About MAM
Mission Statement
The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) collects, preserves, and presents American and Native American art. Its innovative exhibitions and educational programs interpret and explore relationships between these two evolving artistic traditions. The Museum’s exhibitions offer groundbreaking scholarship, fresh thematic approaches, first-time presentations of under-recognized artists, examinations of little-known aspects of major artists’ careers, and an ongoing commitment to the artists and culture of New Jersey. MAM's Yard School of Art offers comprehensive courses for children, youth, adults, seniors, and professional artists. The Museum collaborates with numerous cultural and community partners to inspire creativity and a deeper understanding of America’s unique diversity.
Diversity Vision Statement
The Montclair Art Museum is committed to being an inclusive and diverse organization, one that respects and welcomes individual differences in order to offer the most meaningful art experience to the widest possible audience. We strive to cultivate an environment that fosters productivity, creativity, and individual satisfaction by celebrating such differences as race, gender, nationality, age, religion, sexual orientation, and physical abilities.
Our Logo
Our logo is inspired by the bow in Hermon Atkins MacNeil’s The Sun Vow. This sculpture stands on the lawn directly in front of the Museum’s South Mountain Avenue entrance. Our stylized version of MacNeil’s bow reflects the mission of the Museum. Like the arrow in its trajectory forward, we are dedicated to collecting and exhibiting art from all segments of American culture, from the past into the future.
The Sun Vow depicts a Native American rite of passage that MacNeil learned of during his travels. In the Sioux tribe, for a boy to become a man and accepted as a warrior, he must shoot an arrow directly into the sun. If the chieftain is blinded by the sun’s rays and cannot follow the arrow’s path, the boy passes the test.
MacNeil created The Sun Vow to fulfill a requirement for his four-year Rinehart Scholarship at the American Academy in Rome. As an American sculptor, MacNeil (1866–1947) was best known for his Native American works including The Moqui Runner and A Primitive Chant. He also designed the Standing Liberty Quarter (which he initialed “M” to the right of the date) and the Medal of Award for the 1915 Pan American Exposition in San Francisco.
Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947), The Sun Vow, 1899 (cast 1902), Bronze, 68 x 45 x 29 in., Gift of William T. Evans, 1913.2
