This week readings discusses both the history of museums, primarily in the United States, and their evolution from high brow institutions to ones that serve, educate, and engage the populace. The articles also trace the constant discussions museum professionals had regarding the focus and dissemination of their collections. These articles all agree that museums must transform from places that solely focus on the collection, preservation, conservation, and dissemination of rare items to ones that also become a part of the community, represent the many voices and interests of the public, educate, and become a forum for discussion about issues beyond the items in a glass case of hung on he wall. The evolution of the modern museum began during …show more content…
Marjorie Schwarzer notes this as a period of tremendous expansion and growth for museums. I attended school in the New York metropolitan area, and thus, many field trips were planned to museums of all types. These included the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum and Hayden Planetarium, the Cloisters, Van Cortland Manor, Phillips Manor, the homes of Horace Greeley, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Washington Irving and the Rockefellers, the Jewish Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art, to name a few. Additionally, I recall visits to Colonial Williamsburg, the British Museum, the Smithsonian, the Ringling Brothers Museum and Estate, the Lincoln Memorial, and several others on various family and school trips. While these museums differed in subject matter, they all disseminated their collections in a hands off and guided tour fashion. While a day away from the grind of scheduled classes was a welcomed respite, I cannot say I recall ever enjoying or learning much from them. Granted, a part of that disconnect came from the disposition of a typical teenager, but given the amount of museums visited on school and family trips, there was an inherent problem in the presentation. It was the clear line drawn between the observer and the observed and the failure to connect the collections to anything more relevant than a current topic in the classroom. However, I enjoyed and learned a lot from an …show more content…
In addition to the traditional artifacts one expects to find, the museums presented different voices and perspectives, in addition to many opportunities for the visitor to get closer and interact. Additionally, they provided current perspective to their exhibitions. My recent visits to the Stax Records Museum, the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, and the Hermitage, proved enlightening as to the prime function and obligation of modern museums, as well as their future roles in society. While the primary draw to the Stax Records Museum is the connection the visitor has to the music from the label and studio, Stax begins the tour in a reconstructed church and exhibitions that trace the culture and heritage essential to understanding the people and the art preserved and displayed. The recently opened Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Virginia provides the visitor several opportunities to “lean in,” interact, and personalize their experiences with the various exhibitions throughout the floorspace. For example, they provide a multimedia discography of the records made during the “Big Bang of Country Music.” The information with the touchscreen display can be sorted and searched by the patron from the academic “date of recording” and “personnel” to the entertaining “song theme.” The Hermitage recently opened a new exhibit detailing the life of Andrew
Back in my school years I used to visit many historical museums, where I learned a lot about the culture and society of the past. As I have always been interested in history and arts, all that was a breathtaking experience for me. I believe that these museums is the best way to get closer to lives of our ancestries and it can help us to see the world in a different way. However, to be more knowledgeable about the world we live in, it’s also extremely important to be familiar with modern art. So this time I decided to experience something new and started searching for a museum which would contain works of contemporary artists. Tampa Museum of Art was a great option. This Museum was founded in 1979 and since then it has curated three exhibitions covering the Classical World to Mid-Century Modernist works,
Museums serve as a way to connect with the public on a large scale, and the knowledge held within exhibits can be a fruitful experience for those who choose to visit these institutions. Experiencing all that a museum has to offer, no matter how well intentioned, can at times be confusing and overwhelming to the individuals visiting the site. The Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian dedicates itself to Native Americans in North and South America, and worked tirelessly with varying tribes to create a new standard. Some visitors and scholars found their work to be successful in design and approach while others found it to be lacking in execution. This institution does not approach Native American history in a familiar fashion; however it does cover an expansive period of time, and produces a great amount of detail while generating powerful emotions.
Never before have I seen a museum as grand as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. From its architecture to its massive art collection, The Met has a little bit of everything and one is sure to find something that captures his or her interest. Considering that The Met is the United States' largest art museum, it is easy to get lost within its many corridors and wings. My visit to The Met took place during the last week of July. Despite the almost unbearable heat and humidity that hung in the air, visiting museums under these climate conditions is a welcome respite from a suffocating, yet bright summer afternoon.
Museums have long served a purpose as cultural staples. For every museum, big and small, careful consideration is used in selecting its contents. When securing new items for a museum, it is most important to consider public appeal, educational value, and cost-effectiveness.
Throughout centuries, museum practices have always been eager to reflect the ever-changing ideas in art and society. In Europe, many artistic, intellectual and literary movements have inspired museum practices, not only in terms of aesthetic values but also in evoking certain philosophies. By 19th century Europe, Romanticism began to shape many institutions outlook on art, specifically the museum’s way of engaging with new forms of themes that move beyond the artworks. The aim of this paper is to analyze the profound impact that the Romantic Movement of the late 1700s and early 1800s had on museums in Europe during the 19th century, thus accepting the era’s emphasis on museums as public, social experience that reflects the feelings and emotions towards society. The practices in museums of the 19th century have been greatly influenced by the ideals of the late 1700s and early 1800s Romantic Movement. In this case, we must begin with what Romanticism is and how the core values enthuse the practices of museums.
Countless art has been sought-after throughout history. Explorers, scientists, art collectors, politicians, and entrepreneurs from Western nations have sought out and removed art from the lands of great civilizations, often with the assistance and participation of local people and governments. Even as cultural property faces immediate danger today in conflict zones like Syria and Mali, there is circumstantial evidence that some nations are awakening to the political and foreign policy benefits that can flow from the repatriation of cultural patrimony. While on a different scale from World War II, historic structures, religious monuments, and other priceless ancient times continue to suffer collateral damage and manipulation in armed conflict. Relics have been stolen, smuggled and sold in what is a reported multibillion dollar underground market. They have become the illicit prizes of private collectors and the subject of legal claims against museums. Of the countless museums subject to legal claims, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City happens to be one of them. “The Metropolitan Museum has acquired thousands of works and objects of art from the antiquities”. “For the past several years, the government of Turkey has warned U.S. and foreign museums (including The Metropolitan Museum of Art), that unless ancient objects from Turkish soil are given up on demand, Turkey will stop lending artworks” (The Committee for Cultural Policy, 2015). Turkey continues to up the
During our visit to the El Paso Museum of Art, our docent (insert name) took us on a tour of their current exhibitions: Robert Delaunay and Albert Gleizes: The School of Paris from Modern Master Series: Highlights from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Immaculate Conception, Amplified Abstraction, and Modern Stone Totems. In addition to our expedition we observed art of Mexico and New Spain that showcased 17th and 19th century paintings and sculptures. European art with includes paintings and sculptures from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. As well as, early American art from the 19th century to the mid 20th century.
When a museum has prestige on a national level, they can be under high scrutiny of exhibits or objects displayed by the public. Controversial topics, for example, the Enola Gay exhibit, has left historians hesitant and confused on how to create exhibits with correct history, but also not upsetting any individual who were involved with said history. Historians have a trying task of addressing both sides of a historical event, even though it might depict individuals in an unflattering way. A historian is not allowed to have a bias for events, this could have an impact on the way an exhibit is created. Another point that was brought to light in Bunch’s article was museums have the ability to educate the public, so difficult topics should not be
The artwork is one of the main ways to express the culture of a region or a country. Therefore, art has played a very important role throughout history. When talking about art, the first thing that comes to most people’s minds is probably that art is a painting or it is a sculpture. However, art has many forms of expression, and it closely connects to human’s daily life. Besides paintings and sculptures, art is everywhere around us. I am always interested in how people have linked art with daily life throughout history. For this reason, the two pieces of artwork I chose from my visit to the Museum of Fine Arts are both objects that can be used in everyday life: one is the mixing bowl and the other is an incense burner. Though they are from different cultures, have different making processes, and have a different purpose in usage, they both are good examples to show how artists tried to apply art using different techniques to human’s daily life.
I hope to see museums make more concerted efforts to educate the public. Too many exhibits are of the “passive, didactic looking” than like the engaging Object Stories program (Dartt, Murawski). Exhibits should seek to tell untold narratives, and programs should be places of communication and cross-cultural encounters. For too long, difficult confrontations have been avoided, both inside the museum, and by dominant communities
After arriving and going through the security screenings, I proceeded to go down the stairs, entering the exhibit itself. Before even observing anything specific, it was immediately realized that this was no typical museum. Most people know that upon arrival, but only when you first enter the exhibit do you realize that this museum is not one that inspects the past, but one that reminds us of it.
In the Robyn Autry article, it mainly focuses on the national conflict of museums mainly focusing towards African American. The author travel to 15 museums around the United States that focuses towards African American. She mainly talks about how the African American were facing numerous hardships in the U.S and how the museum represents those issues to the general public. She believes the way to tell the hardship of African Americans is by exhibiting through a museum. When traveling through these museums she focused towards “centered on three traumatic episodes: capture and displacement from Africa, enslavement, and racial segregation” (Autry 64). The author of the articles wants to show that over time that museums meanings has changed over
In the metropolitan museum I had a great time and got a lot of knowledge. First, the visit was great as I personally need it as a break from school and finals. Seconded, I did not visit the museum almost for four years. Even though I been there in 2011 but I got hard time to find what I am looking for but the worker were really helpful with the direction. I actually started by the Gallery of Mughal South Asia and Later South Asia that painting of (Black Stork in a Landscape) looked at 464. I found the paninting interested because I came from a village and I used to see Black Stork a lot in the fields. In Egypt we call him the farmer friend as he eats the bad warms that may affect the farmer’s crop. I love the color of the painting as it was black, gray, white, , dark brown, light green that is represent the crop. As the painter used water color to address the painting and to show the Indian geography in the back ground. In addition the painting from the South Asia and the Himalayan Region, 1800–1900 A.D. the Painting was in the medial size according to the note that was besides the painting it was H. 21 1/2 in. (54.6 cm) W. 29 3/4in. (75.6cm) Mat: H. 35 1/2 in. (90.2 cm) W. 27
Museum visitors often admire objects from the past and embrace the artwork without a proper understanding of the imagery. Viewers react to what they are looking at, comprehend the work through their own experiences and judge it based on their personal insight of success or failure. The appreciation of artwork at the American Museum of Natural History, located in New York City has educated viewers with knowledgeable information on objects from thousands of different artists. The fossil of a “Tyrannosaurus Rex” and the “Roosevelt Sculpture” are two objects commonly said to be the most viewed pieces of artwork at the museum. The virtual tour presented generous information about the history of the objects as well as knowledgeable facts about the artists and founders.
According to the American Alliance of Museums, community engagement in museums includes the use of this facility as “a center where people gather to meet and converse and an active, visible player in civic life, a safe haven, and a trusted incubator of change” (Long 141). Different museums