Cleary University is proud to announce its collaboration with the Museum Studies Program at the University of Michigan to re envision the collection stewardship of the Arthur Secunda Museum on the Cleary campus in Howell. Cleary University is the site of the largest collection of Arthur Secunda’s art in the entire world.
The Capstone Project, through the University of Michigan Museum Studies program and in partnership with Cleary, will focus on researching other academic and single-artists to benchmark collection policies and their scope, and begin a storage redesign process for better care and greater accessibility of the museum’s art collection.
Cleary recently was awarded a Save America’s Treasures grant of $320,000 to preserve, enrich and enhance the collection of more than 800 paintings, prints and other artwork created by Detroit-raised and internationally acclaimed American artist Arthur Secunda.
As part of the grant, Cleary hired Suzanne Fischer, PhD, as curator of the Arthur Secunda Museum. Dr. Fischer will oversee the Capstone Project, working in conjunction with Deidre L.C. Hennebury, associate director of the Museum Studies Program at U-M, and three of the program’s graduate certificate students.
“I am looking forward to raising awareness of this great artist and the museum on Cleary’s campus by preserving, maintaining and sharing these collections,” Dr. Fischer says. “Working with the prestigious Museum Studies Program at the University of Michigan truly will help Cleary reach its goal of advancing a long-term preservation and enhancement plan for the Arthur Secunda Museum collections, which will be treasured for future generations. Working alongside the Museum Studies students at U of M will help Cleary rethink how it collects, displays and stores museum collections.”
“The U of M Museum Studies Program is delighted to be able to collaborate with Cleary University and the Secunda Museum on this Capstone Project,” announces Dr. Hennebury. “A month into the project, our student team already is benefiting from their conversations with Dr. Fischer and gaining valuable insights into professional museum practice. We look forward to supporting the important work that Cleary is doing to preserve and promote this unique collection and are grateful for the opportunity to assist.”
Graduate students in The Museum Studies Program at the University of Michigan have opportunities – like the one at the Arthur Secunda Museum – to study and examine museum history, theory and practice. Through Capstone projects, students can work alongside professional staff in museums across Michigan, providing support in many facets of museum work, including collections.
“At Cleary, we are advancing our best practices plan to exhibit more and different art from Secunda’s collection; evaluate the possibility of collecting pieces from other Michigan artists; place our catalogue online; develop a collections storage system for better care and easier access to the collections; and identify how to deepen our community relationships to connect more people to the Arthur Secunda Museum and Cleary University,” Dr. Fischer explains. “We hope they will find inspiration in this artist’s creativity, his story and his life.”
“We are telling the Arthur Secunda story on the walls of his museum at Cleary; he has many more stories to share, and we will continue to explore how to engage visitors with these stories,” Dr. Fischer says. “Thanks to the Save America’s Treasures grant, we can make all of this happen! This is a very exciting time for the Arthur Secunda Museum, and I am thrilled to be part of it.”
The Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS), in coordination with the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, awarded this grant to Cleary for its Arthur Secunda Collection Conservation and Accessibility Project to preserve, enrich and enhance a collection of more than 800 pieces of art created by internationally acclaimed American artist Arthur Secunda who had roots in Michigan. Over a period of nearly seven decades, Secunda traveled the world studying a wide range of artistic techniques from renowned talents. Through his journeys, he learned and mastered most art forms – lithographs, serigraphs, monotypes, etchings, collages, block prints and welded sculptures. The largest collection of Secunda’s art is housed on the Cleary University campus in its Arthur Secunda Museum. Secunda passed away in August 2022, but his legacy lives on at Cleary.
“Arthur Secunda’s work is precious, inspirational, enriching, educational and motivational, and is begging to be shared with countless people,” reports Tom Egan, director of Development at Cleary who oversees the Save America’s Treasure grant. “According to his son, David, Arthur’s hope was for people to study his art, interpret it through their own eyes, and feel its impact on them historically, culturally and emotionally. This is all part of the educational experience, and this is what Arthur treasured the most.
“Cleary is overwhelmingly grateful that the Institute of Museum and Library Services shares our dream to preserve the legacy of Arthur Secunda,” Egan says. “Cleary’s Secunda art collection, with its exceptional quality, breadth and depth, emerges as a nationally significant cultural and educational asset, poised to contribute significantly to the understanding and appreciation of the cultural heritage of our country for all to experience. With this generous funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the extensive and inspirational work of Arthur Secunda can make a lasting impact on the world, right here at Cleary University.”
The Arthur Secunda Museum is open to the public for self guided tours Monday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm. There is no charge to tour the museum. If you would like to schedule a docent-guided tour, send an email to museum@cleary.edu.
Save America’s Treasures is a grant program in collaboration with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, designed to support the preservation of nationally significant historic properties and collections.
