Milwaukee Museum Magic

Ten years ago, the city of Milwaukee made its mark as an architectural destination when they unveiled a new Santiago Calatrava-designed building for their art museum on the banks of Lake Michigan. Since then, it’s scooped up numerous design awards, was voted Sexiest Building in its yearbook (museums totally have Senior Superlatives, right?), and even served as the backdrop for a Victoria’s Secret commercial. If you haven’t been to the Milwaukee Art Museum yet, you should definitely go now. There is an entire exhibition based on the building’s 10th Anniversary celebration.

Photo by o paisson via Flickr.

Photo by o paisson via Flickr.

Photo by carlo cravero via Flickr.

Photo by crazyegg95 via Flickr.

Photo by o paisson via Flickr.

Photo by CJ Schmit via Flickr.

Eight Crazy Nights

Photo by woodleywonderworks.

The 2nd Annual Museumist Gift Guide and Museum Holiday Roundup

That’s right, it’s the Holiday Season, and we’re ready to celebrate. Over the next month, we’ll be featuring gift ideas for the museum lover on your list as well as glimpses at how museums around the world ring in the holidays.

In the words of the noted Jewish scholar, Adam Sandler: “Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. Instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights.” On its most basic level, Hanukkah is a celebration of an important event in Jewish history: in 165 B.C., the Jews defeated the Syrian Greeks and rededicated the Temple of Jerusalem. In order to purify the Temple of the polytheistic ways that had defiled it, the Jews hoped to burn a menorah for 8 days. Unfortunately, they only had enough oil to burn for one night. But with a little divine intervention, that small amount of oil was able to burn for the full eight nights, and a holy holiday was born.

Today marks the seventh of the eight crazy nights of Hanukkah, but there are plenty of museums that will be keeping the flame alive throughout the entire holiday season. One such example, is the Jewish Museum in New York City, who currently has an exhibit of Hanukkah-inspired works from seven artists on display. A kinetic sculpture of an oversized dreidel shares space with Eleanor Antin’s hopeful mixed media piece, Vilna Nights. It’s an exhibit that seeks to capture both the symbols and the essence of the holiday through art. While you’re there, don’t forget to check out the rest of the Hanukkah 2010 offerings at the museum, like the over 500 menorahs on display or Daniel Libeskind’s Line of Fire.

Another museum worth checking out for Hanukkah-related festivities is the Jewish Museum of Berlin. Each year, they offer up a month-long Hanukkah Market that not only gives visitors a chance to sample tasty kosher warm spiced wine and purchase Judaica items from around the world, but also an opportunity to take in the rather impressive architecture of the museum itself.

If you can’t make it to either of these museums, I’m sure there is a cultural institution near you spreading the Hanukkah cheer. So, Chag Sameach and Happy Hanukkah!

Lights, Ornaments, Action!

Spiderweb ornaments adorn MSI's Ukrainian tree

The 2nd Annual Museumist Gift Guide and Museum Holiday Roundup

That’s right, it’s the Holiday Season, and we’re ready to celebrate. Over the next month, we’ll be featuring gift ideas for the museum lover on your list as well as glimpses at how museums around the world ring in the holidays.

While the holiday season unofficially got started in Chicago with the wreathing of the Art Institute lions, another museum a few miles down the road was already in the Christmas spirit. Back on November 18, the Museum of Science and Industry kicked off their annual Christmas Around the World and Holiday of Lights celebration.

The Christmas Around the World event, which is now in its 69th year, is not only an amazing opportunity to catch a glimpse at how different cultures around the globe celebrate the holidays, but it is also a chance to witness the diversity of Chicago first hand. Take a moment to examine the 50 trees, each decorated by volunteers from the various ethnic communities in the Windy City, before turning your eyes to the 45-foot grand tree, whose decorations are inspired by the ongoing Jim Henson’s Fantastic World exhibit. If you are curious to know more about the stories behind the decoration of the trees, head over to MSI’s website for the “Trees and Traditions” podcast.

Lest you think the holiday spirit ends with the hall of trees, make sure you take a gander at the 12th annual Holiday of Lights. Here there are light displays for Ramadan, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Kwanzaa, St. Lucia Day, Diwali and more. So, now matter your holiday traditions, there is a little something festive for everyone at the Museum of Science and Industry this time of year.

The 2nd Annual Museumist Gift Guide and Museum Holiday Roundup

That’s right, it’s the Holiday Season, and we’re ready to celebrate. Over the next month, we’ll be featuring gift ideas for the museum lover on your list as well as glimpses at how museums around the world ring in the holidays.

Growing up in Chicago, nothing seemed to signify that Christmas was on its way more than the wreathing of the lions at the Art Institute. The proud lion statues just look so smashing in their snow-dusted winter finery. Typically, the neck decoration of choice has been your run-of-the-mill green wreath with red bow, however, in 2009, the Art Institute made a little change. Yves Behar was asked to design the 2009 wreaths, and, while the result was a break with tradition, the red and yellow leafy wreaths were still in keeping with the spirit of the ceremony.

Thanks to the success of last year’s design, the Art Institute have commissioned this winter’s wreath from the Chicago-based artistic team of Stephanie and Bruce Tharp. To create their wreath, the Tharps had area school children write down their wishes for 2011. Then, they put those wishes inside 2,011 orbs of varying shades of red, which would eventually be assembled into a wreath that combined “the traditional American cranberry wreath with the idea of a wishing tree.” The result looks pretty nice.

The wishes included in the wreath range from the thoughtful…

• “Love. For everyone to love more than they hate.”
• “A cure for cancer.”
• “To stop global warming! I love penguins!”

…to those that tackle life’s most-pressing issues…

• “I wish there was an 8th Harry Potter.”
• “I hope we make flying cats.”
• “For to have lots of lolly pops.”

What is your wish for 2011?

Glassworks

Spotlight on Seattle Series: Part 3

Dale Chihuly is a big name in the art world. His glass sculptures have been featured in exhibits around the globe: the Corning Museum of Glass (NYC), the de Young (San Francisco), Franklin Park Conservatory (Columbus, Ohio), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the MCM Grand Casino (Macau), and the Tower of David (Jerusalem) to name a few.

However, being well-known comes with a fair degree of criticism. His works have been noted for walking the line between art and craft. Some, like Kenneth Baker of the San Francisco Chronicle, claim his glassworks are too showy, that they lack the substance of serious art: “Perhaps dreamy color, glossy surfaces and flamboyant design – the signal qualities of Chihuly’s work – should be enough. But in a culture where only intellectual content still distinguishes art from knickknacks, they are not.”

Another commenter suggested that there is something vital in Chihuly’s work: “I’m not going to make a case that Chihuly is a great artist (how many deserve to be called that?) but I do make the case that it’s of some importance to consider his art seriously. Why? Because Chihuly is a leading proponent of the idea that art is still about beauty — that the search for the pure, the ideal, is still essential to the role of the artist.”

For what my opinion is worth, I think Chihuly’s work is captivating. Is there some deeper meaning behind those vibrant colors, impossible shapes, and glistening glass? Maybe yes, maybe no. Although  Navajo baskets, Italian art deco, and Japanese glass fishing floats have all been sited as inspiration for various series. But his sculptures are appealing like a bright, shiny object, and there is something to be said for art that appeals to your inner raccoon or magpie. There is definitely a place for distraction and the blatantly beautiful in the art world – it’s not earth-shattering, but it’s worth a look.

Love him or hate him, here is a little more information on Dale Chihuly:

• 1941: Chihuly was born Tacoma, Washington.
• After beginning his college life at the College of the Puget Sound, Chihuly soon moved on to the University of Washington, the institution from which he received a BA in interior design in 1965. Subsequent degrees followed, including a Master of Science in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.
• He studied under Studio Glass movement leader Harvey K. Littleton.
• In 1971, he founded the Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington. Legendary Seattle art patrons, John Hauberg and Anne Gould Hauberg (daughter of Seattle Art Museum architect Carl F. Gould), provided the necessary support.
• A serious car accident in 1976 left the artist blind in his left eye. Three years later, Chihuly found himself unable to blow glass on his own following a bodysurfing incident. Hiring others to do the glass blowing, he described his new role as “more choreographer than dancer.”
• His various studios include The Boathouse (an old racing shell facility) and buildings in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood and Tacoma. These studios serve as meeting places for artists, work spaces, and museums unto themselves.

SAM I Am

Ladies and Gentlemen, please allow me to introduce SAM. SAM is a rather handsome octogenarian that has three homes in the Seattle area: a lovely 1933 Art Moderne building in Volunteer Park, a somewhat industrial looking complex on the western edge of Downtown, and an airy waterfront space in Olympic Sculpture Park. He counts Robert Venturi and Carl F. Gould as his favorite architects, and while his particular interests include Asian, African, and Native American art, he always loves when his interesting American and European friends pay him a visit. His favorite restaurant, TASTE, features a revolving seasonal menu with a focus on sustainability and fresh-from-the-market ingredients. Also, SAM is the proud owner of an impressive research library. If you’re in the area, you should pay SAM a visit – he loves new and old visitors alike – all he asks is a suggested donation.

By now, I am sure that you know that SAM is actually the Seattle Art Museum. In 1931, Dr. Richard E. Fuller, a member of the Seattle Fine Arts Society brokered a partnership with the city of Seattle: if the city promised to maintain the facility, Fuller would donate the funds and a substantial portion of his Japanese and Chinese art collection in order to create the Seattle Art Museum. Two years later, the museum, designed by architect Carl F. Gould (that Art Moderne building we mentioned above), opened to the public. Fuller would go on to serve as director of SAM until 1973, never once collecting a salary.

In 1986, the museum put forth $35 million, which joined a $29.6 million levy agreed to by the city’s taxpayers, toward the construction of a new 150,000 square foot facility. The new building, designed by the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, was completed in 1991. Described as “seriously whimsical,” Venturi claimed, “We want [the museum] to be pretty…and appeal to children.” Now, whether it is pretty or appealing to children is a matter of opinion, but one thing that catches every Downtown visitor’s eye is the iconic “Hammering Man” sculpture in front of the museum. With its opening, SAM played a significant part in revitalizing Seattle’s downtown.

As the Downtown location opened, the old location in Volunteer Park closed for renovations. It re-opened in 1994 as the Seattle Asian Art Museum. As the name would suggest, SAAM is home to the museum’s extensive Asian art collection, including Japanese screen prints, Chinese marble sculptures, and beautiful ceramics. SAAM also houses the McCaw Foundation Asian Art Library and the Ann P. Wyckoff Teacher Resource Center.

The Olympic Sculpture Park, SAM’s third location, opened in 2007. The nine-acre park, which is enough to qualify as Seattle’s largest green space, occupies the northernmost portion of the city’s seawall and boasts magnificent views of the waterfront. Significant sculptures like Alexander Calder’s Eagle and Richard Serra’s Wake reside here.

Here are some noteworthy numbers and events in SAM’s history…

• 300,000 people visited in the museum’s first 6 months in 1933.
• 1940: SAM’s first “blockbuster,” Japanese works from the collection of Manson F. Backus, draws 73,000 visitors.
• During World War II, 650 of the museum’s most precious works were transported to Denver for safekeeping.
• 1944: First large-scale traveling exhibition, “India: It’s Acheivements of the Past and of the Present.”
• 1959: An exhibit of paintings and drawings by Vincent Van Gogh sees 126, 110 visitors.
• 1978: “The Treasures of Tutankhamen” charts 1.3 million visitors.
• 1997: “Leonardo Lives” brings in 236,000 visitors.
• SAM opened with 1926 items in its collection. As of 2008, the collection was totaled at 25,000 items.

Some exhibits you should definitely not miss…

• Everything Under the Sun: Photographs by Imogen Cunningham – through August 29, 2010. Cunningham is one of the Northwest’s most well-known photographers.
• Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints – through July 4, 2010. Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic In the Well of the Wave off Kanagawa is just one of the incredible works featured in this exhibition of 18th and 19th century ukiyo-e artists.
• love fear pleasure lust pain glamour death: Andy Warhol Media Works – May 13, 2010 through September 6, 2010. It’s Warhol, should be interesting.
• Kurt – May 13, 2010 through September 6, 2010. The grunge music movement is intertwined with the identity of Seattle. This exhibit examines how the life and work of Kurt Cobain influenced the creativity and processes of artists.
• Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris – October 8, 2010 through January 9, 2011. In a real coup, SAM has scored this one-of-a-kind exhibit of works from Paris’ Picasso Museum, which is closing for renovations.

It’s Raining Culture in Seattle

Photo by wonderlane.

Oh, April. Month of many rainfalls. What better way to celebrate this damp month than by highlighting a city known for its rainy reputation: Seattle. That’s right, throughout the month of April, Museumist will cast a spotlight on the exhibits, events, museums, cultural organizations, and the people that make the arts come alive in the Emerald City.

Let’s begin with a brief look at Seattle…

• Despite its reputation for being perpetually rainy, Seattle receives less rainfall per year than New York City, Atlanta, and Houston. It doesn’t even make the Top 10 Rainiest Cities in the US list! However, while rain might not be falling, it often looks like it’s about to. On average, there are 201 cloudy days a year in Seattle. Strangely enough though, Seattle natives are the greatest purchasers of sunglasses per capita of any American city.
• Perhaps its all those overcast days or the prevalence of coffee shops, but folks in this city are a literary bunch. The Public Library system here boasts the highest percentage of library card holders per capita in the entire US. Also, a study named Seattle the most literate city in the country.
• Of course, we’ll have to wait for the 2010 Census numbers, but by the most recent estimation, Seattle counted 602,ooo people as residents, enough to qualify as the 15th largest city in the United States.
• Notable Seattlites include: Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Lee (buried here), Paul Allen, Bill Gates, Carol Channing, Sir Mixalot, Ron Santo, Adam West, Rainn Wilson, Gypsy Rose Lee, and many more.
• The National Register of Historic Places claims 150 Seattle sites on its list, including the Ballard Avenue Historic District, the Pike Place Public Market, Chinatown Historic District, various Public Library branches, and a healthy handful of historic homes.

Seattle is a city famous for many things: coffee, grunge rock, technology, environmentalism, and great food to name a few, but here at Museumist we are mainly concerned with the City of Goodwill’s cultural offerings and artistic personalities. So, stay tuned for a deeper look at the museums and related people and places that make this town tick.

Up this week…

The Seattle Art Museum

Dale Chihuly

The Wing Luke Asian Museum

Who Dat?

Photo by smoorenburg.

With a Saints Super Bowl victory in the books, a bet made between the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art has been settled. The prize? IMA will be sending their Fifth Plague of Egypt by Joseph Mallord William Turner to NOMA.

The Turner, however, is only the latest in treasures to be found among the Big Easy’s cultural offerings. After stopping in at NOMA, here are some of the museums you should check out on your next stop in New Orleans.

The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is home to the most comprehensive collection of Southern art in the world, cataloging the region’s history and visual culture starting from the early 1700s. Current exhibits include New Southern Photography and the Andrews-Humphrey Gallery shows art is a family affair. April 22 marks the opening of Where They At?, an exhibit exploring “New Orleans bounce and hip hop in words and pictures.”

Animal Kingdom: Walk through a 30-foot Caribbean Reef tunnel or see if spotting a white alligator really brings good luck at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. If you’re more interested in land-based creatures, head to the Audubon Zoo. Animals have called this site home since the 1884 World Exposition. Current residents include King Rex and King Zulu (white tigers and brothers), performing sea lions and elephants, and a Komodo dragon.

National World War II Museum is the United States’ official WWII museum. Higgins boats (made in New Orleans), Spitfire planes, and Sherman tanks join exhibits about life on the home front and plenty of information about D-Day and the events leading up to it. A must see for history buffs.

Mardi Gras is more than just a wild party. Explore some of the history behind the celebration at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, where the city’s largest collection of Mardi Gras Indian costumes are housed. The museum, built in an old funeral home, also explores other unique New Orleans traditions like Jazz Funerals and Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs.

Again, this is just a sampling of museums and cultural institutions in the Crescent City. No matter what sites you visit, just remember “laissez les bon temps rouler.”

Among the Masters: A Journey to the Frick

It was a beautiful January day in New York City. With only a light wind blowing down Fifth Avenue to contend with, I left the quirky little boutique hotel that served as home for the weekend, and set off toward the Frick Collection. Momentarily flattered when a woman stopped me to ask for directions – there’s something strangely satisfying about not being seen as a tourist even if I was unable to answer her question – I was in a decidedly good mood when I reached the steps of the imposing mansion on East 70^th.

The Frick Collection, arguably one of the finest assemblies of Old Masters paintings around, is a museum created from the artistic treasures of robber baron and steel magnate, Henry Clay Frick. The museum is housed in the Frick mansion – built on an entire city block – that was constructed in 1913-14. Strolling through the home/museum, it seems impossible that people once lived among art of such caliber and quality, but it would sure be fun to try it out for a little while.

Admission – $18 for adults, $12 for seniors (62+), $5 for students – includes an audio tour, which I highly recommend. Simply punch in the number of the painting into the little handheld device, and you will be rewarded with enlightening information about the artist, the subject, how the painting fits into the Frick collection, or perhaps a bit about Frick himself. For instance, from the audio guide, I learned how Whistler was the only American artist deemed worthy enough by Frick to be included in his almost exclusively European collection (Stuart’s portrait of George Washington is the only other painting by an American artist, and was most likely chosen for patriotic reasons rather than some commentary on his standing among the European pantheon). It also brought certain paintings to life, like when it provided greater context for Reynolds’ paintings of “very beautiful women in very important hats.”

In the galleries of the Frick Collection you will find the gigantic canvases of Veronese, elongated El Grecos, a room full of frothy Fragonards, the quiet beauty of Vermeer, a gentle landscape by Corot, figures emerging from Whistler’s black backgrounds on one wall opposing the same artist’s studies in pink and white on the other, a healthy handful of Gainsborough, Rembrandt’s self-reflections, and much more.

Can’t make it to New York? Well, lucky for you the Frick’s stocked collection is searchable through their online database. Holbein’s Sir Thomas More may be breathtaking in person, but it’s still pretty darn impressive on a computer.

Although my journey to the Frick Collection lasted just over an hour, it was an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of a collector (even if he was the most hated man in America). The Frick succeeds not because of the quality of their artworks, which doesn’t hurt, but in the stories they are able to tell through their collection.

I set off back down Fifth Avenue in an even better mood than when I started. I had seen great art, the weather was beautiful, the wind was at my back, and when the next person asked me for directions I was able to tell them where to go.

A Postal Post

So, still seething from the information that my rent check got lost in the mail (I mean, come on, I even paid it early!), I popped into the Charleston Post Office to pick up a change of address form. The wonderfully pleasant man behind the counter did quite a bit to put me back in a good mood, but what really turned my frown upside down was the unexpected surprise of a postal history museum.

Complete with diorama and artifacts of postal service days past, this little gem of a museum was well worth the trip. Here you can learn about a brief history of the P.O. Box (apparently “pigeonholes” were being used as early as 1800) and look upon some Confederate letters and stamps.

Upon leaving the historic post office on Broad Street, I couldn’t help but echoing the exclamation of the individual who wrote in the museum’s guest book: “Hurrah for the Postal Service!”

Here are a few images…

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