Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

A few weeks ago, students (ages 6-12) along with a parent/adult took part in Happy Birthday Nelson-Atkins!, a workshop held in the Ford Learning Center.

Taught by Kreshaun McKinney, the class visited the Magnificent Gifts for the 75th exhibition. The children especially liked seeing the fiberglass chair Black Widow by Wendell Castle.

Returning to the classroom, it was time to create! Participants built impressive, multi-tiered cake sculptures and painted them however they wished. The class especially liked using corrugated paper and paint in squeeze bottles as a way to “frost” their cake sculptures.

The workshop concluded with real cake and punch served out of William Rockhill Nelson’s “Hoosier” punch bowl.

By: Lisa Schlagle

There is no shortage of interesting jobs at an art museum. One job that is very important is one we hope you never notice: lighting.

The amount of light needed to illuminate a work of art is a science that requires balancing the ability to clearly see an object with the need to protect that object for future generations (light can be very damaging to sensitive works of art).

As the Museum’s Lighting Design Specialist, my job is to design and create specifications of lighting fixtures, systems and lamps throughout the museum’s permanent and temporary exhibition spaces.

Recently, I was able to solve a lighting dilemma in the Chinese Temple gallery. Here’s the story:

After years in the dark, the dragon in the center of the Chinese Temple ceiling is visible again!

An old photograph from the Museum’s archives shows that the dragon was once illuminated by a glowing ball hanging down from the dragon’s mouth.

It appears to be a simple frosted globe containing a light bulb, with the bottom two thirds of the globe painted black.

The electrical wiring and cord that held the light came down through a hole in the dragon’s mouth.

The previous installation, like the current one, references a Chinese fable about a dragon chasing a pearl.

In hoping to once again put light on the dragon, we decided to take this reference further by making the new light fixture look more like a pearl, while still using it to illuminate the dragon and the intricate carvings surrounding it.

The solution we came up with involves six fiber optic fibers fed down through the hole in the dragon’s mouth into an 8” diameter globe, which has been painted to look like a pearl.
The top quarter of the “pearl” is a metal plate containing six 5/8” holes. The fibers feed down into the pearl and then loop back up into fixtures fitted into the holes. Thus we are able to light the dragon with fixtures that are concealed on the top of the pearl.

The light that reaches the dragon comes from what is called an illuminator, located above the ceiling. The illuminator contains a light bulb which shoots light through the fibers and out the fixtures housed atop the pearl.

The Temple Room and other Chinese galleries are currently undergoing minor renovations. They may be closed on certain days from now through early May.

Venice. 3 Visions in Glass is the first exhibition of glass at the Nelson-Atkins in our 75+ year history. It features the objects of three of the leading artists working in glass today, Cristiano Bianchin, Yoichi Ohira and Laura de Santillana.

Venice is a city associated with water so it is fitting that the exhibit has numerous aquatic connotations. When I walked into gallery L8, my first thought was of floating islands of glass. Unlike paintings hung on the wall, this is very much a three-dimensional exhibition. As you move from one display to another, you must navigate your path through these islands.

My attention was immediately drawn to three of de Santillana’s Flags. The flattened, minimal forms are sophisticated and elegant. Undulating fields of color float on top of one another reminding me of Mark Rothko’s color field paintings. As sculptures, de Santillana’s works add the three-dimensional quality that Rothko’s paintings are unable to capture. The Flags are simply stunning.

Another group of works by de Santillana, called Bodhis, were inspired by the prayer stance of Buddhist monks. These objects sit directly in a bed of sand. They are short and squat with rounded bottoms that would seem to rock back and forth as if they are bending low in prayer. For me, they resembled figures bobbing in water.

Clearly, (no pun intended) I was quite taken with de Santillana’s works. Her other figures, called Meteors, felt a little more organic than the Flags and Bodhis. The globular shape evokes a dynamic form that seems to be inflating and deflating, perhaps even breathing.

The works of Yoichi Ohira are located mainly in the Contemporary Decorative Art cases along the gallery walk. His objects begin with a traditional vase structure but he gives it a modern twist softening the form with bends and curves in the silhouette. Many of them are clear glass with beautiful incised (inciso in Italian) details but the ones that caught my eye were his Calle vases.

The Calles are rendered in brilliant colors that imitate semi-precious stones. At first, I thought the pieces were clear glass that had been painted with vivid, impressionistic brushstrokes of yellow, blue, red and green. Then I began to notice the textures and surfaces of the colors and realized they are facets of the glass.

I found the works by Cristiano Bianchin to be less ethereal and more functional. His repeated use of the urn shape made me think of furniture or decorative household items.

Some are covered with fabric; others are nestled in a bed of peat. For me, his work was interesting but less about the beauty of the glass than how he transforms it.

Be sure to see the exhibition and decide for yourself. Vencie. 3 Visions in Glass is on view through August 15. Admission is free.

Last week, we announced that Julián Zugazagoitia was named the new director and CEO of the Museum.

At a special staff meeting, we had the chance to meet Julián for the first time. There was a buzz of excitement in Atkins Auditorium but the room quickly fell silent as Sarah Rowland, the chair of the Board of Trustees, walked in and took her place at the front. Since the guest of honor had not yet arrived, we waited patiently for a few moments in the palpable silence. All of a sudden, Julián bounded in to the room and took his seat in the front row.

After Mrs. Rowland’s brief introduction, Julián took the microphone. He made a few remarks about the honor of being chosen as the new director and feeling a little daunted to follow in the footsteps of the current director, Marc Wilson. Then, he asked if we had any questions. Again, the room was silent. Finally, someone good naturedly asked “so, how ya doing?”

With a sigh of relief, Julián smiled and thanked the fellow for his question. That set the tone for the rest of the questions.

Here are just a few and the (paraphrased) responses.

Q: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

A: Dulce de leche and chocolate.

Q: What are the six languages you speak?

A: His first language is Spanish, followed by French which is the language he feels most comfortable writing in. Next is English and then Italian and Portuguese. The last language that he has attempted to learn but has struggled with is German. He said he looks forward to the possibility of picking up some Mandarin from Marc Wilson.

Q: Cat man or dog man?

A: He had an Irish setter as a child but living in New York, they don’t have room for a pet except for a small red fish. When they were making the decision to move to Kansas City, one of the bonuses (i.e. “bribes”) for his children was that they may have a pet.

Q: PC or MAC?

A: “Why must the world be divided? I am bilingual and bi-platform.”

Q: How do you feel about Kansas City barbeque?

A: After numerous trips to Kansas City, he finds it a challenge. There are so many pieces and he doesn’t know how to order it. However, his son loved it and he is sure to educate his father.

Q: What do you think will be your biggest adjustment from NYC to KC?

A: He said he didn’t think he would know until after living here for awhile, but most likely having to get a car. He hasn’t had a car since he was a teenager in Mexico and had to drive his sister to ballet lessons. He moved to Paris to attend school and didn’t have to worry about that responsibility anymore.

Q: Do you have any hobbies?

A: Yes, fencing, and biking but he loves sailing.

Fencing and biking are definite possibilities in KC. Sailing may require some creativity here in the heartland.

Julián is currently the director of El Museo del Barrio in New York, a leading institution in the field of Latin American and Latino art. He will begin his post at the Nelson-Atkins on Sept. 1.

Click here for a more official introduction.