Ambassadors Toledo Museum of Art                                                                                       

Associates Art Gallery of Greater Victoria                                                                              

Art Gallery of Windsor Volunteers                                                                                             

Art Museum Council LACMA                                                                                                       

Associates Vancouver Art Gallery                                                                                            

Crystal Bridges Museum of Modern Art                                                                                  

Council of 101 Orlando Museum of Art                                                                                    

Dallas Museum of Art Volunteers                                                                                               

Department of Museum Volunteers the ROM                                                                        

DIA Volunteer Council                                                                                                       

Friends of the Institute – Minneapolis Institute of Arts                                                    

Friends of the Wichita Art Museum                                                                                            

Gallery Council (Memorial Art Gallery)                                                                                    

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts                                         

MMoCA | The Art League                                                                               

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston                                                                                                        

NOMA Volunteer Committee                                                                                                        

The Corcoran Woman’s Committee                                                                                            

The Council of VMFA                                                                                

The Nelson Gallery Foundations                                                                                                  

The Saint Louis Art Museum                                                                                                          

The Toledo Museum of Art Ambassadors                                                                                 

The Women’s Committee of the Walters Art Museum                                                        

University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology                                                

Volunteers of the Art Gallery of Ontario                                                                                  

Volunteer Associates of the Winnipeg Art Gallery                                                               

Volunteers Association of Montreal MFA                                                                               

Volunteers Circle NGC                                      

Women’s Committee Carnegie Museum of Art                                                                   

Womens Council (CMA)

Alliance of the Indianapolis Museum of Art

Associates Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Art League MMoCA

Art Museum Council LACMA

Associates Vancouver Art Gallery

Crystal Bridges Museum of Modern Art

Council of 101 Orlando Museum of Art

Department of Museum Volunteers the ROM

DIA Volunteer Council

Friends of the Institute – Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Gallery Council (Memorial Art Gallery)

Kalamazzo Institute of Arts

NOMA Volunteer Committee

The Art Gallery of Windsor Volunteers

The Council of VMFA

The Nelson Gallery Foundations

The Saint Louis Art Museum

The Toledo Museum of Art Ambassadors

Volunteers of the Art Gallery of Ontario

Volunteers Association of Montreal MFA

Volunteers Circle NGC

Womens Council (CMA)

Tennessee is the furthest south of the states in VCAM Region 5. I am committed to visiting as many museums as I can during my three years period as Co-Director of Region 5. So far the count is thirty-two.  I have driven from the northern most one point, the Dennos in Traverse City, to the most southern tip of the region. This trip took in Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville and Louisville.

The first stop was the Knoxville Museum of Art and after several hours on the road I finally arrived. The museum is located on the site of the Worlds’ Fair, which was held there in 1982.   I was met by KMA staffers Wendy Noe and Jonathan Hash. Jonathon gave me an excellent tour of the galleries and special exhibits including “Higher Ground A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee,” “Made in Hollywood Photographs from the John Kobal Foundation” and “Arms, Legs, Feet, Heart & Soul The Cumberland Furniture Guild.” It was interesting to see those works from of different artists from East Tennessee. Later I spent a time on near the Tennessee River and ate Southern style food at a well known restaurant.

The next stop at the opposite end of Tennessee was the Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis. A wonderful museum featuring at the time I was there Jacob Lawrence. It has beautifully staged art throughout, a marvelous floor plan and complimented by exquisite wooden seats place around the museum. There I also found artist Carl Gutherz, whose work I found his work evocative especially that he attributed to the Civil War era. He is definitely an artist who deserves a second look. The Brooks is nestled in a beautiful part of Memphis and has the charm of the Deep South.

Next I drove back to the middle to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville Tennessee. This heavenly building started life as a Post Office and its building precedents are lovingly maintained inside and out. The Art deco foyers were just exquisite and the galleries I found to be most expansive. Of course I would be remiss if I do mention the wonderful “Museums in the 21st Century Concepts, Projects, and Buildings” May 29–August 23, 2009. This exhibition explores important trends in contemporary museum architecture, I was most impressed. In the learning center I found a place where people could express themselves creating interpretations of their visions and the area felt alive with artistic creativity.

Due North to my final stop was the Speed Art Museum in Louisville Kentucky. Most probably the most intimate place of the trip, the visitor feels; well in my case as if they have entered a sanctuary. The galleries are nicely installed and I was lucky to coincide with the “Beyond the Log Cabin Kentucky’s Abraham Lincoln” installation. I ate lunch there a saw what appeared to be the mingling of staff and volunteers in animated, happy conversations. I reflected on my trip on the individual branding of the four museums. How each had a strong sense of identity that came across to the visitor and left good memories to share. The trip totaled just over 1600 miles I saw Tennessee East to West, Southern Kentucky and was most privileged to visit all four of the wonderful places.

Modern Museums

A McGraw Hill publication affiliated with the American Institute of Architects, the Architectural Record, devoted much of its November 2005 issue to museums. They commissioned Martin Filler, probably our best architectural critic, to examine this phenomenon as a manifestation of “Patron Power” under the title “Museums and the Maecenas” touch. In Europe museums have historically been funded by the state; in America, they have tended to be backed by private collectors. What has caused the museum mania? Conventional wisdom suggests that the Guggenheim’s decision to build Frank Gehry’s Bilbao structure started it all. There is no question it created a sensation when it opened, as did his Art Gallery of Ontario,in Totonto, but the phenomenon is more complex than that.  Museums, like concert halls, opera houses, and theaters, are multi faceted structures. Directors and donors tend to go with proven track-records when selecting their architects.  The reign of the museum as the signal building type in recent American architecture is best explained by the promise of increased prosperity and heightened prestige through spectacular design.

Therefore, I set out three years ago to enjoy the experiences they have created. Visiting two outstanding creations on the west coast, the Seattle Art Museum by Robert Venturi and the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco by Herzog and DeMeuron, which I found to be as advertised, “a work of art itself” and “a seamless joy to explore.” The Akron Art Museum by Coop Himmelb(l) is truly surreal as it bursts out of the surrounding spaces. Toronto has two such edifices, the Royal Ontario Museum by Daniel Libeskind which excites you as you walk towards it and Frank Gehry’s AGO with its magical staircase. On a personal level, I found the Bloch Building by Steven Hull at the Nelson-Atkins, in Kansas City quite emotionally evocative, especially at night lit from inside.

Coop Himmelb(l)

Frank Gehry

Daniel Libeskind

Steven Hull

Kulapat Yantrasast

Volunteer Committee of Art Museums triennial conferences are designed for visual art museum volunteers and staff. They afford an opportunity to show off volunteer and staff expertise in various subject areas, meet old acquaintances, to make new friends, to eat wonderful foods, and keep learning and engaged.

So every three years around 120 volunteers and museum staff from around North America participate in the V ○ C ○ A ○ M. It is a time of learning and reflection, a refuge if you will from the busy lives we all lead. Each triennial is hosted by a museum from one of the 10 V C A M regions. Each has its own unique flavor reflecting the local culture. The next triennial is this October hosted by the Nelson-Atkins Kansas City, Missouri, see the spectacular Bloch Building.

I have attended three triennials so far Detroit, Toronto and San Francisco each had its own special surprise and they were just a delight to participate in.

Triennials are the cachet of V C A M, known for excellent keynote speakers, high quality and participatory educational sessions. Attendees will also benefit by way of networking with other volunteers, leadership and museum professionals alike.

Come and enjoy this experience… You give so much…Here’s a place to replenish and refresh……

Reflect……

Listen and Learn…..

Have your critical thinking reenergized……

Develop synergies’ with people from other locations with similar goals……

Have Fun!!!

You deserve all these things! Treat yourself to a wonderful experience!

Enjoy a V C A M triennial conference, register today!

“I’m just back lecturing in Petoskey where there is an exhibition of 30 paintings from the Manoogian collection, most of which are fairly new to the collection. If any volunteers are going up there before August 8, I recommend going to the Crooked Tree Arts Center.”

Wendy Evans