Chad Ruger and Professor Fidalis Buehler, Department of Visual Arts
We started by networking with colleges around the state and have established five new locations; 2 spaces in Snow College, 2 at Weber State, and 1 at Utah Valley University. We are currently constructing the spaces and all of the existing spaces and newly constructed spaces will go on display here in the HFAC and then be shipped out to their respective locations. We will be inviting students to participate for this opening show and will really strive to publicize and get people participating.
We have taken the time to write up a mission statement, establish a web site, as well as a small manual complete with policy and procedures for running the program. It will be included with this report.
The management over the program has been primarily performed by the Gallery 303 Staff, but we are currently working out details so that James Swenson’s Art History Capstone Class can take over the management in the Fall and Winter Semesters, with plans to turn Summer management of the spaces into an internship for Visual Arts students.
We have been able to get additional funding approved from the department for the development of the program as well as for the development of the student managers. With the additional funds, we have been able to visit other galleries around the area and view firsthand how they manage and display in the their galleries.
The funds have been utilized thus far for travel and networking, as well as to purchase the materials to fabricate the spaces. Snow College and Weber have also agreed to match cost for their second spaces.
Right now the prerogative for the Student Managers is to start recruiting student artists to get the participation rolling with the program. We will be doing small advertising campaigns at each school to make sure that we get as much involvement as possible.
Once the intercollegiate phase is completed and running, we will move on to additional phases that will greatly increase the ability of the university to better serve the students. A complete breakdown of the phases of the program are included in the master document and clearly shows that we have continued vision and high expectations for this wonderful program.
Thank you for the funding that helped get this project off the ground! We are continuing to use the generous funds to expand this wonderful program and are grateful for the flexibility that this ORCA Grant has provided us.