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UMMA’s Impact Report

Photo by Mark Gjukich

UMMA puts art and ideas at the center of campus and public life. UMMA’s mission is to enrich our understanding of one another, foster joy, and build a more just future. Through exhibitions, programs, research, and community partnerships we are redefining what a campus museum can be.

Here’s a glimpse into how we harnessed the power of art in 2022-2023

15
Exhibitions
9%
Increase in checked-in visitors
100,000
Online exhibition visitors
10,000
UMMA Members

I am thrilled to share this report on all that we accomplished at UMMA in 2022-2023, and to highlight the impact that our work has had on our communities across the campus, Michigan, and beyond. We are working hard to live up to UMMA’s mission and to realize an ambitious future for the Museum. We’re collaborating with and serving communities who have been historically excluded by arts institutions, illuminating and conveying stories that have been undertold, and creating experiences with art that bring joy and delight. We’re looking forward to 2024, and to more opportunities to join with you and our diverse publics as we make UMMA a vibrant and dynamic hub for connecting with art and one another.

Christina Olsen
Director

Enriching Our Understanding

From creating platforms for diverse voices and viewpoints to setting the stage for deep levels of inquiry, UMMA’s exhibitions and programs in 2022-2023 brought new ideas, joy, and connection to our communities.

28,400
Guests at in-person and virtual events
4,700
University students engaged
20%
Class visits in STEM or Social Science
59
Collaborators in UMMA public programs

I was completely inexperienced in the analyzing of art. I understood how it could be helpful but had never personally done it. To do it in person and listen to others doing it in person really opened my eyes…

Anonymous, University of Michigan Student

Foster
Joy

Whether it was by helping you find your own voice or just having fun through innovative creative expression, in 2022-23 UMMA’s projects and events increased the world’s supply of joy and delight.

The students LOVED (the tour) and learned so much. They were inspired by the sights, smells, sounds and space. They came back to school buzzing with lots of good conversations and so much creative energy.

Detroit Achievement Academy tour, February 2023

Build a More Just Future

We believe that art is a fundamental human right and that equity must be central to everything UMMA does. In 2022-23 we expanded collaborations and deepened relationships with indigenous communities, artists from underrepresented backgrounds, university and K-12 students, and so many more individuals, groups, and communities.

19
K-12 classes visited UMMA for the first time
1,120
K-12 students visited from Title 1 schools
$17,000+
Paid to UMMA’s Student Advisory Board members
3,727
Ballots cast at UMMA during the 2022 Midterm Elections

The most interesting thing about our class visit to UMMA was the variety of art (and artists) we were exposed to, engaged with, and critically studied from a social justice perspective.

Anonymous University of Michigan student

FY 23 Giving

More than 1/3 of UMMA’s annual budget comes from donor support–from one-time gifts of all sizes, to ongoing support for exhibitions and programs, to sustaining income from endowed funds. We couldn’t do it without you! None of this great and important work happens without the support of our dedicated members, donors, and other funders. UMMA is able to change lives and re-imagine what a campus art museum can be because of the generous support from so many in our local community, the region, and across the globe.

$2M
New cash gifts and pledges
526
Donors to UMMA's annual giving funds
$360K
In support of UMMA’s projects from U-M units

Notable Acquisitions

Frederick Ebenezer Okai, When Gods Speak, Heaven Listens, 2022, Clay, duvet, light, nylon rope, metal wire, polyurethane glue, Museum purchase made possible by the Director's Acquisition Committee, 2022
Matthew Angelo Harrison, Celestial Tower, 2021, Wooden sculpture and tinted polyurethane resin, Museum purchase made possible by Wayee Chu and Ethan Beard, 2022
A collage of clothes, stitched together within a broken, gilded frame
Suchitra Mattai, Bodies and souls, 2021, fabric (salwar kameez and saris), metallic thread, and sequins on vintage frame. Museum Purchase made possible by the Director's Acquisition Committee, 2022, 2022/1.55E. © Suchitra Mattai
A collage of clothes, stitched together within a broken, gilded frame
Jarod Lew, Consumption of Love (Eugene, Miyi, and Qun), from the series Please Take Off Your Shoes, 2020, Archival pigment print, 44 x 36 inches, Museum purchase made possible by the UMMA Director’s Acquisition Committee, 2023
Catherine Opie, Justin Bond, 1993, C-print, 40 x 30 inches, Museum purchase made possible by the UMMA Director’s Acquisition Committee, 2023
McArthur Binion, Self:Portrait, 2022, Ink, paint stick and paper on board, 84 x 84 in, Museum purchase made possible by Joseph and Annette Allen

Your Support Matters Most!

None of the important work UMMA does would be possible without the support of incredibly dedicated members and donors such as you. UMMA is able to change lives and re-imagine what a campus art museum can mean for its community because of the generous support from people around the world–people like you.

Thank you for supporting our mission in so many ways—by visiting the Museum, by participating in our virtual programs, sharing news about UMMA with friends and family, and through your financial support—we couldn’t do it without you!

If you are able, please consider making a gift to help us continue this important work!

Make a Gift

FY23 exhibition support provided by:

Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch, Erica Gervais Pappendick and Ted Pappendick, Joseph and Annette Allen, the William C. Weese Program for Ceramic Arts at UMMA, U-M Credit Union Arts Adventures Program, the Eleanor Noyes Crumpacker Endowment Fund, Richard and Rosann Noel Endowment, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Japan World Exposition 1970 Commemorative Fund, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, James M. Trapp, Nancy and Joe Keithley, the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, Susan and Richard Gutow, Japan Foundation, Bendit and Mark Bernstein, Max Wicha and Sheila Crowley, Destination Ann Arbor, Oxford Companies, and Ilene H. Forsyth Theater Endowment Fund at UMS.

Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch, Erica Gervais Pappendick and Ted Pappendick, Joseph and Annette Allen, the William C. Weese Program for Ceramic Arts at UMMA, U-M Credit Union Arts Adventures Program, the Eleanor Noyes Crumpacker Endowment Fund, Richard and Rosann Noel Endowment, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Japan World Exposition 1970 Commemorative Fund, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, James M. Trapp, Nancy and Joe Keithley, the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, Susan and Richard Gutow, Japan Foundation, Bendit and Mark Bernstein, Max Wicha and Sheila Crowley, Destination Ann Arbor, Oxford Companies, and Ilene H. Forsyth Theater Endowment Fund at UMS.

 

Image Credits

  • Photo by Mark Gjukich
  • Photo by Mark Gjukich
  • Photo by UMMA Staff
  • Suchitra Mattai, Bodies and souls, 2021, fabric (salwar kameez and saris), metallic thread, and sequins on vintage frame. Museum Purchase made possible by the Director’s Acquisition Committee, 2022, 2022/1.55E. © Suchitra Mattai
  • Photo by Marc-Grégor Campredon
  • Photo by Mark Gjukich
  • Photo by Mark Gjukich
  • Photo by Liz Barney
  • Photo by Mark Gjukich
  • Photo by Liz Barney
  • Photo by UMMA Staff
  • Photo by Mark Gjukich
  • Photo by Mark Gjukich
  • Photo by Dominick Sokotoff
  • Photo by Jeri Hollister and Patrick Young, Michigan Imaging
  • Photo by Bailey Holiver
  • Photo by by Mark Gjukich