Research and Grant Roundup
Research, Awards, and Conservation Grants:
Chiura Obata: Layer by Layer
During the screen’s 2022 treatment, conservators at Nishio Conservation Studio discovered that the four-paneled screen contained hidden full-scale preparatory charcoal drawings of the horses. In addition, they found that the screen’s internal layers were made of practice drawings by Obata and his summer 1932 students.
Generous Grant Protects Metal Objects
The UMFA’s collections team wrapped up a three-year project in 2018 to assess, document, and treat metal objects in urgent need of attention. The $90,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) supported the conservation project in whole.
Nazi- Era Provenance Research Project
The UMFA has joined the worldwide effort by museums to determine whether there are any European works of art in its collection that were illegally taken from their owners and not returned.
Landscape, Land Art and the American West:
In 2018 the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded $500,000 to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah in support of a four-year collaborative project entitled Landscape, Land Art and the American West.
U Student Composers Create the Sound of Art with UMFA
The UMFA has long been interested in how looking at art and listening to live music can heighten both experiences. The UMFA’s history of collaboration with the School of Music has grown from live music in the galleries into this new territory of collaboration between the art of composition, creative problem solving, and the visual arts. We can’t help but wonder what else is possible, and what’s next?
Inspiring Creativity
The extensive UMFA and Marriott collections are a source of inspiration and creativity. Whether an assemblage of archival photos in the Marriott’s Special Collections, or a painter’s story on canvas at the UMFA, the holdings in the museum and library have given creatives of all persuasions stirring material for creating their own work.
Collection ENGAGEMENT Grants
In spring 2019 the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) and the J. Willard Marriott Library launched the first in a three-year round of awards for the University’s faculty, staff and students: the Fellowship in Collections Engagement, or FICE. The awards are part of a joint project, Landscape, Land Art, and the American West.