How the Art Community Thrives

The role of an art museum is more than what meets the eye. When we talk about art, it can also expand to the performing art form and beyond. Yes, it is good to feel a limitless quality of what art can do and who it can reach. One of the art museums in the Washington D.C. area that has that expansive quality is The Kreeger Museum. Nestled in the northwest area of D.C., where the winding roads and carefully landscaped gardens meet, the Kreeger gravitates to locals and tourists who seek a serene space for various art forms within the city.

Photo by Frank Hallam Day.

While supporting the contemporary art scene through art shows, talks, and events constitute the norm of an art museum’s role, it is refreshing for the visitors to also experience a variety of programming that enhances its visual arts component. Helen Chason, the director of the Kreeger, graciously shared insights into the museum's profound engagement with the local community, highlighting how these endeavors contribute to the enrichment of visual and performing arts within the Washington D.C. region.

Creative Selectivity

Photo by Nicholas Moreland Photography.

The craft of selecting artists is a process that takes time and research. Art curation is a way of carefully presenting new and returning visitors with a vision of what the art museum represents and what it stands for. It's a process that goes beyond showcasing popular talent. Contemporary emerging talent is always present but it takes a keen eye to select it based on the season, your audience, your messaging/themes, and the other type of programming you may have going on. 

At the Kreeger, it is important to immerse the visitor in art but also through music and workshops. These creative endeavors stimulate the artistic senses of sound, movement, and visuals. 

Helen Chason touches on the importance of supporting local talent:

To shine a light on the amazing visual and performing artists practicing in our city and provide them with gallery space for showing their work, we developed The Collaborative in 2021. The Collaborative is an exhibition program that supports DC-based artists and strengthens our relationships with other non-profit arts organizations in DC. We are honored to champion the work of these artists and provide many of them the opportunity to present their work in a museum for the first time.

It’s important to highlight local talent within museums, especially since Washington D.C. can be considered such a transient city, where people come to work for a few years and then move on to other places. Nurturing the talent that is already working within the Metro Area can only foster more of an inclusive cultural experience and create room for more talent to emerge, flourish, and maintain itself in creative careers in this area within the visual and performing arts fields.

Chason states:

Jazz at The Kreeger, also developed in 2021, is a monthly concert series at the Museum that features DC-based performing artists. Working in collaboration with Elijah Jamal Balbed, we are honored to present this jazz series to support and spotlight the wealth of musical talent in our metropolitan area.

Aside from art, the jazz community has been an intrinsic part of the Kreeger’s programming. Jazz expands how people can enjoy the art experience through music by honoring diverse talent through another art form. This opportunity creates an atmosphere of cultural history and community as it all blends in together to honor the talent of this area. 

Community Goals

Photo by Anna Savino.

The Kreeger Museum uses the art space as a place the community can visit to enjoy and learn more about Washington D.C.’s overall cultural scene. It immerses the visitor in the art experience by asking them to be part of it and engage with local musicians, artists, and overall local talent.

It is commendable for an art space to know its audience and what they want to obtain from visiting a space. It could be to have a nice time, mingle, or learn more about local art and music. It is all valid, but it is also a matter of picking their brain based on how they respond to the activities you are presenting and what they might be interested in as a parallel activity in their daily lives. Say someone is interested in art, could they also be interested in learning to make art or listening to music while viewing it? This is a reflection of what we can see in the Kreeger’s programming. 

Chason expands on this thought:

We have a wonderful and simple mission – to share art, architecture, and music. Working with partners and artists across the city we strive to develop workshops, exhibitions, performances, and talks that appeal to all audiences. Our grounds provide a fabulous space for outdoor installations and performances. With new art spaces opening up across the city, there is more opportunity for all to experience work in new venues. The more we work together to promote our artists, the richer our community will be. We are headed in the right direction.

Presenting art as a lifestyle is an exciting pursuit, especially making art more approachable, where people feel there’s a space for them no matter their background. There is room for all to feel welcome, especially if they feel their other interests similar to art are welcomed too, like workshops, music, and even yoga.

Final Musings

Photo by Vivian Marie Doering.

The important part of maintaining a contemporary art space is to be open to multiple possibilities. We live in a world where art has become more accessible to people and it is a good feeling to feel included in this beautiful and in-depth world that is art.

Spaces like the Kreeger are taking this mission one step further by learning more about the people who visit and those who live nearby when offering programming that engages their interest and keeps them coming back to learn more about art history and local talent while immersing as part of a visual and performing art community.

Art Spaces that Captivate

While easy enough to forget, the art experience really begins before we view any artworks. From the architecture and exterior of a museum, gallery or other art space, to the way we interact with the people working there, and how we are affected by the spaces that surround the artworks themselves. There are exhibitions that stand out in our mind as memorable, but have you asked yourself why? Beyond the works themselves, art spaces serve as the backbone for the exhibition. One of these great exhibition spaces is Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland.

Water Court at the Pavilions Photo: Iwan Baan Courtesy: Glenstone Museum

Glenstone is an example of what can be achieved when there’s an ability and flexibility to create an art space from scratch. Yet in this case, the interior and exterior building and landscape design matters just as much as the curated works found in its galleries. Planning the architectural design can be challenging on its own, as the space would not have the flexibility of changing like the artworks do.

Valentina Nahon, Sr. Director of Public Engagement at Glenstone, spoke with me about the importance of creating an impactful art space experience for all visitors. The Glenstone experience begins outdoors, the entry point to its sprawling 230 acre footprint. A natural growing field with small hills and distant trees reveals paths, each leading to the galleries or to outdoor sculptures, like Jeff Koons’ Split-Rocker or Tony Smith’s Smug. The sculptures are part of nature itself, where they fit seamlessly each adapted to their  own unique natural setting. You won’t find more than one together, unlike a typical sculpture garden. 

Jeff Koons, Split-Rocker, 2000 stainless steel, soil, geotextile fabric, internal irrigation system, and live flowering plants 37 x 39 x 36 feet © Jeff Koons Courtesy: Glenstone Museum

These outdoor spaces invite you to be curious about your surroundings, the sights and sounds, and even through the steps you may take, where small stones make sound as you walk. All these components cause you to be more present in the experience. Nature holds a space for each work you come across outdoors. One of my personal favorites is Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller FOREST (for a thousand years…), where you are taken back in time through sound to reflect on humanity.

Nahon explains the purpose behind these art spaces:

Our mission at Glenstone is to be a place that seamlessly integrates art, architecture, and nature. The minimal design approach to both indoor and outdoor spaces is intended to facilitate meaningful encounters between our visitors and the artworks displayed, free of any distractions. The site design includes restored meadows, woodlands and streams to enhance the natural backdrop for outdoor sculptures, while the neutral building material palette complements the artworks on display.

When entering the galleries, the nature element persists, recalling the outdoor setting first experienced. The neutral wall colors, the large glass panels, and the water elements all embrace the landscape existing outdoors. The outdoor and indoor spaces interact heavily throughout the galleries, known as Pavilions. Beautiful natural light and high ceilings allow for this immersive effect in most spaces. There is a peace of mind from the mood-evoking surroundings that allow the visitor to explore at their own pace.

Installation View: Faith Ringgold From left: Faith Ringgold Jazz Stories: Mama Can Sing Papa Can Blow #1: Somebody Stole My Broken Heart, 2004 acrylic on canvas with painted and pieced border 81 in x 67 in ACA Galleries, New York Dah #3, 1983 acrylic on canvas 74 in x 58 in ACA Galleries, New York Dah #4, 1983 acrylic on canvas 74 in x 58 in ACA Galleries, New York California Dah #5, 1983 acrylic on canvas 110 in x 48 in ACA Galleries, New York California Dah #4, 1983 acrylic on canvas © 2021 Faith Ringgold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York Photo: Ron Amstutz Courtesy: Glenstone Museum

At times, some spaces open up fully as you walk in, like a surprise effect to expose the artwork within. It is almost like an unveiling of Glenstone’s most valuable assets, the art itself. That is in a way what galleries and museums are, they hold a space that reveals creativity in the form of Faith Ringgold, Cy Twombly, or Robert Gober, as something precious and frozen in time for the visitors to see. 

Nahon tells us about Glenstone’s creative team collaboration, responsible for this entire experience:

At Glenstone, we have a series of galleries that host changing exhibitions, while others are purpose-built to house a particular artist’s work. Planning a new exhibition is a collaborative effort that begins with the artist’s vision. We have a group of talented associates with varying backgrounds and experiences that contribute to the realization of a new installation at Glenstone.

Rendering of the boardwalk approach to the new building at Glenstone Museum, conceived to house a large-scale Richard Serra work and designed in collaboration between the artist and Thomas Phifer of Thomas Phifer and Partners. Located on Glenstone’s Woodland Trail, with landscape design by Adam Greenspan/PWP. Image: The Boundary Courtesy: Glenstone Museum

This collaborative vision is necessary in all art spaces. It allows for an immersive experience that starts from the outside all the way to the core, the artwork. Spaces can adapt to the artists and their artworks, but I think it really has to be the other way around for it to create balance among the space that has already been created and what the artworks have to offer. Then, it is when the art is placed that the footprint of the space transforms to become one with the space according to its message, how interactive it is, and how the viewers respond to it.