FW: Perceptions of Proximity

Here is something to consider.

 

Shannon Eakins

School Tour Instructor/Volunteer Coordinator

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1701 Pacific Avenue

Tacoma, Washington 98402

T: 253.272.4258 x3016

F: 253.627.1898

www.TacomaArtMuseum.org

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Kristy Gledhill
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 4:20 PM
To: Shannon Eakins
Cc: Rod Bigelow
Subject: Perceptions of Proximity

 

Hi Shannon

We were having a discussion at our last visitor services meeting about the quandary we’re sometimes in when persuading visitors not to touch the art. The question of how close is too close came up, and that’s a hard one for visitor services. It’s difficult to pick just the right time to go up and say something, when someone’s pointing and a painting and getting closer and closer and closer…

 

So we were thinking of ways to sort of educate people – in the nicest ways possible – about how close is too close and it was discussed that sometimes the docents themselves – who are very comfortable being around art and understand the issues involved with touching completely – come pretty close to touching the art in their docent-led tours. We were discussing the fact that this sets a precedent for visitors: “It’s OK to motion toward the painting very closely because I saw the docent get this close.”

 

The point is that it would be worth mentioning to the docents, I think, to think about their proximity to the art while they’re talking about it with people. If we could just remind them about perceptions and how visitors see the docents’ actions. If they see the docents keeping a respectful (and that, we’ve agreed, is about 12 inches) distance, they’re more likely to do the same and give the VS people less to worry about.

 

If you’d like to just forward this request/thought to the docents, that would be great. This really is about perceptions… I want to make sure people do as they see us doing.

 

Thanks Shannon,

Kristy

 

 

Kristy Gledhill

Director of Communications

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1701 Pacific Avenue

Tacoma, Washington 98402

T: 253.272.4258 x3017

F: 253.627.1898

www.TacomaArtMuseum.org

 

Sunday, December 19th shift

Hello Docents,

 

There was a cancellation for this Sunday, December 19^th.  Currently, for this day, we are docent-less.  If any of you would be able to fill in, that would be fantastic.  Let me know.

 

Thanks as always,

Shannon

 

 

Shannon Eakins

School Tour Instructor/Volunteer Coordinator

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1701 Pacific Avenue

Tacoma, Washington 98402

T: 253.272.4258 x3016

F: 253.627.1898

www.TacomaArtMuseum.org

 

Suggestions Invited for Tour Attendance/Signs/Informing Visitors/etc

Hello Fellow Docents,

Shannon forwarded our feedback regarding the PlasmaTV and tour signs
to Kristy Gledhill - who is in-charge of Communication. Unfortunately,
she won't be able to join us for Docent Coffee ... Shannon would like
to discuss it at the next training (Mon 12/20 or Wed 12/22).

Kristy is interested in hearing the docents' suggestions for improving
the attendance at their tours, decreasing visitor confusion and making
sure they're well-informed of the options open to them, and keeping
the museum uncluttered and neat-looking.

Please pass on your suggestions to Shannon at the training meeting (or
email me and I can compile.)

Regards
Sanjeev

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kristy Gledhill
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 07:55:49 -0800
Subject: RE: FW: Feedback Compilation on Plasma TV + Tour Time Signs

Hi Sanjeev
Unfortunately, I can't make the coffee on Thursday at Starbuck's... and
I'll be in Detroit all next week. BUT, I'm interested in hearing the
docents' suggestions for improving the attendance at their tours,
decreasing visitor confusion and making sure they're well-informed of
the options open to them, and keeping the museum uncluttered and
neat-looking. Those are really the objectives. Just need to figure out
the best way to accomplish all of those things. I certainly want you
all to feel that the time you spend training, traveling to the museum,
and actually being AT the museum is time well spent.
Thanks
Kristy

Docent Coffee = *This* Thursday 12/16/04 UW Starbucks 5:00pm

Hello Fellow Docents,

A gentle reminder that this month's Docent Coffee / Third Thursday
coffee will be at the same place (UW Tacoma Starbucks), same time
(5:00pm), with the same "No Agenda" and same "No RSVP Required" policy
as the last few times !

Day: Third Thursday
Date : 12/16/04
Place : UW Tacoma Starbucks
Time: 5:00pm +

The museums will be open free and late; the galleries will be open; we
can take the train to the theater district. No agenda is good freedom.

***

Docents in Training, if you are afraid that you won't be able to spot
us, you can easily keep track of the names and faces of the docents in
the Docent Gallery:

http://www.sanjeev.net/tam/docents.html

--
Regards,
Sanjeev Narang

***

email: ask (at) eConsultant dot com
www.Sanjeev.NET

Rich Art Collection Moving to Philly

Rich Art Collection Moving to Philly

By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA - One of the nation's richest troves of Impressionist and
Postimpressionist art is moving to downtown Philadelphia now that its
trustees have won court permission to leave their hard-to-visit
suburban gallery, a legacy of the collection's eccentric founder.


Trustees of the Barnes Foundation had argued for two years that they
should be allowed to move the collection of Renoirs, Cezannes,
Matisses and Picassos because decades of limited attendance and high
costs in Lower Merion Township have nearly bankrupted the foundation.


On Monday, Montgomery County Judge Stanley Ott agreed, saying a new
facility more accessible to tourists in the heart of Philadelphia
might be the only way to save the foundation. Other possible
solutions, including selling land and lesser art from the collection,
wouldn't raise more than $20 million, he said.


"History and the evidence presented at these hearings showed this
amount would not halt the foundation's downward financial spiral," he
wrote.


The current gallery is loved for its intimacy, but is difficult to
visit because of restrictions imposed by township officials and the
will of the late Dr. Albert Barnes, who made a fortune in
pharmaceuticals and medical supplies.


He opened his 23-room gallery in 1925 to display Impressionist
masterpieces and thousands of other paintings, African carvings,
Navajo textiles, Greek and Roman ceramics and other pieces.


When he died in a 1951 car crash, his will specified that the
collection be kept forever in Lower Merion, paintings never be sold or
moved, admission be strictly limited, and his endowment be invested
only in conservative, low-yielding government securities.


The collection is open to the public only on Friday, Saturday and
Sunday, and no more than 400 people may visit each day. Tickets are
available only by reservation and sell out months in advance. Onsite
parking is limited and the township won't let visitors park on the
street.


Traditionalists fought the move, saying it would destroy a unique
setting and violate Barnes' wish that the collection be primarily used
as a teaching tool for the foundation's art school.


Ott acknowledged that some would see the move to Philadelphia as "an
outrageous violation of the donor's trust," but said archival
materials convinced him that Barnes expected the collection to have
greater exposure than it has received.


Three philanthropies promised to help raise $100 million for a new
gallery near the Philadelphia Museum of Art plus $50 million to
establish an endowment if the court approved the move.


Mayor John F. Street's office said a site should be picked by the end
of the week.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=487&e=2&u=/ap/barnes_foundation

--
Regards,
Sanjeev Narang

***

email: ask (at) eConsultant dot com
www.Sanjeev.NET

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