Formative Evaluations

My last project at the DIA was just as fun and interesting as everything else I had been working on all summer, and I'm a little disappointed that I didn't have more time to get involved with it.

Museum evaluation is actually very interesting to me.  I like to know how the visitors perceive the museum-- is it meeting their needs?  Their expectations?  Are they enjoying themselves?  Are they actually learning anything?  Is our message being received by the public?  And I find evaluation to be tied very closely to education, as the answers to the above questions are generally addressed by an educator.

The DIA appears to take evaluation very seriously.  They have their own evaluation department that works with many areas of the museum (staff engagement surveys to membership evaluations and visitor surveys). 

My last project involved formative evaluations of some labels for an upcoming exhibition called, "Fakes, Forgeries, and Mysteries".  I wish I were going to be in town for it-- it sounds pretty cool. 

The DIA actually tests every label before it goes up on the wall.  More specifically, they test interpretive labels and texts.  Those labels that just describe the artwork don't really change.  I love this.  I love the idea of presenting the draft of the label to the public, asking if the text works for them.  It just makes so much sense.  And honestly, it's not that much work.  I know it sounds really labor intensive to test every single label, but it's just not that bad.

All of the necessary supplies for label evaluations

Each draft label is printed out on regular paper and taped to a wall in the museum (frankly, in the scope of this entire project, I was most nervous about taping things to the walls of the DIA) and then 10 visitors are asked to read the label(s) and answer some questions about what they read.  Generally, 2 labels are tested each time so it goes pretty quickly.

The draft label on the wall, along with sample artworks

For two days, I was charged with standing near the Rivera Court, temporarily mounting the draft labels, and interviewing 10 people per day about their thoughts on the texts.  I really liked it.

To some, I'm sure this sounds like a painful task, but I really enjoyed for a couple of reasons.  First, I got to talk to visitors.  I love talking to visitors.  A buddy and colleague of mine, who works at another museum said, "I take my employee badge off when I walk through the galleries so no one will ask me anything".  We could not be more different in that respect.  In his defense, he's only been working at his current museum for a few months, so he doesn't really have the knowledge base to feel comfortable answering visitors' questions.  I, on the other hand, have been coming to the DIA for the better part of my lifetime and can tell you where the bathrooms are without blinking.

As a "prize" for participating, each visitor gets a postcard of an artwork in the DIA.

One of my "hobbies" while at the DIA this summer, was to walk around the galleries when I had some down time, and listen to people's conversations.  It sounds creepy, but I'm interested in what they are saying about the art and about the museum.  I like listening to how adults talk about art with kids, and how people engage with each other in conversations about art.

So it was a real treat for me to stand in the hallway and ask visitors questions.  Plus, I was able to give directions to elevators and bathrooms all day.

The other thing I liked about this project was seeing the results.  Because each label is only read and evaluated by 10 people, it's possible to see the results very quickly.  For example, after about 6 interviews, I was able to find a pattern and see that people had trouble understanding the third paragraph of a certain label. 

It's instant evaluation gratification and I loved it.

Art Camp in Pictures

I took a bunch of pictures at Art Camp last week and have been meaning to post them, so here they are, in all of their ridiculous, messy glory:

Creating creatures and environments

Painting pink penguins

Chatting with Mr. Byron

This fold-out chalkboard divides the two studios.  Cool.

A giraffe in Africa

Mixing colors can get messy...

 Thank goodness we have plenty of aprons to go around!

Working hard on her imaginary roller coaster

It all culminates with an art show for parents and family on day 5

Parents, admiring their students' work

Learn more about the DIA's summer art camps and see pictures from better photographers than myself at http://www.diaartstudio.wordpress.com/ and www.flickr.com/photos/diaartstudio.

The Drama with the Custer Flag

It's why we pay lawyers to represent us in court and doctors to cure what ails us and exterminators to take care of those ants that keep coming back.

We trust these people to take care of our needs because they are skilled in their professions and are more or less experts at what they do.  They have a mastery of a profession that others do not.

So why are museums so freely criticized by those who do not understand the laws and processes surrounding museum operations?

I think a lot of it has to do with the idea that museums hold the public's objects and promises to take care of them... forever.  On the one hand, I am pleased when the public feels a sense of ownership for the objects in the museum.  On the other hand, I hate it when the people feeling ownership are completely illogical.

I think it must be common knowledge that people who rant on message boards and leave irate comments IN ALL CAPS at the bottom of web articles are not people to be reasoned with.  But darn it if I won't try!

This rant stems from a civil war (or, "war of northern aggression", as I've learned it's called down in Florida) flag that has ties to Custer (from Monroe, MI) and is owned by the DIA... but now the museum has plans to sell it.

The flag, complete with commemorative Custer illustration.

So, here's the story:

On June 25, 1876,  George Armstrong Custer, the pride of Monroe, led the 7th Cavalry into battle against the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne near the Little Bighorn River in Montana. It was not, shall we say, Custer’s finest hour. All 210 men under his immediate command died in the massacre. So did Custer.

As a burial detail surveyed the carnage a few days later, Sgt. Ferdinand Culbertson discovered a tattered swallow-tail American flag, known as a guidon, hidden beneath a dead soldier. He picked it up, folded it and squeezed it into his pocket. Four years later, according to an 1895 Free Press report headlined “Memento of a Massacre,” the first written document of the flag’s history, Culbertson gave it to Rose Fowler, whose husband was a military man. After Mr. Fowler died, his wife married another soldier and retired to southwest Detroit.

Eventually, Rose sold the flag to the DIA for about $50.  Now, the DIA has decided to put the flag up for auction at Sotherby's, where they expect it will sell for somewhere between 2 and 5 million dollars.

Currently, the DIA's collections budget (their budget for buying new art) is about $3 million.  If the flag sold for the expected amount, it could more than double that budget.

Fantastic, right?

Well, some people aren't so thrilled and they're even writing goofy letters to the editor about it.

There are so many ridiculous things in this article, I don't even know where to start...

"This isn't a piece of surplus artwork; this a priceless piece of history"
Exactly.  It's not art!  I agree that the flag has value, but so does all of the "surplus" art in the museum.  The flag doesn't fit within the mission or collections policy, so it simply has no place in the DIA.  There are no civil war historians on staff, thus there is no one to interpret the work.  There are no other civil war objects in the collection, thus there is no context in which to display it.  Should the flag remain in the DIA, it will stay in storage; unseen and unexplained.  Forever.

"give the people of Michigan time to donate and raise money so that the flag could stay here"
Seriously?  There have been countless fundraising campaigns over the years to support the DIA.  Did you donate then?  At the risk of sounding cliche, I will ask, given the economic troubles in Michigan at the moment, is raising $5 million to keep a single flag really at the top of everyone's priority list?

"I highly doubt that the soldier who gave his life protecting this flag had this in mind as he tucked it under his body."
Well, I guess we'll never know.  An art historian probably can't tell you much about the circumstances under which this flag was salvaged.

I know I'm playing the devil's advocate here. I mean, I worked at a historical museum for several years. I am not one to try and devalue historical objects. However, historical objects belong in historical museums, with experts than can interpret them correctly.

"Imagine if this flag ends up in Russia, China or the Middle East"
Wait... what?  Is this guy for real?

On other message boards and comment threads, people are all up in arms about the idea that there may be blood on the flag.  I've seen a lot of civil war flags (our historical museum had a hugely impressive collection of them) and many of them do have blood, dirt, grass stains, etc. from the battles-- so it is very possible that this flag does indeed have some blood on it.
 
So here's what people are saying about that:

"If this is Native American blood, wouldn't this fall under the various repatriation acts that require the flag to be returned to Native American tribes involved with the battle?"
Now, I don't claim to be a NAGPRA expert, but I know what the acronym stands for, so I feel that qualifies me enough to comment on this.  The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act exists to (rightfully) protect Native American graves, remains, and funerary and religious artifacts.  I don't believe that blood spattered on a flag qualifies as any of those things.

"If this is the blood of an American soldier, shouldn't it be returned to the family of the soldier who died possessing it?"
We don't know who that soldier was.  We only know who picked it up and put it in his pocket-- and that guy willingly donated it to Rose, who willingly sold it to the DIA for $50.  Why is nobody mad at Rose Fowler?  There was no DIA curator at the battle of Little Bighorn, going around and ripping flags out from under fallen soldiers. 

"If this was a flag used during a U.S. military operation, isn't it the property of the U.S. government?"
I can't say for certain that the flag was not, at one time, government property.  What I do know is that enough time has passed that the DIA does legally own the flag and can do with it what they please.

There are also many comments lamenting the sale as the DIA's "shameful" way to "make a buck".  I know I don't need to say this to any of my peers, but the money earned in the auction of the flag will not pay anyone's salary, nor will it keep the lights on in the galleries.  That money will be used exclusively for the purchase of great art-- art that will enrich the DIA's collection and serve the museum's mission of "creating experiences that help visitors find personal meaning in art".

The value of this flag comes from the story it can tell-- yet that story will not be heard and meaning will not be garnered if it remains in storage at the DIA.

2010.26

Yes, yes, I know. Some of my peers may be thinking, "Jess, you're an educator... why are you always ranting about accession numbers, relative humidity, exhibition planning and other things that are outside your chosen realm of museum work?"

Well the answer is that I simply enjoy museums as a whole. I see most functions of the museum as being interrelated. If the art is not cared for and understood, then how can I be expected to educate the public about it? What do I say when a kid asks me, "Why is it so cold in here?" or "What are those little numbers for?" or "Why can't we touch anything?" I think it's important to know about all aspects of the museum if I am to speak confidently as an educator and representative of the museum.

On that note; today I was working with some labels.

As a part of the 125th Anniversary Project, labels need to be fabricated to accompany the repro paintings that will be installed around Metro-Detroit. Thus, I was charged with making a draft of the text for these labels (which will later be approved by a curator).

We have selected 40 paintings to be reproduced, so Michelle and I went into the museum's database (The Museum System, or TMS-- which I must say, is a lot cooler than ARGUS, which is what I used at the history museum) and printed out the information on each of our 40 pieces. This document contains all of the information that one would find on a wall label, but it's in a much different format. So my job today was to reformat all of the information into labels that mimic those used in the actual DIA galleries.

This would have been fine, if I had any idea what format the DIA uses for their labels. I looked on our website and found nothing, so I had to sneak down into the galleries. The DIA is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so all of the lights were off, and the galleries were technically "closed", but I have a little ID badge that says "Staff" so just let them try and stop me!

I managed to snap a quick picture of the first label I saw. It was for this work of art:

I've come to really love this painting over the last two months. I don't recall ever seeing it before, but now I spend a few minutes looking at it every day as I wait for the elevator. I can see it from the third floor balcony and it has grown on me.

Anyway, I used this label as a template, eliminating the interpretive text below the tombstone information.

It's not a pretty picture, but it served the purpose of showing me how to format my labels. I thought I was being pretty clever.

So with my example established, I began rearranging the information about each of the 40 paintings. As I was going through the list, I was struck by a few entries that I found particularly interesting.

The first piece ever accessioned by the DIA (Detroit Museum of Art, at the time) was Reading the Story of Oenone, 1883

The accession number is 83.1... which means the museum bought the painting the same year it was made. What was so great about this painting that the DIA decided this is what will start their collection? And why not a great classic masterpiece? Why a contemporary (for the time) piece? I find this very interesting.

There were several others that the DIA bought shortly after their completion.

A Day in June was purchased in 1917, just four years after it was made. I can't help but think that perhaps the Detroit Museum of Art began as a rather progressive institution, willing to invest in controversial impressionist paintings and contemporary artists.

Every art history student I've spoken to hates this painting:

But it's a Detroit treasure. Visitors love it and it may very well be the most visited and most recognized painting in the museum. I think its only competition would be the Van Gogh self portrait. So I was a little surprised that it was only accessioned in 1954. That seems so recent! As a citizen that has patronized the DIA for many years, it is difficult to fathom that The Nut Gatherers has not always been at the DIA. I mean, there was a time in my parents' lifetime when they could not go see the Nut Gatherers. I mean... my dad would have been 2 years old when it was accessioned, but still!

In the early 90's, it seems like a there was a change in the collections policy. Granted, I am looking at an extremely small sample from the collections database, but around 1993, suddenly the credit lines (list of people who gave money to purchase-or donated--an artwork) grew from one or two lines to some that are a whopping 15 lines of text! Dozens and dozens of donors are suddenly being listed on labels.

I have a theory on this.

Perhaps, as the museum's collections policy became more refined, the DIA began to deaccession donated works and sell them (of course, putting the resulting funds into an account exclusively for the purchase of more art). As the account was used to pay for new art, ALL of the names of ALL of the people who contributed must then be present on the label.

Of the 40 works on this list, those with the longest credits were accessioned in 1977, 1993, 1995, and 2002.  To me, that points to a more recent change in the collections policy and some deaccessioning and redistribution of funds.

And speaking of  deaccessioning and redistribution of funds... have you heard about the drama with the Custer flag?

Mummies aren’t real and neither is Santa Claus!

Today was Art ‘n Action Camp for 5 – 8 year olds. Actually, camp goes all week long, but today was the first chance I had to sit in and watch. Tomorrow, I hope to observe the older kids (9 – 12) at Camp Art Exploration.

For as loud and ridiculous as this morning was, it turned out to be a lot of fun! I really like the methods that Miss LaVern and Miss Liz use to run their classroom. And it does run very much like a classroom. There is a certain amount of discipline necessary in a room with 11 5-8 year olds, but I think the idea is to keep the atmosphere fun and light, at which Liz and LaVern are highly skilled. I did have to laugh at one point, when a little boy wouldn’t stop rocking his stool back and forth (risking a head injury) Miss LaVern simply confiscated his stool and let him stand for the next few minutes. It seemed a little stern for “art camp” but I understand that if the instructors aren’t able to project some aura of authority, then chaos will ensue.

I came to camp a little late, so as I was arriving, the group was finishing up one project and getting ready to take a museum tour.

Back when I worked at the historical museum, I spent much of my usual day giving 4th graders an “orientation” (or snorientation… borientation… as we would sometimes call them) to the museum. The orientation included a recitation of the rules of the museum—though we weren’t supposed to call them “rules” so much as “guidelines”. Anyway, sometimes kids would listen intently… and other times I was practically peeling them off the walls while I ran through my 2 minute speech. It was not the most effective way to communicate museum behavior to the kids, but it was the most efficient. And on days when groups were coming in every 15 minutes… efficiency is next to godliness. I think I can still recite it in my sleep.

But I liked the way Miss Liz prepared the campers for their gallery visit. While they were seated at their tables, she said that we would be going into the museum and asked, “What are some things you think might be important in the museum?” Immediately, the kids came up with “Don’t run and scream!”, “Stay with the group”, and “Don’t touch anything”. For the record, these were the three things that I spent 2 minutes explaining every day at the historical museum. These exact 3 things. But the kids came up with them right off the bat. It was great. And because they came up with them on their own and Liz wrote them on the board, they seemed to remember them pretty well. I should have timed how long it took the campers to come up with those rules. I bet it was less than 2 minutes.

While I observed this, I took a moment of silence to reflect on all of the snorientations happening at the historical museum today. I still have good friends working there, and I know they appreciate a well presented orientation.

Speaking of the historical museum; I can remember some of the most frequently asked questions I heard over my 2.5 year tenure there…

1.) Where’s the bathroom?
2.) How do I pay for parking?
3.) Do you have dinosaurs?

Well, #3 reared its ugly head again today! After the list of rules, the next comment was, “Are we going to see dinosaurs??” To which Liz said, “There aren’t any dinosaurs… but we have mummies… and mummies are… umm… old… like dinosaurs… kind of.” Nice recovery Miss Liz.

So of course, our second stop (after petting Artie) was the Egyptian exhibition. I heard a kid yell “Mummies aren’t real and neither is Santa Claus!” before he stopped dead in front of the case with the mummy. “Is there a person in there??”, he asked me. I pointed to the accompanying X-ray, which clearly shows the skeleton within the wrappings, and he was awestruck. I managed to impress an 8 year old, and I felt SO cool. Though I’m not sure there was much I could do about his opinion of St. Nick.

When we got back to the studio, I was then able to observe the kids do a project from start to finish. It was really interesting and I liked the way LaVern presented the project.

The kids would be making family photo albums. But the books were really cool—they were made of all kinds of paper and cut into crazy shapes and stuff. LaVern showed the kids a few examples of books that others had made, including some by herself and Liz. After which she said, “You don’t have to do what Miss Liz and I do. You probably have other ideas, but we are here to help you.”

Miss LaVern

I had mentioned before that these workshops provide structure with room for creativity, and I think LaVern’s comment really exemplified the teaching philosophy of the DIA art studio. By the time camp was over for the day, photo albums were taking the shapes of sharks, stars, and rocket ships of all colors, sizes and arrangements. Yet they were all still photo albums. Perfect.

Making memory boxes

For this age range, attention span is always an issue. To combat this, each segment of camp is only about 15 or 20 minutes. A 15 minute museum tour, followed by a 20 minute snack time / run around the lawn, then 20 minutes to finish yesterday’s project and another 15 or 20 to get started on the photo albums, and so on. It keeps the kids from getting burnt out on any one project, and also—kids work fast. They don’t usually take much time to sit and consider their project. If you put paper and scissors in their hands, they are cutting immediately. 20 minutes is often all they need to complete a project.

Havin' a great time at art camp

(Photos can also be found at diaartstudio.wordpress.com)

Camp Art ‘n Action is just another example of all the things the DIA is doing right. The kids were having a great time, they were being creative and making some really neat stuff. How much more can you ask for from a 3 hour art camp? I used to do art classes after school at a community center (every Wednesday, I believe) for several years and I remember loving it. But there is such a benefit to doing these kinds of classes IN the museum! It adds another dimension of enjoyment and education to the class.

Well, that and the kids get to be messy and look at mummies. I call that a win.

Ranked

During today’s All Staff meeting, Graham was asked a question about how the DIA ranks, nationally. It has often been said that the DIA is one of the top 6 museums in the country.

I have always thought this was an odd phrase—that we aren’t quite in the top five, but we’re better than museums 7-10, so saying we were in the “top ten” didn’t do us enough justice.

To me, it indicated that we were the 6th best museum in the country, on a list of what I imagined to be 100 or so museums.

Not surprisingly, I was wrong.

The DIA is classified as a “universal museum” because our collection spans all space and time. There are 6 “top” universal museums in the country and they are: The Met, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and of course, The Detroit Institute of Arts.

Other museums like The MoMA or the National Gallery are excluded because they are not universal.

These 6 universal museums are not usually ranked, but when they are, it’s on a bias. If you like Impressionist art, then Chicago is #1… but if you like European Art, then the DIA is probably #1, and so on.

Thus, the clout in this phrase is really that we are among the six (as there are only six) best universal museums in the country.

I suppose one could liken it to being a “Big Ten” school—there isn’t School #1 or School #2—they’re all just in the Big Ten.

Actually, that might be a terrible reference. Once football or basketball season takes off, they are very clearly ranked.

Maybe it’s more like American Idol, once contestants reach the top 12 or top 5. Within that group, no one is individually ranked, but they are each one of the 12 best singers in the country.

I wonder if Simon Cowell has ever been to the DIA…

"I think we've got something here..."

That's what Larry said when he saw everyone's reaction to our sample repro of Watson and the Shark.

People were coming from all over the third floor to check it out.  Even Graham Beal stopped in for a moment to take it in.  I'm beginning to gather that he is a man of few words, but he looked impressed.

People were doing double-takes as they walked past the conference room and saw a framed replica of Watson, just sitting on the table.  The real painting is not on display at the moment, so several people thought we toted it up to the third floor for the afternoon.  That's how convincing it is.

Sharing this sample with the rest of the staff did a lot for our cause.  It really seemed to get everyone excited about the project and it may have even converted a few skeptics.

My iPhone photo doesn't quite do it justice, but what we have here is a very high quality reproduction of one of the DIA's most well-known paintings.

I was so excited, I couldn't even wait for Larry to get out of the frame.  Hi Larry.

5 Weeks in Review

At a little past the halfway point of my internship, I thought I would give a rundown of the projects with which I’m engaged.

1. AAMD Mapping

Project Summary:  I am compiling data about the DIA's outreach efforts or "partners", to be sent to the AAMD and turned into a map.  Partners can include schools, churches, colleges / universities, businesses, community / cultural organizations, senior groups, libraries, and youth groups.  Each partner will be represented by a colored dot on the map.  Maps zoom in and out to include multiple or individual states, counties, cities, or congressional districts.  Maps like this will be useful in millage and other funding campaigns to illustrate the museum's reach.

Department / Staff Collaboration:  Trickled down to Sandra from Graham Beal (Director).  Data has come from Lisa Rezin (Group Sales) and Jenny Angell (Student Tours).  I was told to meet with lots of other people, but Lisa and Jenny have proved to be biggest wealth of information.

Status:  I am making data compilations for Fiscal Years 08-09 and 09-10.  Each set of data has 4 components: Group Sales, School Tours, In-Classroom Visits, and Speakers Bureau.  08-09 has 3 of 4 and 09-10 has 2 of 4.  I am hoping to have all of the data entered by next week.

Favorite Elements:  Data entry can be mind numbing, but it's interesting to see (even before the map has been created) the areas that utilize the DIA the most.  I have been surprised by some of the results, so far.  Though, I am delighted about how many DPS visits the DIA has had in the last two fiscal years.

Challenges:  I had a lot of dead-end meetings before finding the people who had the information I needed.  Also, many (400+) schools on one list were without zip codes, so I had to look up each individual zip code for every school on that list.  That was less than riveting.  And data entry can be mind numbing.

Academic / Professional Relevance:  I have improved my skills with Microsoft Excel ten fold.  Other than that, I have found it interesting to see which programs touch people in different parts of Michigan (and beyond).  Mostly, this project has given me some insight into the kinds of groups a museum may cater to.  I also learned just how many commercial and corporate involvements museums have.  I think I was a bit naive to that before I saw all of the groups from the last two years and saw what a large percent of groups were corporate events.


2. Program Synopsis

Project Summary: Expanding the existing “Program Matrix” into a format that is more accessible and usable to new hires, development officers, grant writers, donors, and those wishing to learn more about the programs at the DIA. Each program is to be summarized into a one-page document that expresses the value of each program to the community and why these programs should continue to be supported.  At this point, I understand this to be a mostly internal document—in other words, while it will be distributed to donors and such, they will not be in card racks or generally available to the public.

Department / Staff Collaboration: Assigned by Sandra. Guidance from Jennifer Czajkowski (Education – Learning & Interpretation) and David Cherry (Grant Writer). My main resource is the Programs Matrix, compiled by Jennifer Czajkowski, Matt Frye (Marketing), and other staff involved in the Program Audit that took place before my arrival.

Status: 8 Synopsis sheets are complete. I hope to have 7 more done by July 9.

My Favorite Elements: Researching the programs gives me a more in-depth understanding of the programs at the museum. Making the case for their overall value and worthiness of funding allows me to think more critically about the program and what elements of the program are most important and relevant to the museum’s constituency.  I like looking at programs that I've never seen before and saying, "Is this any good?  And why?"  This also gives me an excuse to sit in on school tours and other programs (I love watching programs!) in order to form an opinion.  Spoiler alert: They're usually great.

Challenges: No such document has ever been created, beyond the Programs Matrix, thus I have very little to work with in terms of research material. A lot of my information comes from http://www.dia.org/ or even Google. When attempting to communicate the value of a program (many of which I have never seen), I often turn to websites like yelp.com for “customer reviews” to see what visitors are saying about the programs.  I feel awkward bothering people (without a formal survey in my hand) and asking them for their opinions about a program, so I haven't done much of that.

Academic / Professional Relevance:  I think that being able to so closely examine the educational and public programs run by the DIA will provide me a great deal of insight when I am looking to design future programs.  This analysis has also taught me to ask questions of the programs like, "What need is this fulfilling?".  Programs are great, but unless they are filling an educational gap, or answering a call from the community, they are difficult to justify to funders and others outside of the museum.


3. 125th Anniversary

Project Summary:  (I think we might now be calling it "Art on the Move").  Based on a 2007 London project called "The Grand Tour", the purpose of this project is to place "fully submersible" reproductions of the DIA's masterpieces in surprising locations around the greater metro Detroit area.  The reproductions are weatherproof and will be mounted outside, in an effort to bring the DIA's collection to people who might not otherwise see it.

Department / Staff Collaboration:  Larry Baranski (Public Programs) is heading this project, and I am working closely with Michelle Hauske (Public Programs / Registration) to secure locations for the "paintings".

Status:  The sample is complete!  And it looks incredible.  Other than that, I would say the project is about 40% complete.  There is much work to be done and I doubt I will see any of the paintings installed before I leave.

Favorite Elements: Finding connections between the art and the community.  There is something of a tongue-in-cheek element to this project that I absolutely love.  The committee has attempted to match the theme of the artworks to their prospective locations.  For example, I already discussed Syria by the Sea at the old train station, but there are others, such as Watson and the Shark on the Nautical Mile or The Fruit Vendor in the Eastern Market.  I think it's going to look like the paintings escaped from the DIA and went home.

Challenges:  Lots of hoops, lots of delays, little time, little money.  Every time one thing gets settled, five more issues pop up.  Of all things, we actually have to get insured for this project... in case one of the paintings falls off the wall and hurts someone.  Little things like that take some of the initial excitement out of the project.

Academic / Professional Relevance: I've learned quite a lot about the DIA's collection.  I have also been in meetings with donors and witnessed the relationship between the funder and the museum.  As frustrating as it can be, I also see the value in experiencing the bureaucracy that can sometimes slow a project down.  It is encouraging to see the rest of the committee meet these challenges with grace and enthusiasm.  Overall, it has been extremely educational to watch a program like being realized.

Registration and Conservation

You know you’re in the Registrar’s office when there are nomenclature books and #2 pencils everywhere you look.

The Registration department in the DIA was pretty boring. It looks much like the third floor—grey, with cubicles… but more filing cabinets. I’m sure they keep all of the really interesting stuff hidden.

Today, I worked mostly on the 125th Anniversary project. Michelle (a registration intern and part-time Public Programs staffer) and I took an extended tour of the museum, choosing and eliminating artworks to be reproduced and placed around the greater metro Detroit area. I’ve really enjoyed working on this project. Most of the businesses have been enthusiastic about participating—which is a good start—and it’s been fun to discuss the paintings and why they should go where. It’s also been interesting to be in on planning the assembly and installation (selecting the materials and installation hardware, etc.).  I don’t know much about that kind of thing, which I think is why it’s been so fascinating.

Michelle knows a lot more about art than I do (which isn’t difficult) so I enjoyed touring the galleries with her this afternoon and hearing her thoughts about which paintings are most important, which best represent our collection and why some paintings are better suited for certain areas than others. I can’t wait to audit Intro to Art History next semester… I’ve been faking my way though art museums for far too long.

Michelle also had some other keen insights for me, and answered a few questions I had about the museum. For example, some paintings are under glass, while others are not. I studied these paintings a while, and could not find a pattern. One Renoir is covered, while others are not, etc. Michelle says that this is handled by the Conservation department (not Registration, as I had guessed) and those paintings with glass over them are the paintings most likely to be touched (the Van Goghs!) and those needing extra protection (Degas’ pastels). I was satisfied with that answer for the most part—but I find it hard to believe that the Caravaggios don’t warrant a glass covering.

Yet all of this led me to another question: How many museums have a separate Conservation department?

I had previously thought that a lot of the conservation is handled by the registrar. I have to imagine that in a larger museum, like the DIA, that separate departments are more typical. But I am also wondering if it is more common for museums that have older collections. Perhaps a museum of contemporary art has less need for conservation tactics? Is it that a Caravaggio needs more upkeep and care than a Warhol (at least for the moment)?

I sent an email to University of Florida professor and past Registrar, Dixie Nielson for her opinion. She wrote the book on registration, so I’ll be interested to hear her insights.

Literally.

The Grand Tour

Good Morning! My name is Jessica. I’m an intern at the Detroit Institute of Arts and I would like to drill some holes in the outside of your building.

This summer, some of my friends are working at museums that they have never visited. I, on the other hand, am working at a museum in which I practically grew up. I think I have the better deal—at least in terms of this project. The DIA’s 125th Anniversary Project (we don’t have a real name for it yet…) is a public art installation project based on London’s 2007 “Grand Tour”.

Essentially, we will be mounting the DIA’s most famous paintings in some of the Detroit area’s most surprising locations.

Places like this:

Michigan Central Station

Yes, really.

Michigan Central Station makes my guts hurt. It’s the visual representation of why people say awful things about Detroit.

It used to be beautiful and ornate and… functional.  Now it is quite simply in ruins.

Interior of the train station, covered in graffiti

For those unfamiliar with this location, Michigan Central Station used to be a large train station, with trains running frequently to major cities like Chicago. It was on par with the great train stations of New York City and had lots of offices (and a hotel, I think?) and other stuff in the large building above the station. Now, every single window is broken.

At first, I was shocked that the committee had chosen to include Michigan Central as a location for this project. Until I saw what painting they had chosen for it.

Syria by the Sea, Frederic Edwin Church (American 1826-1900)

It broke my heart in such a good way. It’s a painting of magnificent ruins.

Syria by the Sea is one of the DIA’s most famous and popular paintings. I have seen it many times, but I had never really considered it until now. It is so completely perfect for Michigan Central Station.

And as Larry (the head of this project committee) pointed out to me, the idea is to place these artworks in surprising locations around the city. Well, I can’t think of any place more surprising than one of the biggest abandoned buildings I have ever seen.

I am also told that people (tourists!) quite frequently visit Michigan Central. The old train station is across the street from an area that is quickly becoming a revitalized area of Detroit—popular and trendy. That strip is home to one of the coolest restaurants in the city, Slows Bar B Q. Interestingly, their logo is a train.

So anyway, I guess people going to that side of town to hit up Slow’s also stop by Michigan Central to take in the ruins. At first, I was kind of appalled by this. But then I remembered how many times I’ve visited the ruins in Rome or Pompeii. While this is not nearly as old… I think it holds some of the same appeal to visitors. So that’s how Michigan Central Station came to be a stop on Detroit’s Grand Tour.

Here's a few shots from London's Grand Tour to give you an idea of what it is:

The rest of the sites are somewhat less surprising. Trendy areas like Downtown Ann Arbor and The Nautical Mile of St. Clair Shores, and Detroit’s Eastern Market are all great locations for these paintings.

So after going through the list of locations and paintings, I began “cold calling” some businesses and honestly, I felt a bit like Oprah.

Everyone in today’s studio audience gets a reproduction of a masterpiece from the DIA’s collection.

EVERYONE gets a painting! Yes, YOU get a painting! YOU get a painting! And YOU get a painting!

My job today was to call all of these locations and tell them that “YOU get a painting!”, or more accurately, “Your location has been scouted and selected by DIA staff as an appropriate site for one of our life-sized reproductions”. Either way, it was fun.

I was surprised by how enthusiastic some of these contacts were. The woman at the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority has been emailing me all afternoon with pictures she’s taken of various places where she wants us to put a painting. I love it!

There are 45 locations in all, and I have a lot more “cold calls” to do, but today’s results have been encouraging.

Now for the boring part—funding it.

We are making “fully submersible” reproductions of our most famous paintings—they can get rained on, exposed to extreme heat and cold, etc. The images of the paintings are going to be printed on a vinyl material (much like any outdoor banner you would see around town) and mounted on a Versatex sheet board. The frames will be made of an ultra-light material called Fypon, which will then be painted with a self-oxidizing gold paint (to make it look 200 years old in about 2 days).

The budget for all of these materials is $11,096. We have a very generous donor (I believe he owns the printing company and is thus printing our repros for the fabulous price of FREE) who has given $12,000 to the project. So he covers all of the production—with $904 left over for lunch.

All we need now is another $8000 for the labor and mounting hardware. Larry says he thinks that he can find a “little pot of money” somewhere in the museum to take care of this. But I really liked what our donor guy said during our meeting. He said, “The original budget ($12000) is all I'm prepared to commit to, but I'm not prepared to let this program not happen." Basically, he is saying that he is willing to use his business contacts to help us out, in addition to the $12,000 he is already giving.

Our donor is one hell of a good guy and I really like his attitude.

All in all, I'm really pleased to be a part of this project. It benefits my hometown, and I think my knowledge of the area is helpful (both to me and the project committee, as they don't have to explain where things are and the demographics of each location, etc,).

Tomorrow I am meeting with the rest of the 125th Anniversary Project committee and I'll be able to see the first sample reproduction!

Exciting!

This is Impossible!

I heard a kid say that to his mom last night at the DIA drop-in workshop for watercolor postcards.

Every Friday, the DIA is open until 10pm.  During this time, there are live music performances (last night was ZoZo Afrobeat, which I heard was awesome), drop-in art-making workshops, cash bars throughout the museum (I'd be lying if I said this didn't make me a little nervous), lectures, and other small events inside the galleries.

My dad and I used to go almost every Friday when I was younger.  I saw (and met!) Richie Havens there when I was in high school.  It was groovy.

So last night, I stayed late at the museum (My advisor told me that I should spend the night at the museum to ensure that I acheive my 320 hour minimum...) to observe a Friday Night Live from the perspective of a program evaluator, rather than a visitor.

There were lots of people, and ZoZo Afrobeat seemed to be filling the Detroit Film Theatre Auditorium to the rafters.  It was a great night.

Then I decided to check out the drop-in workshop to see what their turnout was like, and what kind of projects everyone was making.  I was pleased to see a diverse group of families, young adults, and seniors all painting postcards.  I walked around and asked a few kids what they were painting.  Most gave me an answer; stars, mountains, etc.

But when I asked one third grade boy what he was painting he said, "I don't know..."  To which I replied, "That's ok, you don't have to know."  And I was surprised by his next outburst of "This is impossible!!"

That's when his mother pulled me aside and told me the poor kid had just had a "meltdown" a few minutes prior to my arrival.  He was so intimidated and frustrated by the lack of instruction for this (seemingly simple) project that he simply shut down.

His mom then told me that in his art classes in school, he is usually given very specific instructions.  The kids are told what to paint and how to paint it, without much room for creative variances.  I found this surprising and asked what school district he is in.  Quite frankly, I was expecting her to tell me he was in a Detroit Public School (DPS is not known for their fantastic art programs).  But no, he attends a Grosse Pointe school-- one of the best around, for that matter.

I was stunned.

Earlier that afternoon, I had visited the DIA gift shop, searching for childrens' books for a girlfriend's upcoming baby shower.  While there, I found this book for myself:

One of my big, final projects last semester was about how to talk about art with kids in a museum setting.  It was a historical project that looked at methods of teaching art criticism from the Picture Study Movement of the late 1800's, through The Feldman Model and finally the contemporary Visual Thinking Strategies.

So naturally, I was interested in this book and thought it was worth my 17 bucks.

I don't know much about teaching art to children-- I have but one semester's worth of knowledge and zero experience.  But I knew that this poor kid was struggling and that whatever method was being used in his school is not doing him any good.  Frankly, it sounds like he's in an art class from the turn of the century.  His mother even disclosed that while he enjoys art, he will often open up an art book and copy the pictured works, almost exactly.

I told her that while I don't think there is any real danger in allowing him to copy works in an effort to hone his technical skills, I do find it somewhat concerning that he found the presentation of a blank postcard and a palette of paint to be so upsetting. 

I then asked if this was their first time in an art class or drop-in workshop at the DIA.  She said yes and I suggested that this should not be the last.  From the research I've been doing for these program synopsis sheets, I learned a lot about the techniques used in the studio classes for kids.  They actually use a VTS method, which I found interesting as I could picture no way to use VTS in a studio setting-- until I read their descriptions. 

The classes are structured enough to prevent frustration fueled meltdowns, but are open enough to allow for a certain amount of creative expression.  I told this mom that if her kid has an interest in art, but is afraid of working without specific instruction, that the DIA Art Exploration Camps would be a good place to start.

While I felt badly that this poor kid was having such a rough time, it felt really good that I could be somewhat knowledgeable about his problem and helpful in suggesting a possible solution.

The DIA is the Best Museum in the World. Here's Why:

I heard a quote today that supposedly comes from the director of the DIA.  It would never hold up in court, and would be classified as "hearsay" but I think it's an important quote-- regardless of who actually said it.

The DIA is the best museum in the world.  It is even better than the Louvre.  It's the best museum in the world because not only do we attract 500,000 visitors every year, but we do it in Detroit.  Getting 500,000 people to venture into downtown Detroit these days is no small feat.  It's easy to get 500,000 people to go to the Louve, The Smithsonian, or The Met-- people are already IN those thriving cities.  People stumble into The Met because they're already vacationing in New York, and need to kill an afternoon.  People come to the DIA because they have chosen to travel to the DIA based on its superior reputation in collections and programming.  And that's why the DIA is the greatest museum in the world.

I have to say... I don't disagree.

Everywhere, a Sign

One of the best things about working at the DIA is that during my lunch break, or heck, even on my way to the parking lot, I get to walk through the museum galleries and visit some of the most amazing art in the universe.  I've been making it a point to see a different gallery every day.  Today, after lunch, I took a little stroll through the Egyptian gallery-- a long time favorite of mine.

As I was gawking at mummies and canopic jars, I saw this sign next to one of the cases:

Yes!  What do BCE and CE mean??  I mean, I know what they mean, but I have an anthropology degree so I know all kinds of bizarre things.  I gloss over these terms without a thought, while much of the general public may get hung up on them, as they are not terribly common in our everyday language.  I think this is a great method-- explaining not only the art, but the terms used to interpret the art.  Brilliant.

Since its reinstallation, the DIA has made use of some awesome interpretive methods-- many of which seem brilliant in their simplicity and effortless in their execution. 

My favorite of these methods may be the DIA's use of text panels.  I know, text panels.  I personally, find text panels to be generally uninspired and downright dull.  I rarely read them.  That's why the DIA is brilliant in their creation of wall texts that you don't have to read!  It's true! 

There are one or more text panels mounted in every gallery, and they all look something like this one from the Egyptian gallery:

It's a little difficult to see because I wasn't using a flash on my camera.  To the right is your typical text, talking about what kinds of objects are typically found in Egyptian tombs.  But if you look to the left, you see an image with the word "EGYPTIAN" over it.  Every text panel throughout the Egyptian galleries looks exactly like this one.  They all have the same image on the left, and they all say "EGYPTIAN" down the side.

Here's why I think it's brilliant:

1.) It requires almost no reading.  I don't have to read all of that text to know where I am and what I'm looking at.

2.) It unifies the galleries.  As another part of the DIA's reinstallation, all of the gallery space was divided into smaller galleries because visitors reported being overwhelmed by the large, traditional halls.  Thus, the many smaller rooms make it difficult to keep track of what gallery you're in.  These panels, present in every gallery room, keep these smaller sections unified under one larger theme.

3.) I read a few, and they're actually very interesting and accessible.  I may need to state that I do not have an background in Art or Art History, thus I read these text panels like a visitor would, and I found them all to have genuinely interesting information that was easy to understand without seeming overly simplified. 

4.) They are sufficient.  There is little else on the walls, except art.  One of these panels in each gallery goes a long way.

Here are some other examples of the great text panels that are now in every DIA gallery:

Inspired by Italy                              Ancient Greek & Roman

Renaissance                                               Modern

American                                               African

Medieval

Of course, there are others genres that I did not have a chance to capture this afternoon.  It must also be pointed out that all of the art falling under these headings is displayed together.  In other words, there is no heading for "American Painting" or "American Sculpture".  Everything that is American is in the same place.  American furniture, silverware, paintings, marble busts... all in the American gallery, identifiable by the text panel in every room.

What struck me the most was how simple this seems.  Why didn't they do this sooner?  Why isn't every museum in the world organized like this? 

It is deceptively simple.  It seems like all they did was put up new text panels and the collections were immediately more accessible to the visitor.  But the DIA was not always organized this way.  In fact, the museum was shut down for a number of years while everything was reorganized-- all of the European art needed to be grouped together, as did the other, less obvious categories like "Inspired by Italy", etc.

But I think this reorganization was well worth the trouble.  While I was meandering around the galleries this afternoon, I stopped to visit one of my favorite paintings in the entire museum.

I love this painting.  I love the bird, I love the baby, I love the laughing lady, I love the other lady's hat-- I love it all.  So I was pleased when I turned the corner and stumbled upon it.  Then I realized that I wasn't sure what gallery I was in.  I stopped, looked around and actually muttered to myself, "...are we still calling this 'modern'...?"  No sooner did I realize I was talking to myself in a public place, when I turned and saw this on the wall to my left:

I couldn't even read the text from where I was standing, but I had seen this panel in previous galleries.  I knew that Vincent represented modern art, and was thus instantly oriented to the type of art I was seeing.

Brilliant.