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

Landis, Tamra R.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522759729069838

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Art/Art History.
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 Hammershøi, 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.
Andrew Hershberger, PhD (Advisor)
Sean Leatherbury, PhD (Committee Chair)
132 p.
Art History; Fine Arts; History; Museum Studies; Museums
The Georgia Welles Apollo Society; Toledo Museum of Art; collecting society; art museums; collections; global contemporary art; contemporary art; ancient art; oral history; art acquisition; collecting practices; collection growth; patrons; curators

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Landis, T. R. (2018). How a Successful Collecting Society Can Transform an Art Museum: A History of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society at the Toledo Museum of Art [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522759729069838

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Landis, Tamra. How a Successful Collecting Society Can Transform an Art Museum: A History of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society at the Toledo Museum of Art. 2018. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522759729069838.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Landis, Tamra. "How a Successful Collecting Society Can Transform an Art Museum: A History of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society at the Toledo Museum of Art." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522759729069838

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1522759729069838
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© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.