Annie Burbidge Ream, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ (UMFA) assistant curator of education, started her position in 2010 with the simple mantra, “art is for everyone.”
Since then, she has spearheaded a multitude of projects such as the Utah land art initiative, which provides programs to educate young students about some of Utah’s most famous art works. These include the Spiral Jetty and the Traveling Museum Project, which brings objects from the UMFA to elementary schools around the state for temporary exhibitions. Now, six years after she began this work of making art an accessible community activity, she is being honored with the Utah Museum Educator of the Year and Pacific Region Museum Educator awards.
For Burbidge Ream’s colleagues to nominate her for the statewide award and then to win was thrilling, she said. According to Burbidge Ream, this feeling only intensified when she discovered she was being awarded on a national scale a little while later.
“It shows me that I am heading in the right direction with school and statewide programming at the UMFA and it only inspires me to do more and work harder,” Burbidge Ream said. “There is always more work and thinking to do.”
Jorge Rojas, the UMFA director of education and engagement, said he’s excited and honored Burbidge Ream is being rewarded for her work in education.
“Everyone who knows Annie knows how passionate she is about art education,” Rojas said. “She really believes that everyone can learn from art and that art and museums should be accessible to everyone.”
Rojas said Burbidge Ream’s work in education highlights the museum’s role as a community educator, which he said is one of their most important functions.
“You can imagine if we have a full building full of art projects and we weren’t providing the opportunity to teach people about them, what a waste that would be,” Rojas said.
Burbidge Ream said art education, due to its collaborative nature, brings a community together, makes the pieces relatable, celebrates their creativity and imagination, opens up individuals’ perspectives and makes connections to different times, places and cultures, as well as helping in the development of visual literacy and the cultivation of critical thinking.
While many of these programs are more geared towards elementary and middle school students, both Burbidge Ream and Rojas said the spaces of a museum offer the chance to teach everyone about these things if they are willing to take the time to visit the space and learn about the artwork.
“Museums are public, educational institutions and community spaces that belong to everyone,” Burbidge Ream said. “Art education should be a critical component in all aspects of the museum, not just a part of it. I believe that museums aren’t just about the objects in its collection, but about the people in our communities. Museums should champion a plurality of voices, especially underrepresented ones, and be a vehicle for social justice and change.”
@Ehmannky