Museum Acquisitions

My internship duties have been to work on new acquisitions the museum has recently acquired. One of the acquisitions was a portfolio of five drawings by James P. Hatfield given to the museum by Mary Motz.  Mary shared that it was about 30 years ago around Christmas time that Alamosa National Bank gave the portfolio to their patrons.

The acquisition process involves filling out different forms. One form is a Gift Agreement Form. The form list the name, address, phone number of the person who made the donation, the item(s) donated, the proposed credit line to acknowledge the gift and how it would appear on object display labels. For this donation it would read, Gift of Marvin ’58, ’59 and Mary Motz ’62. The owner signs the form stating that he or she is the rightful owner and holder of clear title for the items of property listed and that none of the object(s) are subject to liens. An authorized person from the museum also signs this form. Another form that was completed is an Acquisition Proposal Form. This form covers the object description such, artists’ info, object type, dimensions, credit line and inscriptions/distinguishing marks. The inscription for this acquisition had each print signed by Hatfield and four of the prints dated “74’”.

Who was James P. Hatfield? James came to Adams State in the late 1930s; he taught for several years and served as chair for the Art Department for fifteen years. He was an accomplished Artist/Painter; painting in a variety of styles that included murals, portraits, and landscapes. Through a generous donation made to the art department he founded the remodeling of the lobby in 1977 (now Community Partnerships). The space which was remolded was named for Hatfield. His name has been retained in the art department’s Hatfield Gallery.