DAYTON, OH.- The Dayton Art Institute announced results for 2011 and previewed 2012 at its annual meeting, held Wednesday, February 15, in the museum’s Shaw Gothic Cloister.
In a year that saw many changes at The Dayton Art Institute, it was reported that the museum ended 2011 on budget. The museum’s two largest fundraisers, Art Ball and Oktoberfest, netted more than $360,000, exceeding projections for both revenue and attendance. The year ended with the successful Norman Rockwell exhibition, American Chronicles, which brought more than 44,000 visitors to the museum.
New members of the museum’s Board of Trustees were introduced at the meeting: Tracy Bieser, community volunteer; Edward J. Blake, Miller-Valentine Group; and Bill Lukens, Stillwater Technologies, Inc.
Jennifer Austin Jennings of Dayton was announced as the recipient of the museum’s eleventh annual Pamela P. Houk Award for Excellence in Art Education. Jennings received the award in recognition of her dedication and commitment to art education. For more than a decade she has taught and mentored young students in her home-studio, offering classes for a variety of ages, levels and abilities, nurturing the creative potential in each individual child and developing specialized programs to assist children with special needs such as autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. She has been involved in teaching the visual arts at a variety of art centers in the Miami Valley, including the Fitton Center for Creative Arts in Hamilton, Rosewood Arts Centre in Kettering, and The Dayton Art Institute. In the near future she is planning to publish a book based on drawing techniques for children which she has developed.
Dayton Art Institute Executive Director Michael R. Roediger and Associate Director Jane A. Black previewed the museum’s upcoming 2012 season, which includes the special exhibitions Changing Landscapes: Contemporary Chinese Fiber Art, Maya Lin: Flow, and Stephen Knapp: Lightpaintings.
As part of the 2012 preview celebration and a connection to the upcoming Changing Landscapes exhibition, three Chinese dragon robes from the museum’s permanent collection, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, were displayed during the annual meeting. Black emphasized that focusing on the museum’s permanent collection and connecting it to special exhibitions will continue to be one of The Dayton Art Institute’s core values in 2012 and beyond.
Roediger also discussed his emphasis on making The Dayton Art Institute an inclusive community gathering place for celebrations of all kinds during 2012, with a focus on the “Four R’s”: resources, relationships, relevance and revenue.
