Volunteers for the Nevada Museum of Art gave 12,013 hours of service to the museum last year.

The museum currently has 205 volunteers working in the following areas, many in more than one area. The number of hours worked in these various areas can be broken down as follows:

Volunteer Category Number of Hours

• Administration 585
• Docent activities 2,122
• Front desk 583
• Gift Store 2,548
• Hands On/Education 304
• Hospitality (1st Thursday, openings, etc.) 395
• Installation 1,543
• Library 899
• Special Events 676
• Trustees 788
• VIA Board 625
• Other 855

Total 12,013

All volunteers, who are also members of the Museum, are members of VIA – Volunteers in Art, the Museum’s volunteer organization. VIA is coordinated by a VIA Council composed of 4 elected officers and 14 committee chairs with the following responsibilities;

• Represent Museum volunteer community
• Work with staff to coordinate volunteer activities
• Organize annual volunteer recognition events
• Publish volunteer newsletter
• Coordinate volunteer support with Museum Volunteer Manager
• Organize annual VIA fund raising event, Arts & Flowers

The VIA Council meets the second Wednesday of each month at the Museum. All meetings are open to all Nevada Museum of Art volunteers.

Proceeds from the Arts & Flowers luncheon fund all volunteer events and recognition and in addition are used to purchase art for the Museum’s permanent collection and to fund special staff requests. In 2008 $3,750 was budgeted for volunteer support, $19,909 for special staff requests and $6,500 for art purchase. In 2008 VIA was able to contribute an additional $6,500 toward the purchase price of The Guardian of Eden by Kate Raudenbush.

The Arts & Flowers luncheon had another sold out attendance in 2008 with net revenue of almost $31,000. The luncheon was coordinated by Barbara Marsh, Bob Anderson, Meg Watson, Lynda Buhlig and Dawn Lawrence.

The Education/Docent committee is chaired by Gayle Robinson. The docents conducted school tours and workshops for over 7,400 school children. In addition they conducted public and adult reserved tours for 1100 adults.

Volunteer Events was chaired by Carrie Young. Seventy-five volunteers participated in the 2008 Volunteer Recognition Day; highlights this year included an outstanding pin featuring the The Guardian of Eden breakfast at Newman’s Deli, a hands-on workshop and a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit by a local architect. Seventy volunteers attended the holiday party enjoying music by the Reno High Orchestra and great raffle items donated by California Avenue merchants.

The museum store, managed by Helga Miller and assisted by 12 volunteers, had revenue of $250,000 and a net profit of $115,000.

The volunteer newsletter, edited and produced by Joan Elder, successfully published and mailed four editions to each of the museum’s 204 volunteers. Important stories for the year included acquisition of The Guardian of Eden, a history of the Levy Mansion and overviews of the Chris Drury and Flag exhibits.

Administration/Mailings, chaired by Cheryl McLemore and assisted by 12 volunteers, mailed 1,000 membership renewal notices a month and also helped with several special mailings throughout the year.

The Volunteer Art Education committee, chaired by Carolyn Fricke, initiated a successful new program this year “Art Break”. “Art Break” is a volunteer only gallery tour and lunch discussion held quarterly. Fifteen to twenty volunteers have participated in each of the “Art Breaks” in 2008.