Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

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.

Last weekend I helped with the Museum’s outreach booth at the farmer’s market in Brookside. As part of the outreach, we visit several local farmer’s markets and art festivals to hand out material and talk with members of the community about what’s going on at the Nelson Atkins.

We had a fabulous turn out and a blast at the same time. We gave away these great free sketch books promoting the Museum, and people seemed to really enjoy them.

Four wonderful Museum volunteers came to help with the effort which added tons of excitement to the booth. They were such a great help and I really appreciated their support.

I was so surprised at the number of people that attended the farmer’s market and interesting booths and vendors that were present. A caricature artist, beautiful flowers, and locally grown fresh vegetables.

I had a fantastic time and am going to be there again this weekend, July 25th. We will also be at the Lawrence Farmer’s Market on August 8th. I cannot wait, and I hope to see you all there!

We get a lot of requests to do photo shoots at the Nelson-Atkins. For commercial shoots or ones that require some assistance, we escort the photographers during their work.

They are usually pretty fun. We've had fashion models, ballerinas, companies doing their annual reports and other stuff like that. This week, we had a special photo shoot: a man and his car.

The car is a 1911 Stafford that was built by the Stafford Motor Car Co. of Kansas City, KS. It is being featured in the Art of the Car Concourse this weekend at the Kansas City Art Institute.

President Harry Truman owned a Stafford that he bought with $600 he borrowed from his mother-in-law. It turns out that the Museum has a resident Truman re-enactor. He donned his costume and was more than happy to take the car for a spin.

Photography Tom Strongman had some fun with the picture.

Click here for more photos and the rest of the story.

I've been in Indianapolis for the last two days at the Museums and the Web conference. The last time I attended the conference was four years ago and it is interesting to see how dramatically things have changed. There are entire sessions devoted to social media (hurray!). I met a woman yesterday who is working on a thesis in Twitter.

Maxwell Anderson, Director for the Indianapolis Museum of Art, gave the opening plenary yesterday which was a treat. With their recent launch of Art Babble, the IMA has jumped to the top of the digital heap in the Museum world. Tonight is a reception at the museum and I'm looking forward to meeting with some of the staff to talk about their incredible digital media program.

I'm getting ready to head to the usability lab to watch some of my peers' sites in action. After two more days of the conference, I'm sure I'll be ready to head back to KC inspired to blog, tweet, Facebook and who knows what else!

I know it is the last day of March but I recently discovered that March is Celebrate Youth Art Month.

My daughter's art teacher sent home a flyer with some suggestions on how to celebrate which include ideas such as drawing outdoors, learning calligraphy and taking a trip to a local museum.

It made me think about how much art has meant to me. I still remember the day in 5th grade when a woman came to talk to my class about art. She had a print of Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. I was hooked.

From that day on, I would check out books from the library about art and artists, specifically French Impressionists. I took any opportunity to read more about artists as subjects for research papers or writing assignments. My high school French teacher still remembers an essay I wrote about Claude Monet. In college, I studied art history and was thrilled to discover Chinese and Japanese art.

Just this morning I read a blog about the artist Cy Twombly. I find his work interesting but it has never been that exciting to me. As I read the blog, I appreciated looking at his work from someone else's perspective, someone who has a great appreciation for it. I realized that even though I don't love Twombly's work I love learning about it.

I will never be an artist, I know that. I also know that thanks to my elementary school art teacher, I certainly have a great appreciation for art.

Kansas City's fashionistas were out in force on Saturday night for Party Arty | Bloch on the Rocks. The annual bash is hosted by the Young Friends of Art as a fundraiser for the Museum.

The evening was very stylish with a red carpet, a cool fashion show and the sleek Hall's VIP Lounge sponsored by Hall's department store.

The fashion show was hosted by the International Interior Design Association Mid America Chapter. The designs were one of a kind haute couture creations made of various textile materials including carpet, tile, wall coverings and more. The materials were donated by local vendors.

A rockin' peformance by the Nadas got the dance floor hopping. Playboy magazine called them the "best college band you've never heard of" and they certainly earned that honor. They kept the crowd energized with their upbeat songs, strong guitar and jamming bass lines. My favorite part was their "snipit montage" which included songs by Michael Jackson and AC/DC.

Thanks to NightlifeKC.com for their photos. To see them all, check out their website here.

At this time of year, the Nelson-Atkins receives holiday greeting cards from companies, vendors and friends. Every year, my favorite card comes from the same firm and this year was not a disappointment.

It may be hard to see, but the scene is an aerial view of the Alaskan wilderness. Santa and some reindeer are running after the sleigh which has been hijacked by a few select members of the team. A helicopter hovers above with a bubble that reads "Happy Holidays everyone...I'm back! Bang! Bang!"

The caption reads: "With Sarah Palin's return to Alaska, the state's cloven-hoofed residents seek safe haven elsewhere..."

One of the escaping reindeer says "You think this is bad...I hear Damien Hirst is coming to town next week!"

For more on Damien Hirst, click here.

The holidays are a festive time at the Nelson-Atkins but instead of doing the traditional entry about the massive 22-foot tree in Kirkwood Hall surrounded by the 15th-century creche figures, I've decided to showcase the creativity of our staff. This year, the elves have been extra busy.

As I strolled through the offices, I noticed the typical decorations: cards and garland taped to cubicles, snowflakes on windows and miniature Christmas trees on desktops.

I turned a corner and found myelf in a winter wonderland! These folks have outdone us all. The decorations ranged from a traditional full-sized Christmas tree and menagerie of Santa Clauses in the Donor and Information Services department to the very individualized Christmas tree display in Human Resources.

Each member of the HR staff has decorated a tree with a different theme. One is called "Arty Holidays" which is hung with images of paintings and objects from the Museum's collection. Another is called "Sweet Treats" and is full of cookie decorations and candy canes. The "Bow Wow Christmas" had dog treats and toys all over it. One that is called "Santa and His Alter Ego" had reindeer on the tree. I'm not sure if I get that one.

But my favorite would have to be "A Beachy Christmas" complete with a Barbie doll decorating the tree in her bikini and an actual image taken from the employee's aunt's house in Granada. What could be better?

The best Museum guards are invisible. They blend into the gallery so as to not intrude on a visitor's experience with the art but they are present and ready to answer questions or share interesting facts without hesitation.

Six security guards at the Nelson-Atkins are getting their chance to step into the spotlight with an exhibition called On View at the Paragraph Gallery in Kansas City.

This show creates a venue where these artists can be seen by a public that doesn't usually notice their presence, a public they watch constantly, writes curator Marcos Gonzalez.

Gonzalez is interested in the phenomenology of the museum as understood from the perspective of the artist-guard: How are the artistic temperaments of these full-time artist-guards affected by the dynamics of the museum, the Nelson's collection, and the patrons viewing it? How does their work as paid people watchers put these artists uniquely in touch with the public's cultural spirit and standards of taste? How does their own work embody and reflect these insights.

On View is open through Nov. 13 from Noon to 5 p.m. on Thursdays & Saturdays. Paragraph Gallery is in downtown KCMO at 23 E. 12th Street.

I wish I could take credit for that line. But I must give credit where credit is due and tell you that it came from Monsieur Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Nelson-Atkins was honored to host M. de Montebello last night as the opening speaker of this year's Mary Atkins Lecture Series. The title of de Montebello's talk was "Museums: Why Should We Care?" I have to admit I didn't know what to expect. I have only ever heard him speak on the audio guides on the Met's website but he turned out to be refreshingly normal, even tres charmant.

De Montebello spoke about how we are in the age of the "museum of enlightenment" which exists to lift people up and preserve the "memory of mankind." He gave some tips on ways to approach art museums as the key to our identity. Anyone can study history and read books about people, places and events, but a work of art IS the event. He showed an image of a devotional painting that hung in the bedroom of the Gonzaga family (they ruled the city of Mantua from 1328 to 1708). This is the very picture they laid their eyes on every day; it is not a reproduction or a secondhand telling of what it may have looked like.

Another tip he gave was to compare works of art from different collections and time periods. He showed several sets of images of sculptures and paintings that had striking similiarities even though the artists may have never seen what the other one did. He showed works that influenced others as well as some that were completely different. His point was that it was reassuring that throughout mankind's history of wars and destruction, there is faith to be found in people who have always strived to create and present the best of themselves.

I think my favorite tip was when he admitted that he tends to avoid displays of Greek vases because they are normally displayed poorly and organized by some convention such as shape or size. Of course, the Met has over 2,000 Greek vases on view so I don't blame him for feeling overwhelmed! He found a way to get around that apprehension when a curator suggested they begin acquiring fragments of vases. The curator showed him a fragment that contained two figures. He was struck by the figures and focused solely on the drawing. In this way, he was able to appreciate the harmonly of the whole and even noticed that on many vases the drawings and decorations are perfectly married to the shape of the vase.

De Montebello was dressed impeccably and spoke eloquently using many words and phrases that I am still trying to spell phonetically and track down their meanings. On the whole, his passion for art and for sharing art with others, struck me as most profound. He will retire from the Met at the end of the year after 31 years of service. I have a feeling his passion will not be forgotten anytime soon.

I had the opportunity to visit a few museums in another city recently. They each had great special exhibitions, nice stores and even nicer cafes. The collections were equally impressive for different reasons, one with seminal works of contemporary art, one with an impressive collection of Oceanic art and one specific to the region.

Unfortunately, all of these museums charge admission fees. As an employee of a museum, I realize it takes money to run a museum whether it is large or small, public or private, art-focused or historical. Budgets are always tight. There are always projects that must be cut back or cut out and ideas that never come to fruition because of lack of funds. I still find it unbelievable that to take my family to a world-class museum could cost me more than some people spend on their weekly grocery bill.

The Nelson-Atkins has charged admission in the past. I believe the last time we charged was in 2001 and the cost for an adult was less than $7.00 per person. We have always had a free day since the Museum opened in 1933 to allow those in our community who can't afford to pay to visit on those days.

One of the museums we visited was having their half-price night (from 5 to 9 p.m.) which meant the lines were long and the galleries were crowded. In my opinion, I would rather pay a small admission fee or no admission fee and thoroughly enjoy the museum even if that means I need to come back at a less busier time.

Maybe its a midwestern notion that people should be able to enrich their lives with art from ancient cultures to modern masters without having to pay through the nose. I know I'm far from the first to say it but I think it deserves to be said again.

I don't normally give shout outs to other museums but I thought this one was too interesting to pass up. Our friends on the other side of the state (Missouri, that is) at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, have announced a special event that is near and dear to my heart (or to my taste buds).

Spencer Finch: Sunset (St. Louis, July 31, 2008) is a new installation that is part of the Light Project at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.

The event is a plein air ice cream stand that is powered by solar energy. Beginning Sept. 4 and ending Oct. 17, visitors may receive a free ice cream cone from the stand. According to the Contemporary's website, the ice cream stand will "Offer what the artist calls an 'edible monochrome' and a landscape painting, the ice cream evokes a St. Louis sunset with the shifting colors Finch observed from the Contemporary’s rooftop."

How brilliant!

During the last two weekends of June, the Museum showed its support of local communities and farmers' markets by giving away FREE, recycled and reusable grocery totes to marketgoers. What a hit!

At the City Market Farmers' Market and the Downtown Lawrence Farmers' Market, over 1000 shoppers signed up for the Museum's e-newsletter and were rewarded with a Fresh Art bag to carry home their local goodies. Many thanks to the market hosts and our team of extraordinary volunteers who made both events such huge successes!

Thousands more will get their chance to pick up a FREE bag as we roll up our sleeves for these upcoming events:

July 12--Shawnee Farmers' Market 7-4 p.m.
July 15--Zona Rosa Farmers' Market 4-8 p.m.
July 22--Crown Center Farmers' Market 7 a.m.-1 p.m.

Come early because they go fast!

There's nothing quite like a bowl of cool, ripened strawberries from my mother’s garden to end a long, sun-soaked afternoon in the city. But, sadly, we are geographically divided—and by a good three-hour drive. So, to satisfy my summertime sweet tooth, I often visit one of Kansas City’s many wonderful farmers’ markets. The natural food is fresh, locally-grown and cheap! In addition to these personal benefits, the markets help sustain local farmers and farmlands, reduce the fossil fuels normally used to transport commercial produce, and cultivate cooperative relationships between rural and urban communities.

On top of my beloved berries, local farmers’ markets offer a variety of other fruits and vegetables, fresh meats, plants and herbs, baked goods, flowers and crafts.

This summer, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will be showing their support of local farmers’ markets by giving away FREE, environmentally-friendly, reusable grocery totes to marketgoers. The Fresh Art totes are made of tear resistant, water repellent, non-woven polypropylene fabric: durable and perfect for filling with plenty of local, healthy goodies...like you-know-what!

Join us Saturday morning, June 21, at the City Market Farmers’ Market to pick up your free Fresh Art tote. We will also be at the Downtown Lawrence Farmers' Market on Saturday, June 28. More dates to follow.

If other museums across the country are anything like the Nelson-Atkins, the administrative offices are strewn all over the place. There are some offices in the Nelson-Atkins Building while others are located in the new Bloch Building. Some of us poor souls even have offices in a separate building a few blocks away. Because of our separation, we choose to have social gatherings for the staff and volunteers on a regular basis.

Yesterday was the annual St. Patrick's Day potluck. This year's event was graced by a performance by Rah! Booty. Their My Space page describes them as: "Avant garde cheerleaders from the Kansas City Art Institute. We do adult age cheers, dance routines and make our own costumes."

Their performance was highly entertaining. My favorite cheer was about Tupperware. They definitely added some local flavor to our little potluck. Go Nelson-Atkins!

Born in Chicago, Elizabeth Murray was a pioneer in painting. Educated at the Art Institute of Chicago, Murray broke from art historic tradition and began painting on sculpted canvases. Her works broke free from the idea that painting is two dimensional. Murray’s work juts out from the wall and is pieced together making her paintings full of sculptural elements and movement.

Elizabeth Murray emerged during the Post-Minimalist art movement. The artists from this movement were trying to revive art with narrative and personal elements. Because she was loyal to painting, her work was difficult to categorize. Murray was inspired by cubism and artists such as Cezanne, Picasso and Gris. Through her work, Murray helped reinvent painting as a whole.

Murray’s work, Art Part, in the Museum’s collection is a great representation of her work. This work appears dismantled and rebuilt with imperfections; it’s as if the work exploded and little fragments are missing. There is a cartoonish quality to the big green hand that grasps the paintbrush that is iconic to her work. Her work is powerful, yet playful and always interesting.

Murray said of her work, “Out of shattered pieces, I believed I could make a whole. This applied to my art and my life.”

In honor of Woman's History Month, we continue with our spotlight on women artists in the Nelson-Atkins collection.

Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun was an accomplished painter in a time when the art world was still ruled by men. Her first instruction came from her father who was a portraitist and the artists that he knew. By the time she was a teenager, she was painting professionally. She married an artist and dealer and eventually became a personal friend of Marie Antoinette, painting her portrait on several occassions. Le Brun fled France during the French Revolution but was welcomed by the nobility of Italy, Austria and Russia.

The Nelson-Atkins has a very fine painting by Le Brun called Portrait of Marie Gabrielle de Gramont, Duchesse de Caderousse. In this painting, Le Brun has captured a noble woman in the guise of a country peasant. Painted just five years before the Revolution, this was a common attitude of the upper class to identify themselves with the "simple pleasures" of the peasant life.

This month is National Women’s History Month, and the theme this year is Women’s Art, Women’s Vision. It just seemed like the perfect time to reflect on a few of the women artists featured in the Nelson-Atkins’ collection.

Deborah Butterfield has an affinity with horses. Her work, Horse, is currently on view in the Bloch Building, Gallery L6. Don’t worry; you can’t miss it. It’s an amazing sculpture created out of found objects such as chicken wire, mud, paper, grass…you get the idea.

Butterfield was born on May 7, 1949 – the same day as the 75th Annual Kentucky Derby. She believes this is partly where the inspiration for her subject matter came from. Early on, Butterfield began creating self-portraits using images of horses, but eventually the horses themselves became her principal subject matter.

Her pieces are very quiet and seemingly introspective. Butterfield does not try to showcase movement in her work, but rather a painterly quality that keeps the movement within the subject. Butterfield says, “For the pieces I make, the gesture is really more within the body, it's like an internalized gesture, which is more about the content, the state of mind or of being at a given instant.” I think her work resonates with many people here in the heartland. Many of us spent time on farms growing up, but even without firsthand experience, her work reminds me of simple joys in life. That beauty and interest can be found in things like mud and sticks.

Women artists have a come a long way. They are no longer relegated to painting interiors or garden scenes as they were in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s fantastic to see women artists finding their own voices, and their work in high demand from collectors, galleries and museums. Stop by to see the work of Deborah Butterfield when you get a chance. But if you begin daydreaming about being in a wide open field with meadowlarks chirping – whatever you do, don’t pet the horse.

The photography galleries are displaying a new rotation of works from the Hallmark Photographic Collection. The range of this collection is truly astounding. I was excited to see a few works that I recognize from revered American photographers.

The first one that caught my eye is Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California by Dorothea Lange. Lange was employed by the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression and became deeply influential on American documentary photography.

Lange’s photograph is very moving. You can feel the concern emanating from her face and the desperation of the children she holds. It’s very powerful and should definitely be seen in person.

Gordon Parks’ work, Man Emerging, is also really interesting. It’s always great to see a local talent represented in a gallery (he was born in Fort Scott, KS). The photograph was taken in 1952, so I think the title of the work serves as an interesting metaphor for his contemporary society.

This new rotation is chock full of great photographers: Imogen Cunningham, Diane Arbus, Alfred Stieglitz and many more. This time around the photographs are a fantastic mixture of humor, humanity and nature. This rotation is not to be missed!

We have only just begun... to blog that is. We want to hear from you about topics for new blog categories at the Nelson-Atkins. Tell us here what collections, programs or other ideas related to the Museum that you believe merit their own category. As interest grows, we will look to create new categories to meet the demand. Blog on.