The 1980s were the museum's most prosperous era since the 1920s despite its occasional disputes w... more The 1980s were the museum's most prosperous era since the 1920s despite its occasional disputes with Young. Buoyed by ever higher allocations from the state, the museum spent freely on exhibitions, including several it originated such as Puppets: Art and Entertainment based largely on its extensive and highly regarded holdings; the acquisition of many significant works, the Chandler-Pohrt collection of over 750 Native American objects among the most notable and transformative (Fig. 4.1); and the completion of renovations improving galleries, public facilities, and visitor access (Fig. 4.2). The museum's leadership looked forward to the museum's centenary in 1985 with optimism fueled by state pledges to mark the occasion with several years of additional allocations. As a result, the museum began strategic planning for the centenary that utilized visitor surveys and demographic studies, one of which reported a "high incidence of closed galleries." The Arts Commission, believing the increased state aid had solved the museum's guard shortages, was surprised and convened a special meeting to address the matter. Figures compiled from daily reports on the percentages of galleries open during a one-week period, May 1982, were presented at the meeting. Based on the numbers, the staff calculated that due to "the present guard level," only 70-75 percent of the galleries were open on average. Commissioners saw the problem as one of communication and asked if information on gallery closures was available
Just as the DMA trustees were preparing to dissolve their nonprofit corporation, a seemingly mino... more Just as the DMA trustees were preparing to dissolve their nonprofit corporation, a seemingly minor problem surfaced. It had about $27,000 in acquisition endowments and cash. Because the endowments were structured as trusts administered by the museum’s board, it was unclear whether or not, from a legal or fiscal standpoint, the city could oversee the endowments and utilize their investment income. The trustees tabled the question—and the dissolution of their nonprofit—until early 1920 when Ferry, who had returned from the war and was elected the trustees’ new president, could consider it. He proposed the DMA nonprofit corporation be continued, not only to administer the existing endowments, but to solicit and administer future donations, cultivate public interest in art, coordinate with the DIA, and purchase art for it with income from memberships and contributions. Ferry’s proposal was unanimously approved.1
The Founders Society’s involvement in museum affairs continued to grow well beyond buying art and... more The Founders Society’s involvement in museum affairs continued to grow well beyond buying art and as its activities expanded it began to hire ever more employees. To supervise them the Society appointed its first full-time executive in 1960, a step that enabled the Society to articulate and pursue its goals more efficiently. But in doing so with a privately paid staff working in the museum alongside city-paid staff, the change fostered confusion about lines of authority and spheres of responsibility. An instance arose after a Flemish art exhibition in the late 1960 when Richardson recommended to the mayor continuation of a public relations arrangement that successfully promoted it. The city had appropriated special funds for a temporary museum publicist who liaised with Detroit’s public relations staff, and the Society matched the appropriation, on a nearly three-dollars-to-one basis, to amplify the exhibit’s advertising. Following its successful conclusion, the Society established ...
Little in Detroit’s origins suggests it might create one of America’s largest and most distinguis... more Little in Detroit’s origins suggests it might create one of America’s largest and most distinguished art museums. The city began as a settlement along the western side of a waterway that became a route for westward expansion and trade through the chain of “great lakes” from the Atlantic coast to the American interior. Eventually called the Detroit River, it not only connects Lake St. Clair on the north with Lake Erie toward the south, it also provides a comparatively narrow crossing point from the east—now the Canadian province of Ontario—to the west—now Michigan. The strategic importance of this intersection of water and land passages was first recognized by French explorers who established a frontier trading post and fortification there in 1701 that came to be known as Detroit two years later. For another sixty years the French governed the slowly growing settlement until it was conquered by the British who remained more or less in control until they were forced out by the United ...
Since the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s and the free-market resurgence of the 1980s, Am... more Since the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s and the free-market resurgence of the 1980s, American society has been enmeshed in a continuing process of profound change. Economic change has been oriented around the regulation of business, the information and telecommunication revolutions, and widening roles played by women and minority groups. Authors in the innovation area will assess how America arrived at its current position of technological dominance that is nonetheless under pressure from institutions that arguably are not well-configured for the future. Regulatory and legal historians will evaluate the reasons for concurrent regulatory breakdown and overreach in industries ranging from finance and health care to energy and land use. Finally, researchers working at the intersection of society and economic history will explore continuing struggles around issues of gender, ethnicity, and family structure, and the distribution of income, wealth, and political power. The series will address topics of interest to scholars, undergraduate and graduate students, and general readers drawn to the interplay of economics and cultural issues. Series contributors will be economics and business historians, or economists working with historians.
'I'm: DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS is one of America's largest and oldest... more 'I'm: DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS is one of America's largest and oldest munici-pal art museums. However, even as the museum grew into a distinguished collec-tion, there were threats of closure. The DIA has walked a financial tightrope since it opened just over a century ...
The 1980s were the museum's most prosperous era since the 1920s despite its occasional disputes w... more The 1980s were the museum's most prosperous era since the 1920s despite its occasional disputes with Young. Buoyed by ever higher allocations from the state, the museum spent freely on exhibitions, including several it originated such as Puppets: Art and Entertainment based largely on its extensive and highly regarded holdings; the acquisition of many significant works, the Chandler-Pohrt collection of over 750 Native American objects among the most notable and transformative (Fig. 4.1); and the completion of renovations improving galleries, public facilities, and visitor access (Fig. 4.2). The museum's leadership looked forward to the museum's centenary in 1985 with optimism fueled by state pledges to mark the occasion with several years of additional allocations. As a result, the museum began strategic planning for the centenary that utilized visitor surveys and demographic studies, one of which reported a "high incidence of closed galleries." The Arts Commission, believing the increased state aid had solved the museum's guard shortages, was surprised and convened a special meeting to address the matter. Figures compiled from daily reports on the percentages of galleries open during a one-week period, May 1982, were presented at the meeting. Based on the numbers, the staff calculated that due to "the present guard level," only 70-75 percent of the galleries were open on average. Commissioners saw the problem as one of communication and asked if information on gallery closures was available
Just as the DMA trustees were preparing to dissolve their nonprofit corporation, a seemingly mino... more Just as the DMA trustees were preparing to dissolve their nonprofit corporation, a seemingly minor problem surfaced. It had about $27,000 in acquisition endowments and cash. Because the endowments were structured as trusts administered by the museum’s board, it was unclear whether or not, from a legal or fiscal standpoint, the city could oversee the endowments and utilize their investment income. The trustees tabled the question—and the dissolution of their nonprofit—until early 1920 when Ferry, who had returned from the war and was elected the trustees’ new president, could consider it. He proposed the DMA nonprofit corporation be continued, not only to administer the existing endowments, but to solicit and administer future donations, cultivate public interest in art, coordinate with the DIA, and purchase art for it with income from memberships and contributions. Ferry’s proposal was unanimously approved.1
The Founders Society’s involvement in museum affairs continued to grow well beyond buying art and... more The Founders Society’s involvement in museum affairs continued to grow well beyond buying art and as its activities expanded it began to hire ever more employees. To supervise them the Society appointed its first full-time executive in 1960, a step that enabled the Society to articulate and pursue its goals more efficiently. But in doing so with a privately paid staff working in the museum alongside city-paid staff, the change fostered confusion about lines of authority and spheres of responsibility. An instance arose after a Flemish art exhibition in the late 1960 when Richardson recommended to the mayor continuation of a public relations arrangement that successfully promoted it. The city had appropriated special funds for a temporary museum publicist who liaised with Detroit’s public relations staff, and the Society matched the appropriation, on a nearly three-dollars-to-one basis, to amplify the exhibit’s advertising. Following its successful conclusion, the Society established ...
Little in Detroit’s origins suggests it might create one of America’s largest and most distinguis... more Little in Detroit’s origins suggests it might create one of America’s largest and most distinguished art museums. The city began as a settlement along the western side of a waterway that became a route for westward expansion and trade through the chain of “great lakes” from the Atlantic coast to the American interior. Eventually called the Detroit River, it not only connects Lake St. Clair on the north with Lake Erie toward the south, it also provides a comparatively narrow crossing point from the east—now the Canadian province of Ontario—to the west—now Michigan. The strategic importance of this intersection of water and land passages was first recognized by French explorers who established a frontier trading post and fortification there in 1701 that came to be known as Detroit two years later. For another sixty years the French governed the slowly growing settlement until it was conquered by the British who remained more or less in control until they were forced out by the United ...
Since the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s and the free-market resurgence of the 1980s, Am... more Since the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s and the free-market resurgence of the 1980s, American society has been enmeshed in a continuing process of profound change. Economic change has been oriented around the regulation of business, the information and telecommunication revolutions, and widening roles played by women and minority groups. Authors in the innovation area will assess how America arrived at its current position of technological dominance that is nonetheless under pressure from institutions that arguably are not well-configured for the future. Regulatory and legal historians will evaluate the reasons for concurrent regulatory breakdown and overreach in industries ranging from finance and health care to energy and land use. Finally, researchers working at the intersection of society and economic history will explore continuing struggles around issues of gender, ethnicity, and family structure, and the distribution of income, wealth, and political power. The series will address topics of interest to scholars, undergraduate and graduate students, and general readers drawn to the interplay of economics and cultural issues. Series contributors will be economics and business historians, or economists working with historians.
'I'm: DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS is one of America's largest and oldest... more 'I'm: DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS is one of America's largest and oldest munici-pal art museums. However, even as the museum grew into a distinguished collec-tion, there were threats of closure. The DIA has walked a financial tightrope since it opened just over a century ...
Uploads
Papers by Jeffrey Abt