Hiccup Rx: Spoonful of Sugar or Hold Breath?

By Matt Foss
During the course of a major construction project a few hiccups can be inevitable. In fact, some construction projects are beset by hiccups, as was the Looney Tunes stork, who hiccupped throughout his delivery of new arrivals. Luckily for the Woodson Art Museum, the weather has been cooperative, the Samuels Group - our general contractor - is outstanding, all the subcontractors have been on the same page, and most of the materials have arrived on time and ready for installation.

One noticeable exception is the brick for the siding. If you live near, have visited, or driven past the Museum in the past month, you’ve noticed the bright, lime green sheeting on all exterior surfaces in preparation for the brick. While the new addition might be fluorescent green now, the brick siding will be a beautiful mix of light browns and dark reds, selected to match the existing main entrance.

Unfortunately, between the choosing of the right pattern and the drying and firing of the brick, delivery of the material was delayed. Other work has continued to progress, including mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-ins, erection of interior studs, and demolition to parts of the existing building. Throughout the coming weeks the Kryptonite-colored exterior gradually will recede as it’s covered by the brick siding.

While the Museum staff’s obsequious nature makes us shudder at the notion of the current façade bothering our guests or neighbors, we know the choice of brick will be aesthetically pleasing and complement the existing building quite nicely. Here’s hoping this is the last major hiccup during the project!

Editor’s note: Matt Foss is overseeing a variety of projects at the Woodson Art Museum. 

Exploring New Frontiers in Technology

Adopting a new technology can be both daunting and exciting.

Recently Woodson Art Museum staff decided to switch from offering audio tours on simple MP3 players to the more flexible iPod Touch devices. The Museum’s current audio tours, which have been offered for a few years, require visitors to follow a predetermined order of artwork.

The iPod Touch will allow visitors to explore the Museum in whatever order they choose, accessing audio tracks via the touch screen key pad. Another advantage of the iPod Touch is the ability to include images and video to enrich visitors’ experiences.

Of course, with this and all new technology comes the learning curve. During the next few days, Museum curator Catie Anderson and I will be learning how to develop an app (computer application) using Apple software. The app ultimately will become the audio tour.

If all goes well, we’ll test our first app and have units ready for public use this fall.

As we embark on this research, I feel a sense of excitement and panic – excited to learn a new software and uneasy about the unknown.

Setting out to learn a new and complex software can be likened to early space exploration. At the onset, you have no idea what lies ahead, yet the possibilities are infinite.

Stay tuned.

P.S. If you have tips or suggestions, let me hear from you.

Birds of a Feather

May is high anxiety time at the Woodson Art Museum. This is true not only for staff, but also for the close to 600 artists who submit artwork for consideration for the Museum’s Birds in Art exhibition.

Like college acceptance letters of years past, the Museum formerly notified artists via the happy, big envelope versus the sad, small one.

Now, the Museum takes advantage of the efficiency and affordability of email communication. The many pluses are obvious; I’ll comment on the downside as well as on the seriousness with which we undertake the jury process and all communication with artists, whether by phone, email, snail mail, or social media.

Submitting your artwork – and by extension, yourself – to scrutiny, whether for an art exhibition or college admission, requires courage and confidence as well as humility and humor (always a good antidote).

The notion of “rejection” is counter to all we strive for. Perhaps that’s why colleges now “deny” applicants rather than rejecting them. Regardless of the word we use, the message and result are the same and that’s not what anyone wants to hear.

Previously, I wrote notes on Birds in Art notification letters – on both acceptances and rejections. While time consuming – and at times heart wrenching – it also was cathartic as it gave me an opportunity to convey a personal thank you along with words of encouragement, because we truly want to see everyone succeed.

Although these hand-written notes are no more, the commitment of the jurors to do their best work and the subsequent attention to detail by Museum staff remain Birds in Art hallmarks.

Imagine willingly agreeing to spend seven or so hours in a dark gallery looking at close to 1,000 projected digital images. Three Birds in Art jurors – different museum and art world colleagues each year – typically travel considerable distances and enthusiastically take on the challenge and responsibility associated with sorting and scoring artworks. It’s a long day and also an exhilarating one. With the 2012 jurors’ work now done, the list of artists included in this year’s exhibition can be viewed here.

If you received the small email message, take heart and remain steadfast in your determination to make art. If you received the big email message, pat yourself on the back, pay it forward by encouraging your peers and students, and participate fully to make the most of your Birds in Art experience.

When birds of a feather flock together, everyone benefits!

Rites of Passage

There are a few unofficial “rites of passage” for a young museum professional. My unofficial list includes: 

·      A quirky white elephant gift exchange at a staff holiday party (check!)

·      Road trips with colleagues (check, check, and check!)

·      Smoothly distributing your business card at events and networking (I’m getting there)

·      Attending the American Association of Museums’ (AAM) annual conference (CHECK!)

This past week my most sacred rite of passage was completed when I traveled to the American Association of Museums’ Conference and MuseumExpo in Minneapolis. The theme of this year’s conference was “Creative Community.” I’ve looked forward to this event since I learned of its existence during my freshman year in college. What a thrill to hobnob with distinguished museum professionals and also spend time meeting up with old friends and advisors in a stimulating and engaging environment. 

College Catie was sure she would attend the meeting and – through the powers of intellectual osmosis – soak up all the wisdom, stories, and experience floating around in this atmosphere of museum brilliance, and then seamlessly integrate this new knowledge into my work at the Woodson Art Museum.

Nice try, Anderson.

Curator of Collections Jane Weinke warned me of the exhausting conference schedule before I left. I listened politely while thinking to myself, “Jane works so hard . . . . I wonder what I should wear to the opening event.” No surprise here; Jane was right. The conference certainly is stimulating and fun, but it is not a break. Oh, and my theories on intellectual osmosis went right out the window.

For those of you who enjoy this blog and are not working in the museum field or – like me – are pretty green about how large conferences work, here’s an AAM summary for you.

Upon registering at the cavernous convention center, you are handed a colorful and small, unintimidating tote bag filled with materials about your next few days. I had entered early-bird pre-registration months ago, so the contents of this bag truly were filled with surprises. Tickets to evening events at area institutions were among the goodies inside, along with conference swag from corporate sponsorship (thanks, Target!) and the catalogue of sessions, workshops, and events.

Each day (Sunday – Wednesday) museum professionals offered sessions on a wide range of subjects. I’m the type of person who can’t order off a restaurant menu with more than seven options, so the listing of sessions was overwhelming; they all sounded delicious.  AAM conference presenter and veteran Jayna Hintz was incredibly helpful in guiding me through the catalogue and assisted me in charting my daily navigation through the sessions and workshops. Each night in the hotel room we compared notes from the day’s sessions and our highlighted catalogue descriptions of what we would attend the next day. [Note to self: divide and conquer the interesting sessions with your fellow educator, make time for coffee runs and bathroom breaks, and remember there are always cookies in the exhibitors’ hall. I wonder if I can add "museum event drive-by snack-attack expert" under relevant skills on my linkedin profile?]

I attended sessions on a wide variety of educational topics: community partnerships, interpretive strategies, visitor engagement, collaboration with area educators, volunteer management, and chaperone involvement. 

The conference schedule was demanding, but the experience was reinvigorating for this still somewhat green, seven-month museum professional. I left the Twin Cities feeling excited and energized while simultaneously ready for a nap (good thing Jayna was driving us home). 

As I organize and type up my notes from the conference, I keep running into exclamations in the margins like “COOL!” or “How could I make this work at the Woodson?” Day-to-day work has a way of distracting us from our big dreams and innovative plans for our institutions. I like to think big and I’m new enough to think I can find a way to shake up museums . . . . someday. That will be a future rite of passage.

7th Congressional District Art Competition

As part of the 2012 Art Competition Advisory Council, I had the honor Monday of judging the 7th Congressional District Art Competition at Congressman Sean Duffy’s Wausau office. My fellow jurors included: Betsy Tannenbaum, New Visions Gallery; Deborah Janz, LuCille Tack Center for the Arts; Patricia Lenz, Superior Council for the Arts; Boleslaw Kochanowski, local blacksmith/artist; and Mona Kochendorfer, artist/teacher, and Ori-Anne Pagel, artist/teacher, both from Ladysmith.

The competition – open to high school students in grades 9-12 residing in the 7th Congressional District, which includes all of Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland, Iron, Burnett, Washburn, Sawyer, Price, Lincoln, Polk, Barron, Chippewa, Clark, Taylor, Marathon, Wood and Portage counties and portions of Oneida and Langlade counties – garnered ninety-six entries from thirteen schools.

The Art Advisory Council recognized three of the artworks with special honors.

Grand Prize: The student artwork chosen will be featured in the Capitol in Washington for one year. The winner and a guest are provided with airline tickets to the nation’s capital for the exhibition opening in June.  The winner is eligible for a $1,500 scholarship.

First Prize: This student’s artwork will hang in Congressman Duffy’s Wausau office.

Second Prize: This student’s artwork will hang in Congressman Duffy’s office in Superior.

Third Prize: Selected via People’s Choice voting on Facebook, this student’s artwork will hang in Congressman Duffy’s Washington office.

Each participant also will receive a certificate of participation from Congressman Duffy.

All the entries will be included in an exhibition at the Center for the Visual Arts in Wausau, May 12-July 15. The winning artists will be announced at the opening reception.

The judges had many beautiful and creative artworks from which to choose, and in a short time we voted unanimously for the top three. I cannot share the winning students’ names, but I can encourage everyone to visit the exhibition at the Center for the Visual Arts May 12-July 15. You can see all the entries online and vote before May 18 for your favorite by visiting Sean Duffy’s Facebook page today.