December 19, 2000

Contact: Andrea Norris, Spencer Museum of Art, (785) 864-4710.

KU art museum enjoys another record year

LAWRENCE -- "The Gilded Age" contributed to a golden year for the University of Kansas Spencer Museum of Art.

Attendance at the art museum climbed again in 2000, due in part to a popular visiting exhibit -- "The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum" -- and related special events.

The Smithsonian exhibit, which highlighted American paintings and sculpture of the late 19th century, was at the art museum from Sept. 22 to Nov. 19. During that period, more than 25,000 people visited the museum.

"The 'Gilded Age' show brought people in from throughout the region," said Andrea Norris, museum director. "It was a particularly interesting exhibition for a very broad audience."

In November, the art museum's attendance was 12,037 -- far outpacing the November 1999 total of 7,624. The November attendance also broke the previous monthly records of 10,855 guests in October 1999 and 11,569 in October of this year.

These numbers contributed to another annual attendance record for the museum. Attendance for 2000 was 83,266 at the end of November, already surpassing the 1999 total of 77,127. That continues an annual upward trend: total attendance was 54,693 in 1998 and 46,323 in 1997.

In addition to more off-campus visitors, KU's art museum has seen an increase in the number of student guests.

"Quite a few people across campus in varied departments are using the museum in their regular courses," Norris said.

Faculty members and other instructors are encouraged to use the art museum as a resource, she said. In fact, the museum offers a special program for faculty who want to learn more about art history and how to incorporate the museum in coursework.

The art museum's current feature exhibit is "A Writer's Vision: Prints and Drawings by Gunter Grass," which will be on display through Dec. 30.

Spring semester exhibitions include "Contemporary Art from Cuba: Irony and Survival on the Utopian Island," Jan. 13 to March 18, and "Ming Painting Through the Eyes of Connoisseurs," Jan. 20 to March 4.