The Potomac Fiber Arts Guild hired Andrea Graham as a speaker and workshop teacher last month. She was very well received. Andrea is a wonderful role model for other artists. She spoke with passion about her art and lifestyle which are integral to each other. Her work was technically excellent pairing her organic subject matter perfectly with the felting medium. A series of funky felted sculpture characters showed off her fun side. She has used her artwork to make political statements that push for change. Her work has a backstory. I'm really glad I was able to hear her talk about her art journey. She imbues her work with ideas that matter to her. Her work has a presence that makes you stop and acknowledge it. Talk about setting the bar high!
With Andrea's talk in my mind, I realize that I want my work to be as intentional and authentic as hers. I want my work to engage the viewer. I've decided to approach the grant project on three different levels. The overarching theme that ties the exhibit together will be a timeline that gives the viewer a logical progression through the two display halls. Each surface design piece will be a slice of history to contemplate while the viewer is challenged to work back and forth between the museum artifacts to see how they were used in the fabric they inspired. A second layer of interest will be incorporating Christopher Alexander's 15 properties of wholeness/life as the compositional element.
The museum director suggested building the exhibit with a target audience in mind, so that advertising can be directed. I initially found this to be very difficult without knowledge of the archive's contents or a preexisting agenda. The closest I could come to envisioning what I wanted my work to be was a series of stories collaged from the artifacts, photos and documents in the collection. As an example, I loved the synergy of items like the silhouette of a glass milk bottle, a rubbing
of the dairy information from the raised lettering on the bottle, a picture of
a local dairy farm, a map of the dairy location, a hand written inventory of
the dairy property, the shape from the rim of a cow bell, a picture of an old
fashioned ice cream churn and the wire mesh design from a calf weaning snaffle
(muzzle) to build a visual image of dairy farming in the past. Who would want to come see it?
...insert fabulous completed artwork here...
It makes sense from a marketing perspective to select a target audience, but I've never had to think that way before. Now I know two aspects of a museum director's job - guiding volunteers and marketing their museum's products.
My theme needs to address two distinctly different goals. Sandy Spring Museum wants to get their collections into the public eye by increasing foot traffic at the museum. Goal number two is using the grant as a vehicle for enhancing my art education. I believe that building a timeline of vignettes of Sandy Spring's history will appeal to the local population in general. I plan to direct my marketing to the local schools and historical societies especially. In addition, showcasing Christopher Alexander's 15 properties of wholeness/life will appeal to fellow artists, art students and exhibit goers doubling the marketability of the exhibit. If you can think of other target audiences, then please leave me a comment. I'll be grateful!
I will say that it's taken me 6 months to reach this point. I'd feel worse about it except for watching the Jan Beaney/Jean Littlejohn "In Action" DVD where these consummate embroiderers discuss their working practices. They divulged that they often spend 2 years researching for a series. Heck, that puts me on the fast track!
My initial scan of the collections archive database back in January found items such as 11 pairs of eye glasses, 5 cameras and 8 button hooks. I wasn't able to identify a single type of item that interested me as a scintillating theme candidate. I attempted to broaden my focus. One theme that came to mind was to use all of the glass objects in the collection and show how plastics have supplanted glass in our modern society. Another idea was to use obsolete items like untreated copper cookware, chamber pots and calling cards to show cultural changes. I eventually realized that I wanted to tell a story with each piece of fabric. One of my artistic goals is to add depth and meaning to my pieces. So, the new question became how to tie the individual stories together. Enter the timeline...
The timeline was an obvious solution in retrospect. Having the timeline solves two more challenges. As I find enough related elements to create pieces for the exhibit I can slot them into the timeline. The pieces can be worked on in any order. The other challenge was a preconceived notion of mine that museums only contain *really* old stuff. Yes, I can see you rolling your eyes now. Seriously, 1968 was not that long ago. I laughed as I unwrapped a pack of Old Maid cards I played with as a kid. s A timeline will account for the variable ages of artifacts found in the collection. Please leave a consoling comment if you played with this card deck too!
...insert fabulous completed artwork here...
It makes sense from a marketing perspective to select a target audience, but I've never had to think that way before. Now I know two aspects of a museum director's job - guiding volunteers and marketing their museum's products.
“It's supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.”
- Tom Hanks in "A League of Their Own"
I will say that it's taken me 6 months to reach this point. I'd feel worse about it except for watching the Jan Beaney/Jean Littlejohn "In Action" DVD where these consummate embroiderers discuss their working practices. They divulged that they often spend 2 years researching for a series. Heck, that puts me on the fast track!
My initial scan of the collections archive database back in January found items such as 11 pairs of eye glasses, 5 cameras and 8 button hooks. I wasn't able to identify a single type of item that interested me as a scintillating theme candidate. I attempted to broaden my focus. One theme that came to mind was to use all of the glass objects in the collection and show how plastics have supplanted glass in our modern society. Another idea was to use obsolete items like untreated copper cookware, chamber pots and calling cards to show cultural changes. I eventually realized that I wanted to tell a story with each piece of fabric. One of my artistic goals is to add depth and meaning to my pieces. So, the new question became how to tie the individual stories together. Enter the timeline...
The timeline was an obvious solution in retrospect. Having the timeline solves two more challenges. As I find enough related elements to create pieces for the exhibit I can slot them into the timeline. The pieces can be worked on in any order. The other challenge was a preconceived notion of mine that museums only contain *really* old stuff. Yes, I can see you rolling your eyes now. Seriously, 1968 was not that long ago. I laughed as I unwrapped a pack of Old Maid cards I played with as a kid. s A timeline will account for the variable ages of artifacts found in the collection. Please leave a consoling comment if you played with this card deck too!
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