Peabody Essex Museum

I recently made my first trip to Salem to the Peabody Essex Museum. The first impression I had of PEM is that the building stands out as a museum. The large glass structure gives visitors a view of the huge cathedral ceiling in the lobby. The building also differentiates itself from its neighbors, which are almost all red brick buildings of a similar style. The fact that one can see people inside through the glass, makes the building welcoming to visitors.

In the Art and Nature Center there were several families with children positively engaged with interactive learning experiences. The space was clearly designed with families in mind, while still having interesting artwork on the walls for adults. The Trash Menagerie show exhibits artwork made with recycled materials. Most of the works are sculptures of animals. I really liked the little touches in the exhibit, such as the labels and title text being mounted on corrugated cardboard. The interactives were placed at a child's height, including small touchscreen videos. There were also lots of seats throughout the Center, some at interactive stations and some just to take a break. Most of the seats were plush and comfortable, asking the visitor to stay and learn in the space. There was a large flat screen monitor rotating information on upcoming programs.

On the third floor is the special exhibition space with the show I really wanted to see - The Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel. There is ample seating in the Iris Apfel exhibit, which was appreciated by the number of older female visitors present. All visitors I witnessed in the galleries seemed to be intrigued by the creativity of Ms. Apfel and pleased with the show. There was a group especially pleased with the video depicting Ms. Apfel speaking about her style and collection. There are also two computers available to play the digital paper dolls interactive that is also available on the PEM website. This is a well-designed game, but due to the older age of many visitors, it did not appear to be popular during my visit. There are kiosks with informational booklets sitting in wooden racks for the visitor to look at while in the gallery for more details on the pieces. These books are especially important for the Iris Apfel exhibit because it is set up to resemble a fashion show, and therefore no labels are posted on the walls or platforms. My favorite room in the exhibit was the winter collection. In this gallery, there were projections of snow falling on opposite walls that gave it a wonderful cozy atmosphere. I think PEM did a really great job of creating a distinct mood and style in each of the galleries.

Design some paper dolls of your own: http://pem.org/sites/iris/.

Mass MOCA

I finally made it out to Mass MOCA after wanting to go all summer. It was a beautiful drive across Massachusetts, despite the fact that it was rainy and foggy most of the day. It is kind of amazing how this huge contemporary art space has helped revitalize a small depressed town.
MASS MoCA is the largest contemporary arts center in the United States and serves many functions that traditional museum spaces cannot. Since MASS MoCA is such a new museum, most of its history lies within the building and the site itself. The museum is housed within the grounds of a 19th century factory, totaling 25 buildings and 13 acres. Industry and manufacturing have occurred in this area for many years, so the buildings have had a wide variety of occupants and uses. In 1985, the last manufacturer on the site, Sprague Electric Company, closed. The ideas and plans for MASS MoCA began to form in 1986, with the state approving the plan in 1988. The design developed with renown architects, and the museum opened its doors in 1999.

The huge industrial spaces allow for some interesting and unique art to be installed. There is no "white box" when you have seemingly endless nooks and crannies in addition to large and cavernous spaces. On the day I visited, I saw several exhibits that used the spaces in very different ways.
Guy Ben-Ner had several videos exhibited in various configurations. His daughters co-star with him in his slightly abnormal takes on everyday places and things.
This is Killing Me was a more traditionally laid out exhibit, commenting on the trials and tribulations of artists trying to come up with new ideas.
The Sol LeWitt Retrospective is the blockbuster exhibit at Mass MOCA. The wall drawings are pretty magical and overwhelming. The scribble series are my favorite. A video area helps visitors better understand the ideas behind this highly conceptual art.
The museum is so vast, you can easily spend most of the day there. There is also an outdoor space where they show movies and have performances. The kids art-making space is somewhat of a gallery itself, even for those of us who aren't kids! There was some really cool assemblage projects snaking around the space.

deCordova sculpture park + museum

Those who make the trek out to Lincoln to visit DeCordova Sculpture Park + Museum, will not be disappointed. Not only is there a contemporary art museum, but it is surrounded by a 35 acre sculpture park - the only one like it in New England. This summer they installed 4 new sculptures in the park.

1. Steven Siegel installed a site specific piece in an old barn foundation on the grounds that has never housed a sculpture before. A team of volunteers worked with him to stack over-printed donated newspapers into a large form that will eventually deteriorate and merge with the landscape more than it already does.
http://decordova.com/decordova/sculp_park/siegel.html

2. Douglas Kornfeld has a sculpture that you cannot miss as you drive into the park. The iconic modern symbol for man is half sunk/half rising out of the ground like a ruin of modern times. It is a huge red piece that commands your attention. An interesting fact about the sculpture is that the base within the ground is almost as deep as the sculpture is tall, to prevent it from taking off like a sail. The sculpture is based off a Percy Shelley poem, which can be read here:
http://decordova.com/decordova/sculp_park/kornfeld.htm

3. Sol LeWitt is a famous conceptual artist. Many of his projects are actually just instructions for making wall drawings or structures, such as the concrete tower that is positioned on the main lawn at DeCordova. The 16-foot structure is made of concrete blocks stacked in a configuration designed by LeWitt.
http://decordova.com/decordova/sculp_park/sollewitt.html

4. There is a strange looking clubhouse-like building nestled in the woods, which is actually a research station designed by the collaborative team of Bartow + Metzgar. This project is based off satellite images of DeCordova and they will be collecting geologic samples on the grounds. Half science, half design, the data collected during the project helps determine patterns and final outcome. The research station will be up for a year while the duo periodically collect samples from the grounds, after which the structure will be exhibited within the galleries alongside other aspects of the project.
http://decordova.com/decordova/sculp_park/bartowmetzgar.html

In addition to these new sculptures, the exhibit this past summer, Old, Weird America, was really exciting. The show was about folk themes in current and contemporary art. At the opening, the Lincoln Minute Men marched through the galleries and fired off their guns out back!

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

I first visited the Gardner during one of their Thursday After Hours events. Here is an explanation of After Hours from the Gardner website:

"After Hours is live music, art, conversation, cocktails and more in an inviting atmosphere. Linger around the courtyard bar and listen to live music or sample the tasty menu in the Gardner Café. Experience something different each month – from impromptu gallery talks to cutting-edge contemporary performance – and spend time in the galleries exploring what the Gardner is all about."

The atmosphere of the museum is really rich for an event like this. The hallways are sort of dark and dungeon-y once the sun is set, which makes for a mysterious atmosphere to wander around and drink wine while music from the courtyard echoes around the building. I don't really have a solid memory of the musician, because the music just sounded atmospheric and added to the mood.

I find Isabella to be a fascinating character. She collected all this art and had such a specific vision for how she wanted it displayed, and it is to remain that way forever according to her will! I think that is just wild. It is also a conservation nightmare/challenge, depending on how you look at it. But the fact that the museum is such a reflection of her personality makes it a really unique place. The building itself and the courtyard are works of art as well.

The Gardner offers up all kinds of interesting programming to counter the fact that the art on the walls always remains the same.

In addition to the fascinating character of Ms. Gardner, there is also a crazy/sad mystery to the museum: a 1990 art heist in which I believe was the largest art heist in the world. Here is some information on it http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/northamerica/us/isabella/isabella.htm.
To date, nothing has been returned and the empty frames remain on the walls.

Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)

This summer I visited the MFA on one of the free Wednesday evenings. I spent a couple hours there and focused on a few specific parts of the museum. I first spent a little time in the Mexican Print show, and being a printmaker I thought I might enjoy this. Some of the prints were pretty cool, but it was nothing earth shattering to me.

The music theme of the night began in the musical instrument permanent collection. There are some beautiful, complex, and elaborate pieces in this gallery. I only wish I would have been there during one of the Lecture/Demonstrations to see some of the instruments live in action! On the MFA website, you can listen to some of the instruments, but I could not get them to load very quickly. I wish this sort of feature was more available in the gallery, because I don't remember seeing anything like it.

My favorite exhibit was the special exhibition: Contemporary Outlook, Seeing Songs. There was an interesting and ecclectic mix of visual artists interperting the esoteric idea of music and sound. My absolute favorite piece in this exhibit was Queen, a Portrait of Madonna by Candice Breitz. It was an amazing grid of TV screens with individual portraits of people singing the whole Madonna album. It is a strange commentary on the fanatic fans of pop stars, and not the first time the artist used this format. It is sort of like seeing a car wreck - you can't stop looking! So captivating and good/bad at the same time. There was also a karaoke party at the MFA in conjunction with this piece. Here is a video commemorating the "wonderful" singing voices of those karaoking on a nice looking summer's eve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQb4kT5Xtmc
Here is the artist's website: http://www.candicebreitz.net/

Welcome Museum Lovers

Katie loves museums. She loves museums so much that she is studying them for a degree and also making this blog.

I am going to share with you my new experiences at new museums I have visited in my new home in New England.

Please comment and share your own experiences at the museums I write about. Any suggestions of great New England museums to visit are appreciated as well.