How a Successful Collecting Society Can Transform an Art Museum: A History of the Georgia Welles Apollo Society at the Toledo Museum of Art

摘要

Successful collecting societies transform museums through the expansion and strengthening of an institution's permanent collection. The Georgia Welles Apollo Society at the Toledo Museum of Art is an example of a successful society whose collective efforts have brought major works of art to the Museum through the active engagement of the membership. Since 1986, the Society has collectively voted to fund the acquisition of over fifty-seven major works ranging from ancient to contemporary art. Contributions include works by notable artists including Chuck Close, Dale Chihuly, Alfred Stieglitz, Yinka Shonibare, Mary Sibande, Maya Lin, Robert Arneson, Vilhelm Hammershoi, Andrea Palladio, and Jasper Frances Cropsey. As a whole, these gifts have impacted the museum in their totality, breadth, and significance. Through archival study and oral history, this research brings together the history of the Society for the first time. In the following history of the Society, critical moments of the Society's development are examined in order to analyze and explore best practices, as well as to discover the realistic challenges that possibly all societies encounter. Georgia Welles, the founder of the Society, still leads the Society today. Her story is portrayed to highlight the dedication of a key individual, a person who is necessary for a collecting group's development and overall success. Additionally, through a detailed examination of the 2012/2013 year in the area of global contemporary art, the annual program of events and meetings are analyzed. Currently, no other histories of art museum collecting societies have been published. This research sets an example for more institutions to publish the history and impact of their existing societies.