Mused and Confused: FAQ at the MWPAI Museum of Art

Posted by Meg Gianetti on January 21st 2011 | 0 Comments

Tags: museum

Mused and Confused: FAQ’s of Museum Visitors

MWPAI Docents in the Museum of Art

You never know who is going to walk through the doors of Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute on any given day. Our dedicated docents guide many visitors of all ages through the museum each year and are asked a wide variety of questions both amusing and insightful. I have the good fortune to work as the docent trainer and was myself a docent at MWPAI.

Probably one of the most common questions we hear is probably repeated in any museum that displays abstract art, “Why is this art?” or “Why is this in a museum?” quickly followed by “My baby brother/sister could do that!”. These comments can be challenging to answer but one of our goals as docents is to simply get the visitors to take the time to look. You’d be surprised at the interesting conversations we’ve had with people who consider looking at abstract art to be a total waste of their time. Our docents look upon these experiences as opportunities to diplomatically ease the visitor’s anxiety and help them enjoy their visit.

“How much does that cost?” is another popular question on people’s minds. I once had a visitor notice the accession number listed on the museum label, they asked if that was the value of the art (and yes I would like to buy that Jackson Pollock for $54.38!) We can’t answer every question but we let our visitors know that similar to the stock market the value of the artwork changes every day.

Yasumasa Morimura, Ambiguous Beauty/ no-bi

The subject of the nude in art can be a little challenging for some visitors. Everything from giggles to gasps can be heard from both children and adults. On occasion we have received requests from teachers to cover up some of the artwork or to avoid certain galleries altogether. Sometimes the questions can be as direct as “Why do they have dirty pictures in the museum?” Our docents have multiple responses prepared depending on which artwork is in question. It could be as simple as the artist wanting to understand the bone and muscle structure of the human body or explaining that the artist is communicating a sense of innocence and purity in their artwork; and yes, sometimes the images are meant to be a little provocative.

Art works by Franz Kline, David Smith and Mel Edwards in the MWPAI galleries

Many of the questions we hear deal with the visitors wanting to make sure they are getting the most out of their tour. Maybe this gives them bragging rights when they go home. “How old is the oldest art we have in the museum?”, “Is this the most famous art you have at the museum?” and again “What is the most expensive piece you have at the museum?” or “Who is the best artist you showed us?” Visitors want to make sure they are seeing the biggest and the best we have to offer.

“How many portraits are in this museum?” The answer to this question is trickier than you might think. We have paintings in our collection such as Portrait of the Artist’s Father by Joe Jones or the Psychological Abstract Portrait of Ted Shawn, by Katherine Dreier.

One might ask how you can have a portrait of a person that does not show their face.

Joe Jones, Portrait of the Artist’s Father

Katherine Dreier, Abstract Portrait of Ted Shawn

As you can see some of the questions are quite intriguing and the visitors keep the docents on their toes and I can speak from personal experience this is not an easy task. I admire the ease and good nature of these dedicated individuals and know that they have truly enriched their audience’s lives with their generosity.