Arts & Museums Museums Newsletter Dec 2013

Museum Survey

Each year we gather information from Utah's museums to help us monitor trends, identify pressing needs, communicate with legislators and the public and provide Utah's museums with current data for benchmarking and goal setting. Click HERE to take the survey.

Thanks to your responsiveness last year we were able to report (just in time for Museum Advocacy Day) that nearly 7 million visitors attended Utah's museums in 2012. We shared our raw data with the Utah Heritage Foundation to inform their Profits through Preservation study, and we've posted past results on our website.

Please make sure someone from your museum has completed the survey by January 31 so we can have results in time for Museum Advocacy Day. I recommend coordinating so only one person from each museum responds. I can remove duplicates, of course (please make sure you enter your museum's name so I can tell) but we don't want to waste anyone's time.

Museum Board

Many thanks to Hal Hickman who has given many years of dedicated service to the Museum Board. We will miss his perspective and experience at board meetings. We look forward to getting to know our three new museum board members Marie Barlow, Shane Gosdis, & Mike Winder.

Museum Grants

We are excited to welcome our new Grants Manager, Laurie Baefsky, a seasoned grantwriter with NEA and IMLS experience. She will join our team January 15. Until then, grants questions can be directed to Leah Piccolo and Kirsten Darrington, 801.236.7555.

Mark your calendars for the museum grants deadline March 28, 2014. Applications will be available in early February.

Development grants for museums open less than 1,000 hours per year, awards up to $1,000 

Project grants - for museums open more than 1,000 hours per year, awards up to $15,000

Office grants - for nonprofit and university partners with training and field service resources, awards up to $20,000.

You'll notice a few changes. The award maximum for Project Grants has been raised from $6,000 to $15,000 and an Office Grant category has been added to move our partnerships to a competitive online process in line with our other museum grants.

UMA Conference Session Proposals due January 17, 2014 Submit your ideas for the next Utah Museums Association Conference and help shape the conversation in Utah's museum community. The conference will be held September 30 to October 2, 2014 in Cedar City with the theme Storytelling for the Future. Find proposal instructions online HERE. Visual Arts Fellowship Applications due February 3, 2014 Since 1986 Utah Arts & Museums has awarded Visual Arts Fellowships to individual professional visual artists in Utah to acknowledge their artistic excellence and encourage their careers. Two $10,000 Fellowships will be awarded in 2014. Applications are online at visualartsfellowship.org until February 3. Please help us spread the word! Governor's Leadership in the Arts Nominations due February 13th Nominate an arts leader for these awards to be given in conjunction with the Mountain West Arts Conference May 1. More information HERE. Upcoming Events Jan 17 - UMA Conference session proposals due Jan 17 - Nonprofit Academy applications due Jan 31 - Museum Survey deadline Feb 3 - Visual Arts Fellowship applications due Feb 4 - Arts Day at the Legislature Feb 25 - Museum Day at the Legislature Mar 28 - Museum Grants due May 1 - Mountain West Arts Conference May 19-21 - Change Leader Institute Sep 30-Oct 2 - UMA Conference, Cedar City Nov 10-12 - Change Leader Institute