Fundraising Campaign for the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection
Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938), Jersey Silkmills, 1916-17. Watercolor and pencil on paper. 8 x 5.5 inches. Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection, Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center, Stetso University. 2000.01.60.009.
In 2027, Stetson University and the Friends of the Hand Art Center will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection and the 150th Birthday of Modernist painting Oscar Bluemner.
The occasion will be marked by a retrospective exhibit and accompanying catalog by Dr. Katya Kudryavtseva, Associate Professor of Art History at Stetson University and Curator of the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection.
To support this initiative, Adopt a Bluemner – select an artwork to steward through a $500 donation. *Campaign details.
Recent Adoption
Laura and George Glander
Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938), Kati Bluemner, 1912. Watercolor and pencil on paper. 5 x 6.5 inches.V era Bluemner Kouba Collection, Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center, Stetson University. 2000.01.05.006. Adopted by Laura and George Glander on December 2, 2025.
Links: Recent Donations | All Artworks
Campaign Details
How to Participate
To participate, make a $500 donation to the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection Fund at Stetson University. Click here to get started. Afterwards, the museum will reach out to confirm your artwork selection. For options, browse our online repository or schedule an in-person Collections Visit by contacting the museum at [email protected] or (386) 822-7271. Donors are encouraged to make multiple adoptions if more than one artwork catches their eye.
meaning of ‘adopt’ and ‘adoption’
In the context of the ‘Adopt a Bluemner’ Fundraising campaign, the words ‘adopt’ and ‘adoption’ signify a donation toward the preservation and promotion of the Vera Bluemner Collection. All artworks remain under the ownership of Stetson University.
Donor Recognition
Contributors to the Adopt a Bluemner Campaign will receive an exhibition catalog, a ‘Certificate of Adoption,’ and an invitation to a private exhibition reception. Contributors will be recognized in exhibition materials associated with the retrospective and remain a part of their selected artwork’s social history thereafter.
Use of Campaign Funds
Funds raised through the Adopt a Bluemner Campaign are deposited in restricted account focused on scholarly research, exhibition production, collections management related to the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection.
“Bluemner believed that art could outlast struggle, alter the way we see, and create its own radiant world. The retrospective invites us to revisit that conviction and bring it forward. With your support, the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection can tell its story more fully, a story of perseverance, imagination, and enduring artistic force.” – Dr. Katya Kudryavtseva, PhD, Associate Professor of Art History at Stetson University and Curator of the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection.
About the Collection
In 1997, Vera Bluemner Kouba, daughter of the Modernist painter Oscar Bluemner, gifted Stetson University with a collection of over 1,000 pieces of her late father’s art and personal effects. This generous gift inspired the development of the Hand Art Center and a deep engagement with Bluemner’s artistic legacy at Stetson University. Highlights include:
- Biannual production of original exhibitions
- Associated lectures and programming
- Scholarly research about Oscar Bluemner and modern art
- Pairings of Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938) and contemporary artists like Luca Molnar, Mario Saponaro, Amy Vigilante and Jay Henderson
- Publications, such as Oscar Bluemner: A Daughter’s Legacy, Selections from the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection by Dr. Roberta Smith Favis
- Establishment of Vera Editions, an in-house press dedicated to the documentation and dissemination of original exhibitions
- Development of the Museum and Curatorial Studies Program, for which the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection functions as a rich resource for students and emerging museum professionals
