Essay on Should Art Museums Be Democratized?

One pleasant afternoon, my classmates and I decided to visit the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to begin on our museum assignment in world literature class. According to Houston Museum of Fine Art’s staff, MFAH considers as one of the largest museums in the nation and it contains many variety forms of art with more than several thousand years of unique history. Also, I have never been in a museum in a very long time especially as big as MFAH, and my experience about the museum was unique and pleasant. Although I have observed many great types and forms of art in the museum, there were few that interested me the most.

Positioned alongside Central Park in the heart of New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the largest and most influential art museums in the world. The Met houses an extensive collection of curated works that spans throughout various time periods and different cultures. The context of museum, especially one as influential as the Met, inherently predisposes its visitors to a certain set of understandings that subtly influence how they interpret and ultimately construct meanings about each individual object within the museum. Brent Plate in Religion, Art, and Visual Culture argues that “objects obtain different meanings in different locations and historical settings.”An object placed on display behind a glass case inside a museum would hold a vastly different meaning if it was put on sale by a street vendor, like the ones who set up their tables in close proximity to the Met. The different meanings that objects are able to obtain is attributed to the relationships that are established between the object itself and the environment that surrounds it. These relationships often involve the kind of audience that a museum attracts, where the work is exhibited, and how the exhibits within a museum is planned out. Museums subsequently have the ability to control how these relationships are established which influences the way a viewer is able to construct meaning. When a visitor observes an object on display at the Met, they instinctively construct a certain set of

When a museum has prestige on a national level, they can be under high scrutiny of exhibits or objects displayed by the public. Controversial topics, for example, the Enola Gay exhibit, has left historians hesitant and confused on how to create exhibits with correct history, but also not upsetting any individual who were involved with said history. Historians have a trying task of addressing both sides of a historical event, even though it might depict individuals in an unflattering way. A historian is not allowed to have a bias for events, this could have an impact on the way an exhibit is created. Another point that was brought to light in Bunch’s article was museums have the ability to educate the public, so difficult topics should not be

Cooper states that “museums came to understand that their unique educational ability was that of object-based learning...the possession of objects made museums different” (65). I tend to agree with that statement with some caveats. Firstly, object-based learning can happen without collections. Secondly, is the additional unique opportunity potential for lifelong learning. The museum is a place that can assist, contrast, or provide learning at every stage of a person’s life. For instance, the Mission museums in California are a resource for public elementary school curriculum (Dartt-Newton 97). As people of all ages from the public look to museums as an educational authority, the material presented needs to be as scrutinized as any other

To me, museums serve as trains that deliver goods that are arts to people. Art can be perceived as a mean to entertains our life, reflects customs and communicates thoughts, ideas and emotions and it’s museums job that bring them closer to people. There is a huge difference when it came to seeing the artwork in person and seeing the artwork from a book or website and magazine. You will never be able to feel a piece properly when you see it in the textbook, you will never understand how the color was put together and what is the meaning behinds it, you won’t see how the lines and curves are blend together to make the painting look perfect and how strong that art can affect you in emotion. Many people nowadays don’t even bother watching the art themselves, they rather listening to what critics have to say about the works in their own perspective and can’t even make a decision themselves whether or not they should see the arts. “An ounce of image is worth a pound of performance”, in my opinion, I think we will never know what is good until we see it

2- The museum is for specific people. Therefore, this issue is a serious one, if people cannot find the museum interesting from the first place how would they want to visit it? The museum offered different educational programs and special exhibitions, and made lots of effort in promotion especially through press relations and local media.

In the past few months, I 've had a lot of opportunities to observe and experience art through the course materials at school, galleries, museums, architectures, and so on. Even though I always have great interest in modern art and really enjoy the works of contemporary artist such as Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol, my knowledge and understanding about abstraction is quite limited. However, after our discussion and lecture about Abstract Expressionism, I found myself drawn to the picture of the "Sea Change" by Jackson Pollock that presented at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) and have learned more about abstraction aspect through his paintings.

In Duncan’s book “The Art Museum as a Ritual” he explains the meaning behind art museums, and how they are like rituals and are “complex entities in which both art and architecture are parts of a larger whole.” In most ways, Duncan is correct about art museums being like rituals. They are typically isolated, quiet, and have strict rules on what you are allowed to bring and do within the museum. Each piece is displayed beautiful in its own exclusive space. They also highly protect their pieces and maintain them on a daily. Most people don’t typically go to museums for a “fun experience” rather they go for a more rich and enlightening experience; almost something you can’t replicate elsewhere because atmosphere and ambience is so important. The reason why I bring up atmosphere and ambience is to connect it to Duncan’s claim that “art museums appear as environments structured around specific ritual scenario.” Ambience and atmosphere are important aspects to museums in order to feel like rituals. The atmosphere is museums often feel like a “pseudo-sacred kind of place filled with a ritual-like atmosphere.” Duncan claims that “it is, in my view, precisely the complexity of the art museum - its existence as a profoundly symbolic cultural object as well as a social, political, and ideological instrument - that makes the notion of the museum as ritual so attractive,” which means he believes that museums act as a cultural object for social and political means. He believes that art museums “constitute one of those sites in which politically organized and socially institutionalized power most avidly seeks to realize its desire to appear as beautiful, natural, and legitimate.” They are incredibly excellent places to study the history of cultural forms. He believes they aren’t ritual structures, but rather they stand “as ritual structures,” since they contain vast

There are opportunities though, and they are good opportunities. I was able to identify three that they should pay attention to and really hit hard on. In today’s economy, people aren’t wanting to spend a lot of money. The recession is making people be a lot more conscious about money. Good news, the museum is free. If marketed properly, this could be a huge way to gain new visitors. Plus, art museums have sophisticated connotations that make people feel smart when they go to them. What better way to spend the day than to go somewhere that is free and feel sophisticated? Another opportunity is that new exhibits could attract younger demographics, pending on the exhibit. This could be tricky though because they want to attract everyone, but older crowds are interested in things that younger generations aren’t. They have to be able to balance the attractions so everyone can relate to it and want to view it.

Before visiting the Walter’s Art Museum, I was thinking about which topic I should be focusing on. At first, I was thinking Asian Arts might be the easiest topic for me to do the term paper. Since I got some Asian cultural background. However, this museum doesn’t have a lot of Asian arts on display that really interesting to me. Mostly, I see were Chinese ceramics and potteries. I was hoping to see some calligraphy and handscrolls on display at the museum then seeing those artworks on their website. As I continue looking around, I realized this museum has a lot of great collection with tons of variety; Roman, Greece, Egyptian, Renaissance, Asian, and Medieval arts.

Furthering your education in different techniques and your ability to properly critique an artwork will boost your understanding and appreciation for a piece. Also, increasing your knowledge of art history will give you the needed information to comprehend where everything began and and how much we have improved. In the world today, technology is used for everything, but sometimes, you just need to go an look at things in real life. The experience you gain from actually viewing such masterpieces with your own eyes will make you realize that the art you see on the Internet and in books are much more magnificent seeing them in a museum. You can see the work and details put into it to complete the entire picture and create a sense of emotions

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an established religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof'; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." This amendment, founded on the strong and open minds of the Founding Fathers, made certain that free speech be incorporated into America's free and democratic society.

“Any drawn line that speaks about identity, dignity, and unity is art,” (Chaz Bojorquey) is a statement that I agree with. Art is perceived differently from all people based on their culture, religion, personal taste, and many other factors. I believe that as long as what has been created is meaningful to either the creator or even to somebody that is viewing it, it should be considered art. Art in the public is a very controversial subject that brings up the important question of, “Should public art be considered as real art,” personally I think that it should be. I believe that the difference between art that is placed in a gallery and art that is visible by a community is the fact that what is acceptable in a gallery

During the early twentieth century, art education was seen as unproductive and more often not cost effective. However, in the 1950’s opinions about art education made a drastic change as Americans craved more self-expression. Art education began to flourish as the importance of art involvement became known (DeHoyas).

     The art exhibit was in the Gordon Hightower Library. The exhibit was on Thursday, April 10, 2002 and lasted all day long and is still going on. There were not many paintings, but the two main painters were Marlin Adams and R. Defamore. Adams painted portraits of fruit and people. Defamore painted a series of paintings that were all similar but very different and dark such as “The Victim- Talking Hand and Screaming Heads” and “The Hero-To Tell Or Not To Tell”.