UIMA moves first paintings into the Figge Art Museum

Last week, the UIMA moved more than 20 paintings from its collection to the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA. This is the first step in a plan to move the entire UIMA collection from storage in Chicago to the Figge, which has generously offered the UIMA storage and exhibition space in its state-of-the-art, three-year-old building in downtown Davenport.

This photo shows UIMA Interim Director Pamela White and Figge Executive Director Sean O'Harrow standing in front of the UIMA's celebrated Jackson Pollock painting, Mural.

I'll have more pictures from the move later this week, but in the mean time, check out some of the press coverage. Jonathon Turner of the Rock Island Argus/The Dispatch writes that "The star of the show is the 8-by-19-foot Pollock given to Iowa by art collector Peggy Guggenheim in 1951 before the university had a museum." Alma Gaul at the Quad City Times writes of that painting, "The piece brims with energy, and Pollock told friends at the time that he had 'a vision of a stampede of every animal in the American West.'" Other coverage by CorridorBuzz.com's Loren Keller and Pam Cunningham of the Museum Security Network.

We're celebrating the inaugural exhibition in the UIMA/Figge partnership on Sunday, April 19. UIMA docents will be at the Figge to give tours of the collection on the half hour from noon to 5 p.m. And don't forget -- if you're a UIMA donor or UI student, faculty, or staff, you will receive FREE admission to the Figge upon presentation of your UIMS donor card or UI ID.

--Maggie Anderson, UIMA Marketing and Media Manager