Art Museum Exhibition Research
Exhibition Research Underway for Innovative New Art Museum
Restoration of the Indian Dormitory is underway in preparation for the new Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum. While this process continues, with construction of the new elevator addition nearly completed (Sept. 2009), the Mackinac State Historic Parks Art Museum Committee is drafting plans and brainstorming ideas for exhibition of the museum’s many fine and decorative arts.
“We’re currently researching innovative and unique ways of exhibiting and interpreting art,” said Chief Curator Steve Brisson and author of the recently published book Mackinac Treasures: The Museum Collections of Mackinac State Historic Parks. The 2008 publication features many of the art items to be showcased in the new art museum and learning center. |
|
 |
One way the committee researched innovative exhibition techniques was by traveling in sub-committees during March to museums in and outside of Michigan, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Field Museum, and Art Institute of Chicago, all located in Chicago; the Holland Museum in Holland, Michigan; the Detroit Institute of Arts; and the Toldeo Museum of Art.
“We visited these museums to gather ideas for the exhibition of items and to get inspiration for making these exhibits interactive,” said Katie Cederholm, curator of education. “We also focused on gathering ideas for guest services and programming.”
Cederholm added, “Because of the well-used examples we saw at various museums, we’re considering the idea of having a small learning library in the art museum so that our visitors can learn more about the art techniques that we’ll display and about Mackinac as a whole, since this region inspired the art we’re going to exhibit.”
“The visits to these museums were important because we want to present the art we’re exhibiting in the best way possible,” Brisson said, “and so we want to take advantage of the advancements made in recent years in the museum world.”
This includes new ways of exhibiting art, incorporating more creative techniques in addition to the traditional wall hangings and glass enclosures.
“We are aiming toward a presentation that will please traditional museum gallery visitors while also being appealing to families with children,” said Exhibit Designer David Kronberg. “A careful and studied presentation will help some viewers to understand and appreciate the collection while allowing others to enjoy the collection in their own way.”
In addition to the committee researching cutting-edge exhibition techniques, Brisson has been working on selecting objects that will be displayed in the museum for the permanent and rotating displays. “I’ve developed the initial object list and now the committee is determining the various ways that the objects can be grouped together based on different themes.”
From that initial list, the committee has developed preliminary ideas on themes for various galleries. Plans for the west gallery will focus on images of Mackinac from early paintings to 20th-century photographs. Another gallery will be devoted entirely to Native American works.
Conservator Jennifer Lis is going through each art object on the initial list and preparing a condition report for every item, determining if any treatments are necessary to conserve the object before exhibition. Lis and Kronberg will then work to design the best environmental conditions for exhibition of each object, considering everything from light exposure to temperature.
This behind-the-scenes work, from research to item selection to object conservation and exhibition, is one of the many reasons why the new Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum will fulfill the mission of Mackinac State Historic Parks—protecting, preserving and presenting Mackinac’s historical and natural resources for years to come.
