Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
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The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art (MSM; formerly known as the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History) is a
museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
located on the main campus of the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...
(UNLV), established in 1967. The museum was originally instituted as a natural history museum with a focus on the natural history and environment of Nevada and the broader
Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...
. In December 2011, the Barrick joined the UNLV College of Fine Arts and became the anchor of the Galleries at UNLV. The six galleries and one museum that make up the Galleries are each entities in their own right linked via a common administration. The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art (the Barrick), is a well-known venue for engaging exhibitions and events and promotes engagement with the visual arts among a broad community including UNLV students, faculty, and staff; the greater Las Vegas community; and the national and international art community.


History

The founding of a natural history museum at the university—then an institution only a decade old, known as Nevada Southern University—began with a collection of specimens from the
Desert Research Institute Desert Research Institute (DRI) is the nonprofit research campus of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), the organization that oversees all publicly supported higher education in the U.S. state of Nevada. At DRI, approximately 460 rese ...
(DRI), the
Nevada System of Higher Education The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE, formerly the University and Community College System of Nevada or "UCCSN") is a state government unit in Nevada that oversees its public system of colleges and universities. It was formed in 1968 to ove ...
's graduate
research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
. In September 1967, the DRI opened a small museum facility in premises across from the university's grounds, as part of an expansion of DRI's activities into southern Nevada. The museum was created under the direction of archaeologist Richard H. Brooks, assistant research professor at the university and a researcher (later director) of the DRI-affiliated Nevada Archaeological Survey. Its exhibits consisted of DRI's local collection of living desert animal specimens and Native American artifacts. In 1969 the university took over the management of the museum from DRI.Mikkelsen (2001) Brooks remained as director of the university-affiliated museum, and during his tenure, the museum's funding was established and further permanent exhibits acquired.Slaughter (2007, p.2) The most significant acquisition occurred in 1979, when a private collection of
pre-Columbian art Pre-Columbian art refers to the visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North, Central, and South Americas from at least 13,000 BCE to the European conquests starting in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era c ...
was donated by a former UNLV
alumna Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
, Mannetta Braunstein, and her husband Michael. These pieces would form the basis of a broadening collection of Mesoamerican and
Aridoamerica Aridoamerica denotes an ecological region spanning Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States, defined by the presence of the culturally significant staple foodstuff '' Phaseolus acutifolius'', a drought-resistant bean.Pratt and Nabh ...
n cultural artifacts, acquired through other donations and further additions from the Braunsteins' purchases in Latin American markets. In the late 1970s, the museum began the process of relocating to premises situated on the UNLV campus, to occupy a building that had contained the university's original gymnasium. Renovations to accommodate the museum were completed in 1981. Further alterations and expansions to the building were subsequently undertaken, and a research laboratory wing was added in 1994. Beginning in 1979 the museum's anthropological collections were greatly expanded, with the subsequent additions of donated collections of
ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
and
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
artifacts representing Native American and
pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
n cultures. Brooks left the position in 1981. His successor as museum director was
ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
and former UNLV president (1973–78) Donald Baepler, who was returning to the university campus after a three-year term as chancellor of the Nevada university system. Baepler was instrumental in establishing UNLV's Harry Reid Environmental Research Center, and the museum was reorganized to become one of the center's operating divisions. Baepler retired as museum director in 2004, retained a title as
emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
executive director of the museum. In 1989 the museum was renamed in honor of Marjorie Barrick, a longstanding benefactor of the university. In 1980 Barrick, a prominent
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
married to a Las Vegas real estate developer, had gifted UNLV with an endowment of some $1.2 million from her late husband's estate, to fund an ongoing series of public lectures at the university. Speakers at the Barrick Lecture Series have included international figures and heads of state, such as
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
,
Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
,
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
and
F. W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...
. In 2011, the Barrick closed its doors to undergo a change of hands with departments. The museum ceased to be affiliated with the Harry Reid Center and Department of Archaeology and became a part of the College of Fine Arts at UNLV. It reopened in 2012 as a contemporary art museum after undergoing drastic renovations, from its Collections Room to the Exhibition Hall, which changed how the public was able to interact with the space from piece to piece. After the
Las Vegas Art Museum The Las Vegas Art Museum (LVAM) was an art museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was formerly located in a building shared with the Sahara West Library branch of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District in Las Vegas, NV. The museum closed in 2009. T ...
(or LVAM) closed its doors in 2009, their collection was left without a home. In 2012 the LVAM collection moved to the newly renovated Barrick Museum, as part of a partnership between LVAM and UNLV. In 2017, the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art celebrated its 50th anniversary. Under the direction of curator and artist, Alisha Kerlin, the Barrick continued to evolve into a notable locus of contemporary art in Southern Nevada. The museum was "rebranded" with "'of Art'" being added to its name and the institution established itself as an inclusive space with significant focus on “interdisciplinary programming,” "experimentation," and "community engagement" that reflects the social diversity of both UNLV and the broader Las Vegas community. The Barrick defined these aims in their Mission Statement, asserting: Since 2017, the Barrick has partnered with Clark County School District to increase access to K-12 students, with the Barrick often acting as their introductory experience to a museum. In 2020, the Barrick announced its partnership with the Las Vegas
Womxn The term ''womxn'' is an alternative spelling of the English word ''woman''. ''Womxn'' has been found in writing since the 1970s, along with the term womyn, to avoid perceived sexism in the standard spelling, which contains the word ''man''. The ...
of Color Arts Festival, a Southern Nevada collective that aims to increase opportunities and visibility for “local womxn artists who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.” Currently, the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is Las Vegas' only art museum.


Collections

The Collections at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art include: *The Barrick Art Collection –The Barrick Museum is committed to collecting art of the present. This commitment is supported entirely through the generosity of artists and collectors who donate in-kind gifts of art. The bulk of the works in the collection include artists with ties to the greater Las Vegas valley forming a heritage collection of works created in and inspired by the Southern Nevada region. *The Barrick Cultural Collection –The cultural collection began to form in 1969 and includes cultural objects from the American Southwest and Mesoamerica. The Pre-Columbian collection was initiated in 1979 with a gift from Dr. Michael C. and Mannetta Braunstein. Today, the museum's holdings include the Dr. Michael C. and Mannetta Braunstein Collection, a comprehensive collection of Pre-Columbian objects from nearly every culture of Pre-Columbian Latin America, as well as Mexican dance masks and retablos; Guatemalan, Bolivian, and Navajo textiles; Paiute and Hopi basketry; and Navajo jewelry. A variety of methodologies have been used at different times to collect, classify, analyze, and describe collection material, and the collections provide rich primary source information for multi-, cross-, and interdisciplinary studies. The Museum is compliant with guidelines mandates by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). *The LVAM Collection –Works in the collection include national and international artists such as Llyn Foulkes and William T. Wiley, as well as a significant representation of UNLV graduates. *The Vogel Collection –The Barrick Museum houses the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel 50x50 Collection. In 2010, UNLV was the recipient of 50 contemporary works from the celebrated collectors. Beginning in 1962, New York postal clerk, Herbert Vogel, and his librarian wife, Dorothy, began collecting contemporary works of art. The couple dedicated all of Herb's salary to buying art, and in a few decades had amassed a collection encompassing some 4,000 works. Today, these works form one of the most remarkable collections of contemporary art in America. Motivated by the desire to share their collection with the public, the couple developed a program to gift 50 works to one institution in each of the 50 states. This program became known as Vogel 50x50. The collection includes the work by such notables as Stephen Antonakos, Neil Jenney, Lynda Benglis, Lucio Pozzi, Edda Renouf, Bettina Werner and Richard Tuttle.


Exhibitions

Exhibitions at the Marjorie Barrick of Art include: *2020 *Lance L. Smith: In the Interest of Action *FUTURE RELICS: Artifacts for a New World *Yerman: Peaks & Valleys *Excerpts: Works from the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art *Nevada Touring Initiative Exhibition: Still Here Now *Ashley Hairston Doughty: Kept to Myself *The Other Side of Paradise *Mikayla Whitmore: Between a Rock and a Cliff *2019 *Stars on the Ground: Works by John Torreano *Connective Tissue by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya *Zet Gold: On My Mountain *Dry Wit *Justin Favela and Ramiro Gomez: Sorry for the Mess *Human Contact, curated by Samantha Castle *Tiger and The Eternal Struggle *Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A. *2018 *Jubilation Inflation *Soundscapes *Art in Context *Andrew Schoultz: In Process: Every Movement Counts *Exhibition: Identity Tapestry *Exhibition: VESSEL: Ceramics of Ancient West Mexico *Exhibition: Plural *2017 *Peripheral Flood Control Structures of Las Vegas *Preservation *liminal *Tested Ground *Casey Roberts *Astronomy of the Asphalt Ecliptic *Play On Gary, Play On *Josh Azzarella Screenings *Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here *Process, curated by Matthew Gardocki *Masking, curated by Karen Roop *2016 *Edward Burtynsky: Oil *In Transition: Female Figurines from the Michael C. and Mannetta Braunstein Collection *Showing the Need for Connection *Five *Ellsworth Kelly *Unseen Selections from LVAM *Teaching Gallery Staff Picks *2015 *Break Ups & Tear Downs *Style Moderne: Art Glass from the Ruth and Mel Wolzinger Collection *Recent Acquisitions *The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection *David Sanchez Burr: Citizen Speak *Deborah Aschheim: Kennedy Obsession *John Millei: If 6 Turned Out To Be 9, Selected Work *2014 *Reflecting & Projecting: 20 Years of Design Excellence *Yesterday & Today *Panorama *Panorama+ Sesquicentennial Celebration of Nevada: Further Selections from the Nevada Arts Council's Artist Fellowship Program *Jerry Lewis: Painted Pictures *Sound & Video Installation: Derivative Presence by Yasmina Chavez & Javier Sanchez *Private/Public: Images of Devotion from 19th and Early 20th Century Mexico Opening *Art for Art's Sake: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation *2013 *Passage to the Future: Art from a New Generation in Japan *The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection *The Kent Bicentennial Portfolio: Spirit of Independence *Pre-Columbian Sacrifice: The Burden of the Elite


Facilities

*Marjorie Barrick Museum Auditorium *Marjorie Barrick Museum Exhibition Hall


Notes


References

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External links


Marjorie Barrick Museum
official site {{authority control 1967 establishments in Nevada Art museums and galleries in Nevada Buildings and structures in Paradise, Nevada Museums established in 1967 Museums in the Las Vegas Valley Mesoamerican art museums in the United States Natural history museums in Nevada Native American museums in Nevada University museums in Nevada University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball