UWM-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts students (left to right) Anna Emerson, Paul Manley, and Jessica Schubkegel installing the House of Cards spiral. Photo by Ray Chi.
In the early 1950s, designers Charles and Ray Eames painstakingly arranged penny cars, pencils, pills, and papers to photograph for their House of Cards construction set. They probably never imagined that decades later, thousands of children and adults in the Milwaukee region would meticulously decorate their own House of Cards, let alone that these cards would be installed together in a towering spiral at the Milwaukee Art Museum in conjunction with the exhibition Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America.
The Satellite High School Program interns, Fall 2014. Photo by Front Room Photography
It’s my pleasure to share the work of the teen interns in this semester’s Satellite High School Program. Fifteen students from all around Milwaukee spent a semester exploring and discussing art, touring elementary school students, going behind the scenes, speaking to staff, and learning about career skills. Then, the teens created final projects expressing how art can be made relevant to our lives today and how the Milwaukee Art Museum can be an icon for the city, inside and out. This post, part 1 of 4, showcases the work of these students in their own words.
Title view of Postcards from America: Milwaukee, with prompts teens used to explore the exhibition.
On one of the last warm days in October, I led sixteen teens into the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Postcards from America: Milwaukee exhibition. This blog post is a description of our experience spending one hour together looking at a single photographer’s work in the exhibition.
Victoria and her castle in the Kohl’s Art Generation Gallery. Photo by Emerald SummersThe first time I saw the Milwaukee Art Museum I was in awe. The huge wings and the stark white building against the lake made the Museum seem like a weird foreign castle that I wanted to explore and get lost in. When I got inside, I was suddenly intimidated as I realized I couldn’t lay my grubby first grade fingers on anything! It was probably one of the biggest let downs in my first grade life I had ever encountered, but now, coming back as a senior in high school (and knowing about artwork conservation), I know it was for a good reason.
Four weeks ago I had no idea that I would be creating a post that would be viewed by anyone who accessed Milwaukee Art Museum Blog. When I first started the internship I was ecstatic: Working at the art museum? I was movin’ on up in life. Then when I found out I was going to create a blog post, you could pretty much say my day–if not year–was made.
Rachelle and Victoria at the exhibition model in the Kohl’s Art Generation Lab. Photo by Emerald SummersTo me, art is not about the finished product but instead is a process of thoughts, motives, symbols, creativity and challenge. A museum’s central purpose is to secure and preserve the heritage of each work as a whole, ensuring that the voice of each artist is heard to reflect their thoughts, curiosity, and growth. Museums connect art with visitors beyond just the visual sense.
On a personal level, art has always been a part of my life. Whether it be in dance, thought, or in action; art surrounds me. As an intern here at the Milwaukee Art Museum, my appreciation for creativity, innovation, and artists new and old has only grown. Art as a whole, has changed through time, increasing in meaning and expression. In my eyes, the finished product of art does not need to make complete sense to every individual. The same piece of art I may find beautiful may not meet another’s standards of beauty. Art lives on, beyond the surface of a canvas, in the Museum.
Dominique in the Kohl’s Art Generation Lab. Photo by Emerald SummersNo one really knows how much the Milwaukee Art Museum can make an impact on their life if they never take a visit. In becoming an intern at the Milwaukee Art Museum, I have seen the Museum in a different perspective: how it has a role in people’s lives and in the community.
Starting from a small art gallery, the Milwaukee Art Museum merged and combined with other organizations and people to form what it is now. With, of course, the help of the community, the Museum has thrived into a famous attraction. A few people from the community went out of their way to start the Museum, and now the Museum is returning the favor to the community as a place to view and learn about art. Visitors even count the Museum one of “the top three of all I’ve seen since traveling around the world.”
A close-up of the Kohl’s Color Wheels Chihuly project.As the Kohl’s Color Wheels Team Coordinator, I have the chance to bridge the gap between the Collection and the world outside the Museum walls. I am given the awesome task of working with area schools and art teachers to bring part of the Collection to them. I wanted to share this process through photos of a past event with Shady Lane Elementary.
