Review of a Museum Website

When navigating through the Seattle Art Museum’s website I found that some of the information was difficult to find at a glance. Now, this isn’t a bad thing, considering I had to read more about the museum in order to find the information, which the web designers would probably consider this a positive. The SAM’s mission statement describes a welcoming atmosphere where people can connect with art and think about how it relates to their own lives. The website offers interesting added information about the artist who have shown at the SAM or upcoming exhibitions as well as the dates of the shows. The website breaks up the information on an easy access side bar, now on view, upcoming, and past exhibitions. The website has a lot of information just on the home page alone. This information includes the SAM’s three different locations, SAM downtown, Seattle Asian Art Museum, and the Olympic sculpture park. I thought this was a good thing to have on the home page because once you click one you can see the collections that are at the different locations, basic information such as price of admission, hours of operation, directions, and other tourist information. Overall, I like the contemporary feel to the website. Since the website shows art of past, present, and future exhibitions, I would say that their website enhances their mission statement. The website is very easy to navigate which made me feel comfortable browsing through the content, and I saw a lot of artwork throughout the website. As far as effectiveness goes, I think that this website is getting the image that the SAM wants to portray across successfully. There are so many programs available that people probably wouldn’t know about unless they looked at the website. Like I said earlier there is a lot of information on this website, but with saying that, the site doesn’t look cluttered. I appreciate the quick tab bar that is on the home page. This makes navigating throughout the site very simple and an effective way to find the exact information you’re looking for. I was especially impressed that they have a children’s camp which is a great outreach program. One criticism that I would have is that I would like to see more of the artwork of the different shows. From the few shows that I looked at, there might be two pictures, but usually only one of an example of the artist work. I don’t think this gives an adequate impression of the art that is being shown, so I would like to see a few more pictures of the art. Ultimately, I was impressed with their website and I think it fits the needs and mission statement of the SAM.

http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/default.asp

Museum Review

I went to the Prichard Gallery at the University of Idaho. The current show is called SLAG: The Anti Art Glass. Their mission statement at the gallery is summed up by being a leader in presentation of contemporary visual arts in the Northwest. They also strive to encourage experimentation from emerging as well as established artists. The exhibit that is currently at the Prichard Art Gallery is a combination of different international artists who use glass in a mixed media approach to formal, aesthetic and cultural ideas.

There are artists in the exhibit who are familiar and those who are not with the glass art traditions. I have been in this gallery before and I do think it is a nice space to show art. I especially like that there is an upstairs segment to the gallery in which there is both art upstairs as well as a broader view of the entire gallery. As for the art that was being shown at this exhibit, it wasn’t exactly my sort of thing but since I am an artist as well, I can appreciate the art of others.

Overall, I thought the exhibit was very interesting. It made you want to look around at everything especially because some of the pieces were very odd. I thought the gallery lighting was well suited to the glass artwork. The appeal of the museum was very apparent. Nestled on the corner in downtown Moscow, this gallery is a quant little piece of the outside world of art in a small town. I enjoyed looking around this gallery. Because it was so open and inviting the gallery space was perfect for looking around at all the art. One of my favorite things about the gallery is the hardwood floor and the clean white walls as the background. The experience I had at the gallery was very fun. As I said earlier, the glass art was not really my thing. Some of the artwork was very out there. For example, there were two larger jars sitting next to one another, one had an eyeball in it and the other had a dropper that was dropping blood into the bottom of the jar. One of my favorite pieces there was a white beehive and a black beehive. They looked like something out of a children’s book and I thought they were very detailed. In my time spent at the gallery I felt like this space was very well used and I loved how open the gallery was.

Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/arts/design/18neuner.html

Invisible Hand

I really enjoyed the article by Randy Kennedy. I thought that it was great to give recognition to Jerome Neuner, the Museum of Modern Art’s director of the department of exhibition design and production. Since it seems like he is responsible for so much of the behind the scene aspect in the museum, it was nice that he was given the credit. Not only has he been a great asset to the museum but has also been working with the museum for 30 years. In the article it was said that Neuner’s position is to serve as a mediator between the curator’s and artist’s view of what they want a show to look like and the reality of how the show will look within the museum. The article also touched on the most recent exhibition at the time focused on work done by South African artist, William Kentridge which opened in late February. This show would be focused in the museum’s largest space provided and designed to make the viewer see not only the charcoal drawings of Kentridge but also the animations done by him. Even the title seemed to fit perfectly for this article “Invisible Hand” describes the work that Neuner does. Preparing for the shows that come means figuring out the layout of how everything is going to look in the space along with what type of lighting and how they can make the show look the best it can in the museum. Neuner describes that it is difficult to please everyone especially if he is working with an artist that will not budge on their own ideas. He jokes that the only person he wouldn’t argue with about what would be best for their work would be famous painter Mondrian, who is most known for being a founder of abstract art. Not only is the work that Neuner does impressive, but also his vast knowledge of the art and artists that have been shown at the museum is outstanding. He knows about the artists who have been shown over the last 30 years along with the artist that will be shown in the next two to three years. This article was very inspiring since Neuner seems to be so enthusiastic about his work. It takes so many people to successfully put on a show and it’s because of people like Jerome Neuner, who have so much dedication to their work, that makes the whole process possible.

Museum Success

When I went to the Karshner Museum as part of a field trip when I was younger and thought that it was very effective in giving children the experience of learning about another culture. The purposiveness was very apparent. Everything in the museum is geared towards children and has interactive areas in which kids can grind corn as Native Americans once did along with sit in a teepee and hear old tales of America. I believe that kids learn a lot more by touching, feeling, and doing things where as adults can learn by interacting as well as reading since their attention can be held longer. My experience at the Karshner Museum was successful because it was effective at making me and all of my classmates excited about learning the history of different aspects of America. The museum is attached to Karshner Elementary School so it only makes sense that the museum is designed for children. Because the museum does have interactive areas I believe it is successful in its purpose to educated children.

Contextual Approach

Pearce’s article explained a “contextual approach to understanding” in museums. When I read this article it made me think of keeping items in a museum in the same context that they were found in. What I mean by this is keeping artifacts and other items found in a museum in the same community or region in which they were found. For example, a museum would more likely be successful if it housed items that were relevant to the location and the community in which the museum was placed. I remember going to the National Museum of American history in Washington D.C. and thinking that D.C was the ultimate place to learn about American history. Just being in that city and then visiting that particular museum felt like I could make a better connection to the history that I was witnessing. This approach is different than allowing the viewer to guess about what the museums contents are related to. I definitely feel like a museum can be successful using a contextual approach. It gives the viewers outside perspective and more of an understanding of what they are seeing if they can relate it to the world around them . I was glad that the museum in D.C. that I visited actually had something to do with the environment I was in because being younger it meant that I didn’t absorb all the museum had to offer but I was still able to grasp the main concept because the museum was in context to the environment around it.

My Way of Seeing

When I enter a museum I think that the glass cases and roped off sections give everything a sense of being valuable or rare. While I do believe that it depends on who the person is, and what they consider to be of value determines how much value a certain item or entire museum can hold for the individual. One of my experiences I can remember was going to the Museum of Flight in Seattle with my dad when I was younger. My dad loves planes and flying and the entire history of aviation, while I was just admiring the museum because I felt like I was supposed to. Clearly, the museum had a much greater impression on my dad, who appreciated the content more, than it had on me. Although I did enjoy the museum, since I was younger I feel like I didn’t necessarily appreciate all that the museum had to offer. Age is definitely a factor to consider when thinking about ways of seeing when it comes to museums. If I would have been older visiting I probably would have been able to take in more of the historical aspect that the museum had to offer. Just being in a museum, for me, creates this sense of value and respect for the collections within it. Compared to things I see in everyday life, objects in a museum always seem to hold my attention longer. I really do think that just because something is placed in a museum, it holds a heightened value. Ordinary objects outside of a museum don’t hold much value, but placed in a museum with some great story attached, and all of the sudden value is present. I think this is because we as people have a fascination with the past along with anything that we believe to be of great value.