Category Archives: Blog
A Standing Ovation for a Shining Career
Posted on October 14, 2020
After years of deflecting the spotlight away from herself and, instead, toward the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, director Kathy Kelsey Foley is being ushered to center stage. Kathy is receiving the Association of Midwest Museum’s Distinguished Career Award for her significant contributions to the museum field.
Changing with the Times
Posted on October 07, 2020
The opening of Birds in Art, although missing artists, guests, and events of previous years, was a comfort. It is a delight to walk through the galleries and appreciate the beautifully displayed artworks created by amazingly talented artists. Even though artists were not physically at the Museum, shared emails, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts helped serve as substitutes. Happily, four artists and families did visit, which was a highlight of the subdued opening.
Time
Posted on September 30, 2020
With the blink of any eye, we’re mindful that Birds in Art remains on view “only” through Sunday, November 29.
Don’t let time slip away this fall. Make plans to visit the Woodson Art Museum and Birds in Art . . . or make a virtual visit to our galleries through videos highlighted by artist-voices. You can revel in the artistry on view throughout the Woodson Art Museum’s galleries and grounds, and time can seem irrelevant.
Introducing Elaina & Creative Spaces
Posted on September 23, 2020
As I settle into the administrative manager position at the Woodson Art Museum, I look forward to getting to know Woodson Wanderings readers and Woodson Art Museum members and to learning about the spaces and places that inspire you to get creative.
Autumn Absurdities
Posted on September 16, 2020
I like the word “absurd” and mental images it conjures – ridiculous, silly, incongruous . . . like a duck on a bike. Birds in Art artist David Milton agrees. He chose his painting’s subject – the 1950s tin toy – at the start of the coronavirus quarantine as a metaphor for the absurdity of the situation we are experiencing.
Birds in Art “Season”
Posted on September 09, 2020
I’ve long felt the public opening of Birds in Art on the Saturday after Labor Day, signified the start of autumn.
I Spy . . . Creative Problem Solving
Posted on September 02, 2020
This blog post previews one example of the inventive teamwork behind this fall’s visually focused Art Park installation, as the typical hands-on, interactive stations and art projects familiar to visitors aren’t possible during the coronavirus pandemic.
Slow Summer’s Hourglass Sand
Posted on August 26, 2020
Somehow, summer always seems to slip away before we know it. Only a few days remain to experience this summer’s exhibition, Many Visions, Many Versions: Art from Indigenous Communities in India, on view through August 30. Imagine pausing the passage of time, even for an afternoon. Who knows? Maybe visiting the Woodson Art Museum with others will help slow the slippage of sand through the hourglass of summer.
Up to the Challenge
Posted on August 19, 2020
Typically during the summer months, I’m happily organizing exhibitions to install in all the Museum’s permanent collection galleries. Covid-19 prompted rethinking installations to increase safety and social distancing. This fall, the west gallery where visitors usually peruse selections from the permanent collection will instead provide expanded space for Birds in Art so visitors can safely enjoy the 128 artworks comprising the exhibition.
My next exciting challenge is preparing for March 6, 2021 when all the Woodson Art Museum’s galleries will feature works from the collection.
Salute to Shari
Posted on August 12, 2020
Organizations, especially relatively small ones like the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum that engender long tenures among staff, are a lot like families . . . and close-knit ones, at that. We don’t just work together, we get to know one another and we care deeply about one another.
It’s bittersweet, therefore, to share the news of administrative manager Shari Schroeder’s retirement at the end of September. While I am thrilled for Shari and her family – and know that Woodson Wanderings readers will be, too – I am experiencing more than a twinge of blueness when I think about the Woodson Art Museum without her. Shari represents a key piece of the puzzle that makes the Museum staff not only a productive whole, but also relevant in a multi-faceted and connected way.
