Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art celebrates 40th anniversary with exhibition

The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a new exhibition on display from Feb. 5 to Dec. 17. 

The exhibition “Looking Backward & Forward” will consist of two parts: 40 pieces of art to represent 40 years since the founding of the NEHMA and 35 pieces that will be gifted to the museum in the coming months. 

Bolton Colburn, the curator of collections and exhibitions, searched through more than 5,500 objects in the NEHMA’s collections database and chose one to represent each year, including both the first and most recent object accessioned into the collection. 

“I’ve chosen a combination of things that are iconic to the collection, along with some things that are lesser known and not seen as often,” Colburn said, “but they do cover a pretty broad range timewise as the collection does, going from about 1920 to close to 2019.” 

In the looking forward portion of the exhibition, works from the personal collection of George C. Wanlass, the great-nephew of Nora Eccles Harrison, will be on display.  

Wanlass has gifted art to the museum since its opening, and he plans to donate his personal collection to the NEHMA after the opening of its new facility: the NEHMA Art Research and Education Center. 

“His personal collection compliments our collection very well,” said Katie Lee-Koven, the executive director and chief curator of the NEHMA. “He plans to gift his collection to the museum when this new facility — once it’s built. So we borrowed some works that he plans to give us that will fill gaps in our collection.”  

Colburn said he mainly chose paintings from early Utah artists to display from Wanlass’ collection. 

“We do have a few pieces from that same period but nothing as strong or as wonderful as what he has,” Colburn said. 

Phil Weber

Wanlass was invited to speak at an anniversary reception on Jan. 29 but, due to rising cases of the coronavirus, it was postponed. Lee-Koven said she anticipates the rescheduled reception will take place in early March. 

Wanlass, as well as collectors Driek and Michael Zirinsky from Boise, Idaho, will speak at the reception about the artworks they have donated to the NEHMA. 

“When I get to listen to collectors talk about things they’ve acquired — those are the stories that are fun to hear,” Lee-Koven said. “Because oftentimes there’s a story behind the artwork — how they came to learn about the artwork, if they met the artist. There’s always a story.” 

Lee-Koven said the museum’s mission is to “foster engagement with modern and contemporary art.” One way the museum does this is by hosting these events with collectors, artists, professors and other experts who can discuss art in an interdisciplinary way.  

“Art is created by people, and people live in a time and a place, and they’re interested in what’s around them, and they’re responding to that and their creative process,” Lee-Koven said. “So the natural sort of progression or opportunity for us as a museum is to think about programs, discussions and such that can approach a piece of artwork from various angles, and bring different people together.”  

The events and exhibitions hosted at the NEHMA are free to the public, and Lee-Koven said she is always telling students to take advantage of the museum.  

 “This is your museum,” Lee-Koven said. “You don’t have to come just because your class assignment brings you here, OK? Come on a date night or with some friends.”  

And the NEHMA isn’t just for students looking for a place for date night. Lee-Koven said the museum regularly employs around 10-15 students.  

Shaylee Briones is the visitor services coordinator at the NEHMA. She started working at the NEHMA in 2019 as an attendant and was promoted to her current position last summer. She is also a full-time student studying history and art history, as well as earning a museum studies certificate.  

 “NEHMA has given me opportunities to understand how museums work and to help me work really closely with a lot of different types of museum work, like the curator and the registrar and also with marketing and education,” Briones said. “It’s also helped me understand what I want to go into.” 

Briones suggests students interested in working as attendants apply at the beginning of each semester. The NEHMA also offers both paid and for-credit internships. More information can be found at artmuseum.usu.edu/get-involved.