Western Spirit fosters relationships with colleges and universities across Arizona and beyond. Recently, a fund was started to honor the legacy of one of our founding couples, Sandy and Jim Bruner. The mission of the Bruner Scholars Fund is to provide students in Arizona’s higher education system who have an interest in Western Studies with opportunities to complement their classroom learning through engagement at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, where they will be immersed in stories of the North American West, illuminating the past to shape the future.
I am so grateful to all the donors who contributed to this fund. Thanks to their generosity, we will be able to bring in a student scholar to work with our curatorial/exhibitions/registrarial team this Fall. As an adjunct professor, and lifelong learner, I am acutely aware of the value of new information and fresh ideas. I constantly learn from my students; my teaching influences my daily practice far more than my daily practice does my teaching.
Reminders help to reawaken us to the privileges we enjoy in our work. I have worked with art and artists for more than three decades; over time becoming desensitized to the unique and extraordinary aspects of my job. Students remind me what is possible; they turn the tables on me and ask the “why” and “so what” questions I seldom allow myself the time to consider.
Why are those questions important to ask in museum practice? As we become accustomed to doing – or viewing – things in a certain way, we can forget that audiences shift and change along with our society. Fresh perspectives are vital to ensuring we remain relevant, and that we actively engage audiences in our mission, asking questions such as what it means to be a ‘Westerner,’ what makes a work of art ‘Western,’ and what role museums can play in shaping the future of the region.
Join us in dialogue about these questions and more!
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