided by what it means to serve this community in its small corner in Moraga, as we had many conversations about who and what museums are meant to serve. My peers were also thinking of this, but mostly in ways that supported academia and departmental collaborations with the MoA. It is a part of the SMC institutional mission as well as the Museum of Art’s mission to “develop the whole person.” I wanted to find an artist whose work could align with this part of the mission to fulfill the community’s cravings for art that spoke beyond the confines of academia.
At our proposal presentations, there were about 40 people in attendance. I chose to propose a commission with Oakland-based fiber-wool artist Meghan Shimek. Shimek’s work reflects the human experience and sustainability practices, and she agreed to create a piece based on Saint Mary’s campus. Shimek’s work ended up in a three-way tie even after a re-vote in an attempt to find a winning artwork. No matter what the results were, I would have been very happy with them as every piece was well-argued for and would have been an amazing addition to the MoA’s permanent collection. The director, who was not initially in attendance, decided that the allocated acquisition funds would go toward Seonna Hong’s work because Asian-American artists lack representation in the MoA’s collection.
During this course, I felt seen and heard. In a class conversation about representation in the MoA space — which the curator has been strongly dedicated to — I mentioned the lack of representation of Asian & Asian-American artists and how unseen I felt. I felt overjoyed to hear that my presentation was “lost,” as I won in another way. I appreciate the consideration for the student body’s voice and think that it will continue to positively impact the education of future students of this course to find a space where they can make a tangible impact.
Gabrielle’s Reflection
CORE 370: Acquiring Art was an eye-opening experience. I became more aware of how a museum functions and how artworks find their place in a museum collection. I learned that museum mission statements guide the museum throughout, whether in their outreach programs or through their collection practices. The art they acquire can be used to support different community causes and create new spaces for different voices within the museum itself. For artists, having their work acquired by a museum into their permanent collection supports their future work and validates their experience in their chosen field.
During our class visits with two galleries and two artist studios, I enjoyed learning more about what gallery representation looks like for artists and understanding why each artist creates. I gained so much from getting a look behind the scenes and understanding how personal stories connect and form the foundation for many artists’ work. For me, it was this connection between life and art that led me to Seonna Hong’s work. Sharing an Asian-American identity and knowing about Hong’s artistic practice reflecting her personal experiences, I saw this artist’s work as fitting for the museum’s permanent collection. I proposed Hong’s Lunch Hour to be considered for the collection. I believe that it fits within different collection priorities and represents the student body’s diverse backgrounds and shared human experiences.
Learning to present a piece of art while also considering how it fits in with the curriculum, museum policies, and the campus community was a formative experience. I can better see how museums can bridge the gap between their rigid structure and the community.
Isabella’s Reflection
CORE 370: Acquiring Art is a course I know that I will never forget. I am so grateful for this experience and for getting to learn about how museums acquire art for their collections. I appreciated the intellectual conversations held in class about what it means to acquire art and the implications it has on museums’ public spheres of influence. There was also a field experience part of the course where we were able to visit and speak with two art gallery curators, one virtually and one in person. Before this class, I had never been to an art gallery. I was able to learn about what galleries do and how they market themselves to the collector and museum community.
I also presented a work of art to the community to vote on for acquiring to our Museum of Art on campus. This experience helped me apply what I learned and practice my public speaking skills. I was also able to look for a piece of work that would represent an idea not represented in the museum collection. I chose The Rose Garden by Patrick DeAngelis. I believe it would bring a new perspective for STEM students on campus to understand how they view art. It would also be a good addition to the Seminar curriculum to explore how we read between the lines and define them.
My dream job is to one day work in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. I know this class will be essential to my understanding of acquisitions for art museums and the larger context of public-serving institutions.
Jillian’s Reflection
Over the past few months of the spring semester, I learned so much about museums, who acquires art, how it’s acquired, and why it is important to acquire art ethically. I joined the course not knowing much about museums and how they work. I am studying business and biology, and I felt out of place at the beginning of the semester. I quickly felt more
comfortable each week after learning about the basics of acquisitions. I enjoyed learning how different museums run their acquisition programs. I also learned how important it is to support living artists. After traveling to different galleries, my appreciation for artists and their art grew.
Before the course, I didn't understand how museums select works of art for their collections. Having a small class made our conversations more personal and allowed me to get to know my classmates. Since everyone in this course had a background in art, I learned a lot from them over the semester. I asked questions during our field trips, and they explained much to me.
I think this experimental course would benefit future students by allowing them to learn more about acquiring art and how important it is to have a voice in our Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art. Giving students a voice in selecting and acquiring artwork is important to uniting the SMC community.
