The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is an epicenter for visual arts in Utah, performing a dual role as the state's official art museum and an integral university campus institution—providing many Utahns with their first, and sometimes only, direct experience with world-class art. The UMFA collects, conserves, and interprets masterworks drawn from 5,000 years of global visual arts.
During the Together We Reachcampaign, UMFA donors powered the museum's most ambitious efforts, including the Monet to Picasso exhibition of modernist painting and sculpture from the Cleveland Museum of Art and an impressive selection of originally curated exhibitions. These include The Smithson Effect; LeConte Stewart: Depression Era Art; as well as these celebrated shows and programs:
Led by the Price Family Foundation's $600,000 gift and the support of other generous donors, Speed opened the UMFA's doors to a new audience for art. Total attendance for the show reached 31,440, while membership grew by 16 percent.
An outstanding group of individuals and foundations led by the Sam and Diane Stewart Family Foundation donated more than $110,000 to support this provocative exhibition, examining images of Native American people created by native and non-native artists. Works were borrowed almost exclusively from family collections with strong ties to Utah and the region, highlighting the region's rich art history.
Drawn from John and Marva Warnock's remarkable private collection, Splendid Heritage featured more than 140 artifacts that demonstrate the legacy of the Iroquois, Algonquin, Woodland, Prairie, Plains, and Plateau people. About $500,000 in charitable support made it possible for 33,000 visitors to experience these rare and remarkable artifacts. The exhibition also traveled to museums in Cody, Wyoming, and St. Louis, Missouri.
Since 2010, UMFA has been bringing cutting-edge work of emerging artists from all over the world to Utah. Exhibitions have examined important issues like gender roles and the nuances of what it means to be human in an increasingly technological world.