Harvard University Art Museums Launch Lecture Series by Leading Museum Directors

Art Museums and the Public’s Trust Continues Harvard University Art Museums’ Ongoing Leadership Role in Training Scholars and Professionals

Cambridge, MA – October 26, 2001 – The Harvard University Art Museums have established Art Museums and the Public’s Trust, a new initiative that will provide a forum for leading museum directors to explore issues affecting the museum community. Art Museums and the Public’s Trust will consist of a series of lectures by leading museum directors examining the changing nature of museums, audience interpretation, governing authority, and other related topics. Among the program participants are John Walsh, director emeritus of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Glenn D. Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Art Museums and the Public’s Trust is the latest initiative reflecting the Harvard University Art Museums’ commitment to providing opportunities for professional and scholarly development. It was launched on October 16 with a lecture by Neil MacGregor, director of the National Gallery in London.

Art Museums and the Public’s Trust is one component of Harvard University’s and the Art Museums’ training programs for individuals who are pursuing or who have already established careers as museum professionals in areas of conservation, curatorship, and museum administration. Art Museums and the Public’s Trust is complemented by the Harvard University Program for Art Museum Directors, which helps develop the leadership skills of museum professionals. The Art Museums are also home to a curatorial internship program that provides students with access to state-of-the art facilities and trends in university-based art history teaching and research.

Art Museums and the Public’s Trust is designed to explore the challenges and complex issues that confront leaders in the museum community. New initiatives, such as the Guggenheim and the Hermitage museums’ joint venture in partnership with a Las Vegas casino, will extend the reach of museums to nontraditional audiences. This and other museum initiatives will serve as points of departure for participants to explore critical questions: What is the role of an art museum in society today? What is the nature of its public trust? Are there risks not worth taking in pursuit of popularity?

Directors participating in this initiative include:

• Neil MacGregor, The National Gallery, London (October 16);

• James Cuno, Harvard University Art Museums (November 1);

• John Walsh, director emeritus, J. Paul Getty Museum (January 23);

• James N. Wood, Art Institute of Chicago (February 27);

• Anne d’Harnoncourt, Philadelphia Museum of Art (March 13);

• Glenn D. Lowry, The Museum of Modern Art (April 10);

• Philippe de Montebello, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (May 22).

The lectures will take place in the fall of 2001 through the spring of 2002; the series will culminate in a roundtable discussion among participants in summer of 2002. The lectures will take place in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum Lecture Hall and will be free and open to the public

The Art Museums’ legacy of shaping generations of leaders and scholars in the museum field began with the pivotal "museum course" at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum. The museum course was created in 1921 by Paul Sachs, the renowned Fogg Art Museum associate director, who led the course for 25 years. Today, the Harvard University Program for Art Museum Directors and the curatorial internship program continue the Harvard University Art Museums’ leadership role. These programs provide a rich historical context for Art Museums and the Public’s Trust, which underscores the seminal role that the Harvard University Art Museums play in the training of future museum professionals and scholars.

"No university has been more influential in shaping museum leadership, in this country or in many other countries, than Harvard," noted James Cuno, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director, Harvard University Art Museums. "The creation of Art Museums and the Public’s Trust builds upon our commitment to equipping art museum professionals with the skills needed to meet today’s challenges and to inspiring these individuals to assume positions of leadership within the profession."

About the Harvard University Art Museums
The Harvard University Art Museums are among the world’s leading arts institutions, with the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Fogg Art Museum, the Straus Center for Conservation, the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art, and the U.S. headquarters for the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, Turkey.

The Harvard University Art Museums are distinguished by the range and depth of their collections, their groundbreaking exhibitions, and the original research of their staff. As an integral part of the Harvard community, the three art museums serve as a resource for all students, adding a special dimension to their areas of study. The public is encouraged to experience the collections and exhibitions as well as to enjoy lectures, symposia, and other programs.

For more than a century, the Harvard University Art Museums have been the nation’s premier training ground for museum professionals and scholars and are renowned for their role in the development of the discipline of art history in this country.

Location and Hours
The Fogg Art Museum and Busch-Reisinger Museum are located at 32 Quincy St., the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at 485 Broadway, and the Sert Gallery is at 24 Quincy St. They are a short walk from the Harvard Square MBTA subway station.

Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The museums are closed on national holidays. Admission is $5; $4 for seniors and $3 for students; The museums are free to those under 18 and to everyone all day on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, 10 a.m. until noon. More detailed information is available on the Internet at www.artmuseums.harvard.edu.

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