Wednesday, January 22, 2014

By Popular Demand: Your Selections, Your Gallery - A Crowdsourced Exhibition at the Chrysler Museum of Art

Special thanks to Cheryl S. White, Curatorial Coordinator, Chrysler Museum of Art, for authoring this blog post for us!

It has been just over a year since I’ve been able to sneak out of my office during the Friday-afternoon lull and wander around the galleries. This was one of the perks of working at the Chrysler Museum of Art, but since our building is closed for the first major renovation in nearly 30 years, I find myself getting nostalgic about the art. At first I didn’t notice it much. I saw works moving from galleries to storage, being prepped for loans to local venues, or having behind-the-scenes conservation treatments. It almost felt like nothing had changed—until the first day I donned a hard hat and found myself walking through half-demolished galleries with exposed ceilings and not a work of art in sight. My heart ached a bit. 

Tiffany Studios (American, 1902–1932)
Spider and Web Electric Lamp 
with Mushroom Lamp Base, ca. 1910
Leaded glass and bronze
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 
But then something beautiful happened…. I began to imagine the freshly painted walls glowing under state-of-the-art LED lights. I attempted to scale out the placement of paintings and pedestals based on our most recent floor plans. I walked into brand new galleries and the possibilities flooded my aching heart with excitement. All this new space was just waiting to be filled with all the art I had been missing for so long.

As the Curatorial Coordinator, I am lucky. I’ve had a front row seat to the process of selecting which works will be on display when we reopen on May 10, 2014. I scaled works of art to fit three-dimensional gallery models and cut and pasted tiny versions of Renoir and Veronese paintings until my hand cramped and glue sticks dried out. I tracked selections on spreadsheets and in databases as curators, conservators, and educators debated countless rounds of designs until the final plans emerged. And I’ll tell you a secret, they are nothing short of stunning. 

But, what about the works of art that just wouldn’t fit? The ones battled for, but ultimately cut? Those beloved works that the public seek out during repeated visits? Works that due to size or display limitations of the medium could not be included in this first round of installation? Aren’t these works of art equally worthy of display? 


These are just some of the questions that I, as a member of the Museum’s Community Conversations Committee, have been pondering. Comprised of 10 staff members, this group is dedicated to engaging the public in new and creative ways. In preparation of the Museum’s reopening we have vetted designs for new in-gallery response stations and have plans to launch a website where the public can upload their Chrysler memories. But, ultimately the Committee was responsible for determining the first exhibition in the Chrysler’s new Waitzer Community Gallery.  And while it would have been easy to curate a show ourselves, we saw this gallery as the perfect venue for a genuine community conversation.  Why not ask our community— who unknowingly have guided so many of our decisions this past year—to weigh in on some of those remaining, tougher-than-one-may-think art choices?

Thomas Hill (American, 1829–1908)
Early Morning, Yosemite Valley, 1884
Oil on canvas
Gift of Mr. Edward J. Brickhouse 
And again something beautiful happened: By Popular Demand: Your Selections, Your Gallery, a crowd-sourced exhibition drawn from nearly 40 works of art not slated for installation in our permanent galleries. Selections ranging from Tiffany Lamps to Warhol prints are up for election on the Museum’s website (www.chrysler.org/our-collection/bpd). Visitors can vote daily for up to 10 works and even provide us feedback on their choices. We envisioned this to be more than a popularity contest. It is an opportunity for our public to truly take the reins. We want to know how our community will curate. What interesting juxtapositions they will create? What will they find worthy of display?  Are seascapes preferred over cityscapes? Paintings over photographs? Will local artists triumph over Renaissance masterworks?  The top selections will be on view for our grand reopening on May 10, 2014. 

As an art-loving member of the community, I invite you to vote. I do regularly. And perhaps on a Friday afternoon in late May, I’ll bump into you in the Waitzer Community Gallery and you can tell me all about the works you voted to include!   


Choose your favorites for By Popular Demand at www.chrysler.org/our-collection/bpd. Online voting ends February 26, 2014.