Background
Abt, Jeffrey was born on February 27, 1949 in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Son of Arthur and Lottie (Weinman) Abt.
( The Detroit Institute of Arts is one of America's large...)
The Detroit Institute of Arts is one of America's largest and oldest municipal art museums. However, even as the museum grew into a distinguished collection, there were threats of closure. The DIA has walked a financial tightrope since it opened just over a century ago, and was nearly closed by government funding cuts in the 1970s and 1990s. Now Jeffrey Abt tells how the DIA has had to struggle to maintain its fine art collection with barely enough income to remain open. A Museum on the Verge goes behind the scenes at the DIA to disclose the political, economic, and social forces that shaped the museum from its founding to the present day. Abt's account is supplemented by a wealth of material, including legal documents and numerical data taken at five-year intervals from the 1880s through 2000 that is presented in both tables and graphs. The data, which comprehensively survey vital statistics such as attendance, collections growth, and finances, provide a rich resource for comparative research on other museums.
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artist writer art and art history educator
Abt, Jeffrey was born on February 27, 1949 in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Son of Arthur and Lottie (Weinman) Abt.
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Drake University, 1971. Master of Fine Arts, Drake University, 1977.
Curator collections, Wichita (Kansas) Art Museum, 1977-1978; general manager, Billy Hork Galleries, Ltd., Chicago, 1978-1980; exhibitions coordinator, University of Chicago Library., 1980-1986; assistant director, David & Alfred Smart Gallery, University of Chicago, 1986-1987; acting director, David & Alfred Smart Gallery, University of Chicago, 1987-1989; associate professor department art and art history, Wayne State University, Detroit, since 1989; department chair, Wayne State University, Detroit, 1989-1994; member of advisory board Humanities Center, Wayne State University, Detroit, 1993-1995.
( The Detroit Institute of Arts is one of America's large...)
Board director Hyde Park Jewish Community Center, Chicago, 1988-1989, Detroit Artists Market, since 1994, secretary, 1996-1999, president, chairman board director, 1999-2001, honorary director, since 2004. Trustee Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, Illinois, 1985-1996, national advisory council, since 1996. Intercultural programs committee, 1990-1992, library advisory committee, 1990-1996, education advisory committee, 1992-1995, Detroit Institute Arts.
Visual arts committee Detroit Festival of the Arts, 1989-1992. Juror art exhibitions, since 1986. Director Reva and David Logan Foundation, Chicago, 2003-2008.
Member American Association Museum, College Art Association, Association Museum History (co-founder), Museum and Galleries History Group.
Married Mary Kathleen Paquette, July 16, 1972. Children: Uriel, Danya.