12 December 2023
Re: Feedback on Proposal to Close Griffith University Art Museum
I am writing to you as President of the Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ), a national membership association and peak advocacy body, representing art historians, writers, curators and artists from
around Australasia. The Association is strongly opposed to the University’s proposal to close the Griffith University Art Museum (GUAM), a decision that puts economics before student interests and ignores the vital role university art museums play in teaching, learning and research.
University art museums enrich the cultural and intellectual life on campus. They are places of learning that through cross-disciplinary engagement, and by providing a platform for experimentation and collaboration, build capacity and create professional pathways for students. Griffith University Art Museum is a hub on campus for interdisciplinary engagement sharing the research of the university through exhibitions and engagement programs that encourage active dialogue and debate in a multidisciplinary context. It contributes to knowledge transfer, promoting the university’s research to the broader community through exhibitions and publications.
The Griffith University Art Museum is highly respected around Australia for its well researched, cutting-edge exhibitions and engagement programs. It is a significant drawcard, particularly for arts students who expect universities to offer an art museum facility as a core student experience. Through GUAM, Griffith University is able to participate in the broader visual arts scene both in Queensland and nationally thereby increasing the
visibility and awareness of the university to prospective students.
As the custodian of the second largest art collection in the state (second only to the Queensland Art Gallery│Gallery of Modern Art), it is imperative that there is an appropriate venue for interpretation of the collection. Decorative displays on walls of university facilities do not substitute for exhibitions with a strong curatorial rationale that bring artworks together to initiate discussion, debate and learning. Furthermore a focus purely on visitation numbers misses the significant impact art museums can have on student wellbeing. There are instances where encounters with art exhibitions have been life changing. Studies demonstrates that art exhibitions can enhance empathy, encourage prosocial behaviours, help individuals process trauma and mediate conflict.
Access to the arts is a fundamental human right and precondition for a healthy democracy. This is vital in current contexts when democracy is under siege by minority groups who use the megaphone of social media to circulate misinformation. Art has the power to communicate beyond words and GUAM plays an active role developing critical thinking skills and encouraging students to reason independently outside the white noise of contemporary information channels.
University art museums are core to creating a vibrant, wholistic, impactful student experience and this shortsighted proposal fails to recognise the important role Griffith University Art Museum plays in developing the cultural capital of the university. The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand strongly urges Griffith University not to progress the closure of the Griffith University Art Museum.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Wendy Garden
PRESIDENT, ART ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND