The Philadelphia Museum of Art Term Paper

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Philadelphia Museum of Art is a spectacular place to view art through the ages with exhibitions changing ever couple of months. Whether in sculpture, photograph or painting, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has much to offer. The current exhibition holds art from various artists that show vibrant energy through fine depictions of people, landscapes, and abstract images. This essay is meant to show the quality of the pieces within the exhibits as well as a proposal to improve the layout and collections the Museum has.

PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART has several exhibits to offer. The first exhibit that was the most apparent was "The Wrath of the Gods: Masterpieces by Rubens, Michelangelo, and Titian" that will last on display until December 6, 2015. The Wrath of the Gods concentrates on the artist Peter Paul Ruben's most notable work, Prometheus Bound. That piece shows a singular vision of torment, pain, as well as creative struggle. It is considered by the Museum as one of the most prized works in their collection. Hence why the exhibit is features so prominently and one of the main things to see in the Museum.

The Museum pairs the artwork with various drawings, prints, and paintings that inspired it. Highlights from the exhibit include Titian's Tityus, the biggest nonreligious painting done on canvas of the Renaissance. Another noteworthy piece is Michelangelo's Tityus. These images make everything easier to analyze and allows viewers a better chance to delve into art history and famous painters' creative process.

Another exhibit ending in mid-November 2015 is the Inside Out exhibit. It features 60 high-quality copies of Museum masterpieces. Although a bit confusing and hard to see them all, it offers a look into the neighborhoods in and around the region. The replicas are literally put outside shops and other public buildings.

It is a lot of walking to say the least. Each neighborhood highlighted, features 10 selected artworks and provides those that come, variety with pieces being outdoors and displayed as signs and so forth. This was the most confusing and hard to spot exhibit that made it feel like the Museum was trying too hard to be unique. I would have simply brought in original artwork from regional artists into the Museum than to have replicas put on various stores and shops. It feels odd.

There was another exhibit "Northern Lights: Scandinavian Design" that was not very exciting because it felt like I was in a furniture store. The ceramics, metalwork, glass, textiles, and furniture in the exhibit were created in Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The Scandinavian theme is complete with lamps and several pieces like the "Egg" armchair on prominent display. Although the furniture felt weird within the gallery, I did enjoy the textiles. Had the simply put textiles and perhaps light fixtures lighting the textiles that came from Scandinavia that would have made things much more enjoyable. I could not take a closer look at most of the pieces because they were up off the floor and no one could reach it.

"Into Dust: Traces of the Fragile in Contemporary Art," which will be gone by the end of October, is an exhibition that features recent acquisitions as well as other modern works from the Museum's varied collection that confronts the delicate nature of the "human condition." Some examples include Gabriel Orozco, David Weis and Peter Fischli, and Alina Szapocznikow. I want to like this exhibit because the work is so transcendental, but when one goes into the entrance of the exhibit, there is this one long strand of lightbulbs cascading down onto a circle platform. This piece is called "Untitled" (Petiti Palais), is by American Felix Gonzalez, and feels off compared to the other artworks.

When one gets inside, it is very sparse with white walls and an electrical-wire sculpture that hands near Photosculptures, a portfolio by Alina Szapcoznikow that contains 20 black and white photographs. The brightness from the initial piece is in stark contrast to the darkness of the other pieces and feels disjointed. If the rest of the work is emotional and dark, why open with something bright and ethereal? The plaster molds (74) from human models titled Navels also feels oddly placed as all the pieces are put on a table. There two rocks in one room and it just feels like a waste of space. I would put all the pieces closer together in a fluid movement to convey emotion. Keeping them scattered and far apart creates disconnectedness.

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AMOR by Robert Indiana is another exhibit that honors Pope Francis and his visit to America. It is a monumental sculpture at six feet high and is located on the Museum's East Terrace. "Multitude, Solitude: The Photographs of Dave Heath" is one of my favorite exhibits of the Museum because it offers a comprehensive survey of the photographer Heath's deeply personal work done early in his career. The photographs are in black and white and show his pain as he experienced the foster care system and being abandoned by his parents. Vengeful Sister gives a brilliant look at a boy's pain as he deals with the discomforts of childhood.

I would not change anything in this exhibit. The photographs are beautiful and they work together to show one clear image, hardship with a little bits of joy in between. Another smaller exhibit is "Cy Twombly: Sculptures." Taking cues from the famous Dada movement, the sculptures take on a visual representation of ancient fights. It is an interesting collection that I would view again and not much would be changed.

In terms of programs, the Museum offers teacher programs, school tours, and programs and gives the option of arranging school visits online. They also offer distance learning and teacher resources. Programs for students are offered based on grade level from preschool, K-3, and 4-12. The preschool program offers picture book readings and exploration of art related to the books read. The classes are not free and people wanting their children to take the class will have to pay $90 per class.

The K-3 program offers collection tours that include discussions, small group work and worksheets. The 4-12 program does the same in respect to collection tours, but also gives introductory lessons where students learn to examine and discuss art. The lessons focus on an assortment of subjects. They include medieval art, arms and armor, African-American art, and art of the Renaissance.

The website is beautifully maintained with easy access to collections, exhibits and so forth. There are videos on some of the exhibition pages that show the various artwork. There are also slideshows. The website gives information on programs with easy to spot program fees. They include an "About Us" section and a "Join and Support" section that makes exploring the Museum that much easier.

The Museum offers a Donate Online section on the website so people can support the Museum. They also have an Annual Fund page where people can donate for the next year's work. They have sections for corporate giving and membership to further support the Museum and its endeavors. They offer pamphlets when one enters and provides information on donating to help the Museum acquire more works of art.

Part Two: Proposal

The Museum has several strengths, gut also weaknesses. In this section, I will provide a proposal that will help The Philadelphia Museum of Art increase donations and interest within the community. The first thing to point out is the concept of having outdoor art. While this seems like a unique and interesting idea, having artwork around the neighborhood is strange. People when they go to a Museum, they want to stay in the Museum and perhaps go out onto the property to view outdoor exhibits, but not actually venture out into the neighborhood. It takes the focus out of the Museum and into the community. While this is great for raising awareness about the surrounding community, it does nothing to highlight the Museum and its efforts.

If the Museum wants to truly do something unique and entertaining, but also help promote the museum, one suggestion is a flash mob. A Dutch Museum had resounding success with a flash mob strategy. "Rembrandt's masterpiece the 'Night Watch' returns to RijksMuseum, a Dutch national Museum in Amsterdam, after a decade of renovations. To mark the reopening, the Museum surprised visitors at a local shopping mall with a flash mob featuring real-life 17th century night watch" (Dailypicksandflicks.com, 2015). Flash mobs draw attention and entertain the audience watching. That is what gets people to come and keeps them coming. When they feel entertained and find a source of stress relief in what they view, they will be happy to keep coming back for more.

A tourism site offers insight in what makes a museum attractive to visitors and tourists. They highlight the need for museums to tell stories with the artwork they exhibit to make a connection with the visitor. "The essence of excellent interpretation.....

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