By Jami Coon
Museums all over the world are visited everyday by art-lovers, history buffs, tourists, students and community members. These people go with the hopes of seeing a famous piece of art, to learn something new or just to heighten their cultural knowledge.
Webster''s Dictionary defines a museum as an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study and display of objects of lasting interest or value; a place where objects are exhibited.
Few may realize that BYU''s own Museum of Art does all of these things and more.
Contrary to many who think museums are stuffy, boring, cold places, the MOA proves the cultured life is anything but irksome, Manager of Public Programs, Cheryll May said.
'You can''t help but learn through the museum experience,' May said. 'You might learn that the museum is a warm, inviting and accessible facility.'
The most highly attended university museum in the country, the MOA has diverse exhibitions, a rich history and treasures to offer to students at BYU and community members, she said.
The BYU art collection began in a rather casual way, with individuals donating art works to the museum. In the early decades the pieces were handled in a sincere but haphazard way.
'The pieces were in various basements, attics or professors'' offices, and the atmospheric conditions weren''t necessarily proper,' May said. 'Some of them even walked off campus one way or another.'
By the 1930s BYU was acquiring some significant collections through purchases or donations. The need became more urgent for an appropriate home for the BYU collection.
James Mason, former dean of the college of fine arts, decided in the 1980s to do something about it. With remarkable persistence and skill, he gathered a group of donors who contributed the approximately 20 million dollars to build the museum.
Permission was granted to build the museum, but the BYU board of trustees said neither regular university budget nor church funds could be used in building or maintaining the museum. That is the rule upon which the museum has operated. Even today the salaries of faculty that work at the museum comes from discretionary funds.
The manor in which the museum was built is not the only interesting historical fact, May said. The museum dotes a notable list of contacts with associations around the world.
Exhibitions have come to the MOA from the Vatican, Peoples Republic of China, Royal Government of Jordan, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Besides the pieces of art that come from other institutions, the museum has a permanent collection of 16,000 plus pieces, May said. The museum highlights many of its permanent collection in the exhibit '150 Years of American Art: 1794-1944.'
There are several exhibitions on display at any one time, but the idea of a permanent exhibition is not correct, May said.
'Our museum philosophy underlines the idea that there is no such thing as a permanent exhibition,' she said. 'What we call the permanent exhibition is one that is here for a period of five years or more. It is drawn from our permanent collection of the museum. Our current exhibit has been up for the last ten years.'
The permanent collection is re-hung or changed periodically to reflect a set of ideas or response to a particular set of questions. When questions or ideas change, the commentary on the art changes and even the arrangement of the art changes.
'So the collection is this treasure-house from which we can draw on different combinations and groupings depending on the different kinds of artistic issues we are addressing,' May said.
A new permanent collection will be installed next year that will display, in addition to the paintings, sculptures, watercolors, posters, prints and photographs.
The other category of exhibitions is traveling shows. They come to the museum for an average of six months, but some will stay for up to a year.
Rita Wright, museum educator for grades K-12, said for traveling shows they borrow things from other collections and use pieces from their own collection to put together an exhibit.
'It is interesting to work on a traveling show because we don''t know as much about the pieces,' Wright said. ' We have to research the pieces and design a way to exhibit the show - how to put it in a space.'
There are teams assigned to work on every exhibit at the museum. Each team consists of at least three people; a curator, responsible for researching the exhibit and developing a concept for the show; an exhibition designer who works with the space, deciding how to display the exhibit; and an educator, responsible for bridging what is going on in the museum with the visitor.
There are also people from registration involved with each show. They play an important role in making sure the items are handled properly, Wright said.
Besides the exhibitions, the museum has other facilities to offer including a museum store and a caf?. The MOA also hosts community activities and musical performances every Friday afternoon from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Natalie Bruford, a senior majoring in secondary education, said she likes the different feeling the MOA has to offer.
'It is one of the few places on campus that doesn''t feel like campus,' she said. 'There are no books, no computers, no tables and no teachers. There is no other purpose in going than to enjoy yourself.'
May said she hopes students will take advantage of the incredible display of art on BYU campus and become lifelong attendees of museums.
'This is a world class museum with world class work,' May said. 'Even with their busy schedules, we think students will be well rewarded to come to the museum and make this a part of their university experience.'
The MOA is open Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. BYU students are admitted for free.