Museum Purchase Party

The Purchase Party allows Museum members to choose the Art Museum’s next acquisition from among a pre-selected group of artworks on display. The champagne and dessert party is free of charge and open to the public, but only Museum members may cast votes.

This year’s Party will feature works by Puerto Rican and Diasporican artists, several of whom were featured in the Museum’s exhibition (R)evolution: Identity and Power in Puerto Rican and Diasporican Art (Spring 2024). Art Museum Director and Curator Ann H. Sievers has selected the pieces, any one of which would be a significant addition to the Museum’s permanent collection. The art is displayed without any indication of price, so as to encourage members to weigh each work’s aesthetic merit and usefulness to the collection. The evening of the Purchase Party, the Museum’s Director will discuss each piece, explaining how it would enhance the collection. Members will then cast a secret ballot for their first choice and the winner will be announced. The art will be purchased with funds set aside from a portion of membership dues from Friends of the Art Museum. Subsequent ballots will be cast if the first acquisition does not exhaust the fund and if there are artworks that can be acquired with the remaining balance.

It will be possible to join Friends of the Art Museum right up until voting begins on the evening of November 10. This year, if you sign up for a membership the evening of the Purchase Party, you will be entered into a drawing for an original work of art by Hartford photographer Butch Wandy. Memberships are tax-deductible and available at a range of levels (individual, senior, family, etc.). For more information, contact Rochelle Oakley, Collections Manager/Registrar, at 860.231.5743 or [email protected].

Host or Publisher Art Museum, University of Saint Joseph