31 March 2006
Why is it that museums look like armories? Look:
The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT. Thank you, Antiquarian and Landmarks Society.
The Smithsonian, Washington, DC. Thank you, National Library of Medicine.
No wonder they have attendance and funding shortfalls.
From the Courant, a museum expansion in Savannah: "'Museums sometimes look like fortresses, and they look unwelcoming to people who don't know anything about art,' said Diane Lesko, executive director of the Telfair Museum [in Savannah]. 'When you're in Telfair Square, you see the activity, and that makes you want to go in and see what's going on.'"
From DCist: Free culture for the masses!
Also check out the New Britain Museum of American Art, opening after a big expansion project on April 9-- free admission that day!. Not so fortress-like.
Ever since I volunteered/worked at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury centuries ago, I've been concerned about how to get normal people interested and involved and inside museums. The Mattatuck especially bothered me, because it's in downtown Waterbury, on the same block with very low-income families in apartment blocks and multi-family homes. I always thought that the museum could do so much more for the kids who were always running around the neighborhood. They do provide scholarships for their summer art camp, and they are big on field trip tours for the local schools. But what about a free art center where kids can hang out, and stay away from the crack house and weirdos on Central Ave.?
14 March 2006
Holy cow! I absolutely loved Bill's show. At some point, he disappeared from PBS, and life was a little bleaker. Then I heard he recently got married, which was nice. And now, he has a column on MSN! Hooray for Bill! (I also love his retro-looking website. Too bad the t-shirts are only kids' sizes...)
