Baltimore Museum of Art

During my last day in Baltimore I took the Charm City Circulator to the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA).  The effort of looking up a free bus service and dragging myself outside on a raining day was definitely worth it.  The BMA is free and is well known for its contemporary art collection.  It was pleasantly surprised by the range of artwork in the museum, the innovative displays, and the effort made to make the space friendly to families.

20160320_114532There were a number of great exhibitions on during my visit but a couple have stuck with me in the weeks following my trip.  I was really excited when I saw that there was an Art Quilts exhibition currently at the BMA.  If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile you might know that I am fascinated by textile art (eg. I loved the Ethel Stein Master Weaver exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago).  So I was intrigued by the idea of an exhibition dedicated to art quilts.  Though the exhibition was very small – probably under ten times on display I still really enjoyed the pieces and  contextual information included in the exhibition.  The quilts on display were all from the 1980s onward and showed the conscious choice of artists to use quilting as an artistic medium, often merging previous artistic practices with this quilt medium.  I really enjoyed this small look at quilts as art.

The other memorable exhibit was the Imaging Home exhibition, which is the inaugural exhibition in the Patricia and Mark Joseph Education Centre.  Imaging Home was really accessible to all ages and I loved the interactive components and activity spaces that were integrated throughout. The ‘Home Stories‘ video stations were particularly powerful.  These videos focused on families and their experiences living with a reproduction of one of four art objects that are currently on display in Imaging Home.  The households featured this project ranged greatly in age, race, neighborhood, and family makeup and the works of art included a shower curtain from The Thing Quarterly, Issue 16, featuring text by human branding opportunity Dave Eggers; a set of four annotated photographs from Jim Goldberg‘s “Rich and Poor” series; Alfred Stieglitz’s photograph “The Steerage”; and Walter Henry Williams’ painting “A Quick Nap”.

Home Stories tablet station.
Home Stories tablet station.

The Home Stories stations include tablets where visitors can listen to interviews to the participants responses to the artwork.  I found these responses insightful, moving, and a very powerful addition to the overall exhibit.  The idea of how artwork and conceptions of home can impact your life if really communicated through these videos.  I love the idea of using creative ways to connect people to art.  And a number of these videos included children responding to the artwork, which I think is important in engaging other kids in discussions around art.

I also found the “Three Sheds for Three Sites, Shed I: Home Shed” companion piece by Marian April Glebes‘ a great example of using  sculpture to inspire conversation.  This installation piece is a set of connected cabinets on wheels filled with household/domestic items.  Visitors to the space are invited to actively engage with the installation by opening drawers, rearranging items, and talking about conceptions of home.  I loved watching families engage with this work and was inspired by the conversations started in Imaging Home.

I really enjoyed by visit to the BMA and was pleasantly surprised by the variety of artwork on display, the creative installation methods, and the friendly staff.

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