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Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the museum's guards

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Re: Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the museum's guards

#51

Post by pradn »

Also notable is the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. Their guards are also docents, so you are encouraged to talk to them about the art and ask them questions. After experiencing this more human interaction, it was a bit of a shock for me to go down the street to the Museum of Contemporary Art, where I asked a guard a question and they flat out rejected my asking, haha!

Arts workers need to be paid well and also have enriching roles in the museums. And I don't think this sort of thing necessarily requires a 4-year degree or whatnot. I believe people are naturally curious, and we need to lean into that.

Re: Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the museum's guards

#52

Post by throwaway6734 »

whimsicalism wrote: post #32
mendeza wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am living in Baltimore and work out of DC as an ML engineer. The commute sucks, but with because of covid, I have been WFH. DC has a lot of tech companies, but lots of connections to defense.

The county or the city? Do you take the MARC? I am curious why someone would do this commute, it seems like there are lots of cheaper options closer to DC with their own semi-urban area.

You can buy a home in Baltimore near Penn station for pretty cheap. There's also a big difference between urban and semi urban

Re: Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the museum's guards

#53

Post by alaxsxaq »

moron4hire wrote: post #23
mesofile wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For any art aficionados visiting Baltimore, I'd also recommend the American Visionary Art Museum, a fantastic experience. https://www.avam.org/

Came here to say the same thing. It's a brilliantly wonderful place. Also in DC, don't forget the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. It's one of my favorite modern art museums in the world, and I live 20 minutes from it. I don't go anywhere near often enough.

When I'm in DC for a conference at the convention center, part of my breakfast routine is a walk to the Sculpture Garden at the Hirshhorn with a take-out breakfast. I always make a point to listen to the Sunset Song exhibit through at least once.

Re: Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the museum's guards

#54

Post by imjared »

atombender wrote: post #46
bane wrote: post #16

If anybody ever visits Washington D.C., it's very easy to get overwhelmed with the world class Smithsonian and National Gallery museums (amongst the dozens of others). But I highly recommend taking the time to go to Baltimore and visiting this museum as well as the nearby Walters Art Museum, both also very very good museums. Other great places for awesome museums within a day-drive of D.C.: Richmond, VA - Virginia Mu…

And while one is in that general area, don't miss a visit to Glenstone [1], a superb combination of art, architecture, and modern museum in the Potomac area, just west of D.C. While the art collection is fantastic (hosted in an older set of gallery buildings by Charles Gwathmey, and a newer building by Thomas Phifer and Partners), the huge park it's located in makes it a particularly unique experience, featuring perm…

After 10+ years in the area, I just discovered a few weeks ago that this place exists while looking at a map to plan a bike ride. I couldn't believe that some of what's there is from the same world class artists that I saw at the Guggenheim in Spain (Jeff Koons, Richard Serra). I thought for sure Google Maps was playing a trick on me since no friends have ever mentioned it and I certainly haven't been. It's now on my shortlist of places to check out when the weather cools off a bit.

Re: Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the museum's guards

#55

Post by dfxm12 »

pradn wrote: post #51

Also notable is the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. Their guards are also docents, so you are encouraged to talk to them about the art and ask them questions. After experiencing this more human interaction, it was a bit of a shock for me to go down the street to the Museum of Contemporary Art, where I asked a guard a question and they flat out rejected my asking, haha! Arts workers need to be paid well and also have enr…

Docents are usually volunteers, so it's not like there are general budgeting concerns. There's also usually bodies to fill these positions since it's almost like a title/labor of love for someone who doesn't need the money or a resume builder for someone who does in the art world, where good paying jobs are hard to come by.

It must put a lot of pressure on a security guard to do double duty like that. What if someone defaces a Warhol while they're talking to someone else about it? I'm sure The Broad probably has redundant controls in place, but in general, you shouldn't really expect to be able to bother or distract security guards.

It's not about leaning into a person's natural curiosity; most museums take care of all the staff with regards to entrance & tours if requested. It's about liability, insurance, etc.

Re: Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the museum's guards

#56

Post by willis936 »

settrans wrote: post #44
willis936 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quirky diners are one of the biggest things I miss from seacoast NH. What is there to do for tech work in Baltimore? All jobs I've seen are in the MIC, which I dislike.

What is there to do for tech work in seacoast NH? (And why would you leave?)

A fair amount for someone on the hardware side, surprisingly. Analog Devices and a mixed bag of test/measurement and signal integrity companies.

The answer is the one you would most likely guess: two body problem. We both miss NH quite a bit, but we're along for the ride until they finish their PhD.

Re: Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the museum's guards

#59

Post by artie_effim »

throwaway290232 wrote: post #3

Looks like it's getting hugged to death: https://web.archive.org/web/20210716193902/https://artbma.or... I love the BMA. It's a free museum with a great restaurant, cool exhibits, a nice park across the street. Nearby is The Book Thing, a free book store. Also another (non-free) book & record store, Normal's. And another, Urban Reads. And another bookstore/coffee shop, Bird in Hand. And a farmer's market. And a vegan…

there is this tee - Baltimore, Actually I Like It - you need it fam. Been here for 31 years, working in IT now, raising a family and all that. Balto is cool.

https://atomicbooks.com/products/baltimore-actually-shirt

Re: Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the museum's guards

#60

Post by xivzgrev »

johnchristopher wrote: post #6
rocketpastsix wrote: post #2

This is really fun IMO. The article makes a point that the security guards probably know the art pieces better than most people since they are constantly patrolling and looking around. Plus it gives them a chance to have some fun curating the collection.

I could walk around Guernica or la Joconde all day for years and I wouldn't grasp their significance and values without external insights. Only their aesthetics and at a non historic level.

Maybe, but I would be open to seeing what insights they come up on their own. I think that's the great thing about art - there's no right way to interpret it, and I wouldn't assume that guards are only capable of appraising on aesthetic level. The article also cited it would be done in collaboration with other folks from the museum, so I think it's going to be well done / may surprise you.
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