Evolving Critic

/in , /by

instaswap

This past February, I blogged about 18 New York City museums who swapped Instagram accounts for one day with the goal of not only highlighting each other’s collection and […]

Read Article →Social Mediaimg_20161008_200437

This past weekend I hopped on a train to New Haven, Connecticut to join the New Haven Preservation Trust, New Haven Modern (which is an initiative of the NHPT) and DoCoMoMo-US […]

Read Article →ArchitectureShana Dumont Garr, Image courtesy of Fruitlands Museum.

Former director of Kingston Gallery in Boston, Shana Dumont Garr has been named Curator at Fruitlands Museum. Prior to joining the Fruitlands Museum, Ms. Dumont Garr was the Director of […]

Read Article →News5234060286_52efcaa274_z

As the saying goes, it’s not the camera you use, it’s what you do with it that matters. At the Somerville Toy Camera Festival, this saying rings true again […]

Read Article →Art, Exhibits, Festivals and Events, PhotographyImage by faikevin on Flickr. Used under the Creative Commons License.

Can’t tell the difference between xia jiao and guo tie? Don’t fret, a new dim sum field guide is looking to make you an expert in this ancient Chinese culinary […]

Read Article →Books, Culture, Food70mm_fest_logo_med

If you were one of the thousands of people who indulged in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight at the Somerville Theatre, you’re in for another treat. The beloved Davis Square […]

Read Article →Festivals and Events, Film, NewsHAM-Bauhaus-Collection-16

The Harvard Art Museums announced on Monday that it has created a new and expansive online resource dedicated to the Bauhaus—the most influential design school of the twentieth century. The […]

Read Article →Museums, News

Kingston Gallery Director Named Curator at Fruitlands Museum

/in , /by

shana2

Shana Dumont Garr, Image courtesy of Fruitlands Museum.

Former director of Kingston Gallery in Boston, Shana Dumont Garr has been named Curator at Fruitlands Museum. Prior to joining the Fruitlands Museum, Ms. Dumont Garr was the Director of Programs & Exhibitions at Artspace in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Montserrat Art Gallery in Beverly, MA; and the Hurst Gallery in Cambridge, MA. The Fruitlands Museum which was recently acquired by The Trustees of Reservations is a 210-acre historic, natural, and cultural destination based in Harvard, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1914 by author and preservationist Clara Endicott Sears.

The Fruitlands Museums consists of the National Historic Landmark, the Farmhouse; The Shaker Museum; The Native American Museum and The Art Museum—home to Hudson River School landscape paintings and 19th century vernacular portraits.

Aside from curating exhibitions at the Fruitlands Museum, Ms. Dumont Garr will be caring for the collection and overseeing the artist-in-residence program.

Congrats to Shana Dumont Garr!

Back to New England: Currier Museum of Art Names New Director and CEO

/in , /by

Alan Chong

Alan Chong, Photo Courtesy of the Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH.

The Board of Trustees of the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire has announced the appointment of Alan Chong as its new Director and Chief Executive Officer. An already familiar face to many in New England, Dr. Chong will be the ninth director in the Museum’s 87-year history and comes to the Currier Museum from the Asian Civilisations Museum & the Peranakan Museum in Singapore.

Prior to his tenure at the Asian Civilisations Museum & the Peranakan Museum, Dr. Chong served as the Lia and William Poorvu Curator of the Collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Mass. from 1999 through 2010. While at the Gardner, Dr. Chong curated the critically acclaimed exhibitions Raphael, Cellini, and a Renaissance Banker in 2003; Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle in 2004 and Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia in 2009.

A hidden gem in New England, the Currier Museum of Art is home to a spectacular collection of European and American Art as well as the Zimmerman House, the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in New England open to the public. Dr. Chong’s appoinment will continue to elevate the profile of the Currier Museum of Art on a national and international level.

Congratulations, Alan Chong.

Instagram Tour: Final Phase of the Boston Public Library’s Johnson Building Renovation

/in , , , /by

The Boston Public Library has completed the second and final phase of renovations to the 1972 Philip Johnson building. The second phase renovations, which was completed by the Cambridge firm of William Rawn and Associates, includes updates to the interior design and exterior landscaping, new and very cool digital elements, stunning and invigorating new spaces for studying and reading, updated collections, and an enormous Tech Central with many new public computers.

In typical William Rawn fashion, the Johnson Building is colorful, brighter and welcoming in contrast to the dark and overwhelmingly depressing (but functional for its time), granite building completed in 1972. Rawn, who has designed several libraries in the Boston area—including the East Boston and Mattapan branches of the Boston Public Library—has also visually opened the Johnson building to the street, inviting the people of Boston into their library.

I’ve been a user of the Central Library since I was eight years old and Philip Johnson has never looked and felt this good. While this addition to the McKim, Mead & White Beaux Arts building isn’t one of Philip Jonhson’s best works, it’s an important building in Boston nonetheless.

What follows in this post is an Instagram tour of the final phase renovations (I Instagrammed the first phase of the building back in March 2015).

IMG_8068

IMG_8072

The Welcome Center features new books, plenty of seating and digital screens listing information about programs and events at the library. The screens also serve as an opportunity for people to browse the Boston Public Library’s digital collections.

IMG_8002

IMG_8003

IMG_8070

IMG_8076

The Boston Public Library has stepped into the 21st century with this renovation. A new 6,000 square feet Digital Services department and digital imaging studio has been created in the lower level of the building, directly across the Kirstein Business Library and Innovation Center. This new space will also be used by the BPL’s digital partners, Digital Public Library of America and Internet Archive. Welcome to the Boston Public Library, the library of the future.

IMG_8062

IMG_8043

The Kirstein Business Library and Innovation Center will offer many courses including video editing, production and audio.

IMG_8071

IMG_8074

IMG_8073

IMG_8078

An updated theater, new classroom and community gathering spaces are also found in the lower level.

Check out the very cool balloons that serve as collection markers.

IMG_8045

IMG_8069

Many objects from the BPL’s extensive art collection are currently on display throughout the renovated building (and many more will be on view in the Fall in the new, museum-quality exhibition space).

IMG_8077

IMG_8019

And colors to complement every single one of my many sneakers.

IMG_7996

IMG_7997

IMG_8001

IMG_8086 (1)

What do you think of the newly renovated Johnson Building?