History
The Leland Stanford Jr. Museum opened in 1894, one of the few founded by a private family with a general art collection. By 1905 the museum would be known for its collection of Asian art. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake would level two wings of the building; destroying the Roman, Egyptian and Asian galleries. Three-quarters of the building were damaged beyond repair. The earthquake, coupled with the death of co-founder Jane Stanford, affected the museums budget. The museum failed to have its own endowment outside of the University, and faculty and administration failed to express interest in saving the museum to focus on academic concerns post-earthquake. The building would fall into heavy disrepair and curatorial duties would eventually stop.
Eventually the museum's space would be used by natural science departments, before eventually closing in 1945. The museums collection was inventoried and works of less interest and "aesthetic merit" were deaccessioned. While many works of less interest were released, a number of the original works from the Stanford family collection were deaccessioned due to the aesthetic taste of the 1950s. In May 1951, 2,000 visitors were welcomed into the museum for a two-day trial visit. This allowed the museum to examine its role within the community in order to help it decide if it should re-open due to community interest. In 1953 the Committee for Art at Stanford was founded, with intentions of raising funds and developing members to re-open the museum. The museum would work for the next 24 years to expand and conserve its collection, develop programming, educational services and publications.
In 1985, professor Albert Elsen worked with art collector B. Gerald Cantor, and other donors, to open the B. Gerald Cantor Rodin Sculpture Garden. The museum would again be victim to another earthquake, the Loma Prieta. Severe damage caused the museum to close in 1989. Stanford hired Thomas K. Seligman in 1991 to direct the rebuilding of the museum. Seligman would lead in redefining the museum as an arts center, stress the institution's opportunity to educate Stanford's students, school children and the wider public.
The museum would reopen in 1999 as the Iris & Gerald Cantor Center for the Visual Arts and in July 2005 the museum had its one millionth visitor.
Read more about this topic: Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center For Visual Arts
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