The Executive Director of JSMA announces his intention to retire next year



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Jill Hartz directed the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon 10 years ago. After 30 years in the museum field, she will be stepping down as general manager in August.

"It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life," Hartz said. "I'm very grateful to all the smart, talented and generous people I've worked with over the last 10 years, and together we've done incredible things."

When it began in 2008, the museum reopened after a multi-year, multi-million dollar expansion that began in 2000. Hartz helped the museum find new benchmarks, said Jayanth Banavar, senior vice president and vice president. Vice Chair.

"Jill put the museum on the path to financial stability, cultural significance and education for the University of Oregon," he said.

Under his direction, UO students had the opportunity to work in all areas of the museum, from collections to collections through conservation, education and exhibitions. And as it privileged academic engagement, more than 9,000 university students from more than 40 campus departments used the museum, its collections and exhibits as part of its program last year. studies.

Thanks to an anonymous donation of $ 2.25 million last year, the museum received its largest donation to date. The Hartz FUNd for Contemporary Art makes possible a multitude of special exhibitions, acquisitions, guest artists and publications in the contemporary field.

The Endowment Fund has supported several art research publications, with writings from Hartz and OU students, including "Weight of Paper: Elsa Mora's Paper Works", "Matthew Picton: Cultural Mapping "and" Barbara MacCallum: An Appropriate Science ".

Since coming to the helm in 2008, Hartz has aimed to strengthen the museum's permanent collection of American, Asian, European and Latin American art. She also added more than 157 Cuban works to the collection and organized trips to Cuba and the Havana Biennial for members of the museum.

As in most museums, at any time, only 5% of the UO Art Museum's collection is visible. Increasing access to the collection was a priority for Hartz and his staff. With a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust, over 70% of the collection can be viewed online.

In addition, she launched the successful Masterworks on Loan program, which brings together works of world-renowned artists, from Jean Michel Basquiat to Pablo Picasso, through the exhibition "AZ Weiaci / Circle of Animals "from Ai Weiwei. has published more than 20 books on works of the collection or special exhibitions.

The museum's budget has almost doubled to $ 4 million since 2008 and staffing has been significantly increased.

Prior to joining the UO Art Museum, Hartz spent 11 years at the Art Museum Management of the University of Virginia, now Fralin Art Museum. Previously, she worked at the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University.

She has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of University Museums and Galleries for more than 10 years, including two terms as President. During her tenure as president, she produced the first professional practices for museums and university galleries, now the accreditation standard for the field and the reorganization of the association's annual conference into a multi-day stand-alone program, piloted in Eugene in 2017.

She is an active contributor to the American Museums Alliance Museum Evaluation Program and is currently Accreditation Commissioner for the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries.

The provost office has launched a national search this fall for its successor. Hartz will remain at her post until the appointment of a new director and will continue to work part time for an additional year as a consultant and curator of contemporary art.

-From Debbie Williamson Smith, Head of Communications, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

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