Going from Void to Void: Growing the UMFA

UMFA Exhibition Schedule brochure, 1970. University of Utah Facilities Planning and Construction Office records, Acc. 0416, Box 9, Building Files: Art and Architecture—Loose Material, 1968-73. University Archives and Records Management. J. Willard Marriott Library, the University of Utah.
UMFA Exhibition Schedule brochure, 1970. University of Utah Facilities Planning and Construction Office records, Acc. 0416, Box 9, Building Files: Art and Architecture—Loose Material, 1968-73. University Archives and Records Management. J. Willard Marriott Library, the University of Utah.

The ideal situation is that in which a donor or donors provide annual funds for the systematic acquisition by professionals of a general collection. Such a collection would affect the cultural life of the state through generations of citizens.

–University of Utah Museum of Fine Arts exhibition brochure, 1971-72.

The museum spreads its surfaces everywhere, and becomes an untitled collection of generalizations that immobilize the eye.

– Robert Smithson, “Some Void Thoughts on Museums,” Arts Magazine, February 1967

In 1968, Frank Sanguinetti was recruited as Director of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to shepherd the institution’s move to modern quarters in 1970. Within two years at its new address, the UMFA became the first museum in the West to receive accreditation from the American Association of Museums.

In its freshly completed concrete galleries, the UMFA exhibited rising and established contemporary artists as well as antiquities and works from Renaissance and Impressionist masters. A 1972 brochure proclaimed the Museum’s function at its new site: “to provide essential cultural and educational resources in the visual arts for the University, for Salt Lake City and the entire state. The goal of the Museum collections and exhibitions is to present a general collection of art objects selected for quality and representing the principal artistic styles of many cultures and historical periods.”

Cover page with title “Utah Museum of Fine Arts An Introduction” a brochure from 1972 about the recently completed museum building’s function, history, and accreditation.
Page one from “Utah Museum of Fine Arts An Introduction” a brochure from 1972 discussing the museum’s planned lectures, films, musical concerts, and future growth of the permanent collection.
Page two from a brochure about the UMFA, a recently-completed building. Showing a list of Friends of the Museum for 1972.
Back cover of a brochure about the UMFA, a recently-completed building, 1972, with images of temporary and permanent collection exhibition spaces, description of types of objects in the permanent collection, list of museum staff, and museum hour of operation.
CLICK ON IMAGES FOR DETAILED VIEW Brochure about the UMFA’s recently completed building, 1972. University of Utah Facilities Planning and Construction Office records, Acc. 0416, Box 9, Building Files: Art and Architecture—Loose Material, 1968-73. University Archives and Records Management. J. Willard Marriott Library, the University of Utah.

The Associated Students of the University of Utah, or ASUU, were one of the most influential student-led organizations on campus. One little-known aspect of their history is that the organization sponsored art acquisitions in the 1970s; these works remain in the collection of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts today.

Anna Campbell Bliss (1925 – 2015), Spectrum Squared, Series III of Color/Light/Module, Variations A through J, 1973, screen print, 32 1/8 x 31 ¼ in. Purchased from the artist with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, Mr. and Mrs Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.046.007.001-007.
Anna Campbell Bliss (1925 – 2015), Spectrum Squared, Series III of Color/Light/Module, Variations A through J, 1973, screen print, 32 1/8 x 31 ¼ in. Purchased from the artist with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, and Mrs Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.046.007.001-007.
Anna Campbell Bliss (1925 – 2015), Spectrum Squared, Series III of Color/Light/Module, Variations A through J, 1973, screen print, 32 1/8 x 31 ¼ in. Purchased from the artist with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, and Mrs Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.046.007.001-007.
Anna Campbell Bliss (1925 – 2015), Spectrum Squared, Series III of Color/Light/Module, Variations A through J, 1973, screen print, 32 1/8 x 31 ¼ in. Purchased from the artist with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, and Mrs Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.046.007.001-007.
Anna Campbell Bliss (1925 – 2015), Spectrum Squared, Series III of Color/Light/Module, Variations A through J, 1973, screen print, 32 1/8 x 31 ¼ in. Purchased from the artist with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, and Mrs Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.046.007.001-007.
Anna Campbell Bliss (1925 – 2015), Spectrum Squared, Series III of Color/Light/Module, Variations A through J, 1973, screen print, 32 1/8 x 31 ¼ in. Purchased from the artist with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, and Mrs Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.046.007.001-007.
Anna Campbell Bliss (1925 – 2015), Spectrum Squared, Series III of Color/Light/Module, Variations A through J, 1973, screen print, 32 1/8 x 31 ¼ in. Purchased from the artist with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, and Mrs Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.046.007.001-007.
Anna Campbell Bliss (1925 – 2015), “Spectrum Squared, Series III of Color/Light/Module [Variation A; Variation C; Variation E; Variation G; Variation H; Variation J,” 1973, screenprint, 32 1/8 x 31 ¼ in. Purchased from the artist with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, and Mrs Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.046.007.001-007.
Willard Dixon (1942 – ), "Norwegian Church with Picasso, Poons & Flavin," oil on canvas, 79 ¾ x 68 9/16 in., Purchased with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, and Mrs. Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.065.
Willard Dixon (1942 – ), Norwegian Church with Picasso, Poons & Flavin, oil on canvas, 79 ¾ x 68 9/16 in., Purchased with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Friends of the Art Museum, and Mrs. Paul L. Wattis, UMFA1975.065.
James McGarrell (1930 – 2020), "Utah, 1972," 1972, oil on canvas, 67 ½ x 77 ½ in., Purchased with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Mrs. Paul L. Wattis, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Warshaw, and Friends of the Art Museum, UMFA1973.047.
James McGarrell (1930 – 2020), “Utah, 1972,” 1972, oil on canvas, 67 ½ x 77 ½ in., Purchased with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, Mrs. Paul L. Wattis, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Warshaw, and Friends of the Art Museum, UMFA1973.047.  
UMFA poster for Alex Katz exhibition. Utah Museum of Fine Arts records, Vertical Files. University Archives and Records Management, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah.
UMFA poster for Marvin Lipofsky exhibition, 1969. Utah Museum of Fine Arts Archives and Records, University of Utah.
UMFA Ronald Resch exhibition, 1972. Utah Museum of Fine Arts Archives and Records, University of Utah.
UMFA Ronald Resch exhibition, 1972. Utah Museum of Fine Arts Archives and Records, University of Utah
CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A DETAILED VIEW. The UMFA galleries exhibited consequential artists working across a wide range of media.

Questions for Closer Looking

Find works on this page and while searching the UMFA’s collections database that have “Associated Students of the University of Utah” on their labels. These are all artworks that the University of Utah student organization helped to purchase.

Can you imagine why students believed that the Utah Museum of Fine Arts ought to bring these artworks into their permanent collection?

How do these compare with artworks that the UMFA has acquired more recently

What sorts of artwork do you think today’s students might want the UMFA to collect, and why?