NEWS: Museum Studies Minor Available @ SUU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 05/26/11
Michael French
Public Information Coordinator
College of Performing and Visual Arts
Southern Utah University
Office: 435-865-8667
michaelfrench@suu.edu

Museum Studies Minor Available
at Southern Utah University in Fall 2011

Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT: Dean Shauna Mendini of Southern Utah University’s College of Performing and Visual Arts is pleased to announce a new minor in Museum Studies that will be available as of the fall 2011 semester. This minor has been developed to support the future Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA). The content of many of the minor’s classes are applicable in the Sciences, History, or any field that has museum venues within its scope of research and operation; therefore, all students are welcome.

During the fall 2011 semester, two concurrent classes will be offered, whose students will begin planning the exhibition schedule and educational programs for SUMA. ART 3080/Gallery and Museum Practices focuses on the fundamental concepts behind the curation, installation, and presentation of exhibits. It includes the nature of objects, interpretation of objects, and administrative responsibilities within a museum. The total number of credits required for the minor will be nineteen and one half.

Reece Summers, SUMA Director and instructor of ART 3080, says, “SUU students will have the unique opportunity for on-the-job training in all aspects of museum management at SUMA. They will graduate with significant credentials for gallery and/or museum work, or applied experience that will position them well for graduate school in the museum field.”

The second class is ART 4910/Education within a Museum Environment. Deborah Snider, Assistant Professor of Art Education at SUU and former director of three community arts centers, has developed this class to align with ART 3080 so that students in both classes will understand the totality of presentation and outreach in museum, art center, or gallery venues.

ART 4910 will address educational philosophy, policy, and program development; working with volunteers; audience development for all ages; tours and interactive strategies; interpretative planning; collaboration with the community; teacher support; and formats for communication. A culminating individual or group project will be the end-product of this class.

Summers envisions that SUMA will be a lab-museum, meaning that it will be run by students. With a staggered schedule of leadership, more experienced students may mentor younger students, ensuring smooth transitions in programming from year to year, and providing students with diverse competitive credentials.

For further information, please contact Reece Summers at (435) 586-5433 or summersr@suu.edu; or Deborah Snider at (435) 586-5425 or deborahsnider@suu.edu.

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ABOUT THE COLLEGE
The Southern Utah University College of Performing and Visual Arts is comprised of nationally accredited departments of Art and Design, Music, Theatre Arts and Dance, as well as a graduate program in Arts Administration. The College offers 16 different degree areas, including liberal arts Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees; professional Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Fine Arts in art and theatre degrees; and a Master of Fine Arts in Arts Administration degree. More than 60 full- and part-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching and mentoring over 550 majors in the College. Over 1100 students enroll each year in over 195 arts classes on the SUU campus. The College presents 100 performances, lectures, presentations, and exhibitions each year. The College’s affiliate organizations include the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, American Folk Ballet, Utah Shakespeare Festival, the performance group Acclamation, and the SUU Ballroom Dance Company. For more information about the College of Performing and Visual Arts, contact the Office of the Dean (435) 865-8561, or by e-mail at cpvamktg@suu.edu.