University of Utah Museum of the Arts

Event Critique—Art

1.      Which museum did you visit?

University of Utah Museum of Fine Arts

2.      In 150 words, describe at least one of the broad collections on a theme, period, geographic region, or topic within the museum.

The whole upper floor of the museum was based on different geographic regions like Egyptian, Native American, Pacific Island, Asian, European, American West, and many more different cultures. The Asian area consisted of many stone statues of Buddha and many other symbolic creatures. This area reminded me of the movie “The King and I”. Many things were in gold and symbolized peace, strength and power. One of the main Buddha statues had him with a raised left hand to symbolize peace and protection. There was also a stone carved depiction of a wedding that took place in Asia. On a poster underneath the artwork, it described who the actual people were and also some of the symbols hidden in the stone. Egyptian area was also very interesting. As you would expect, in the middle of the floor there was a mummy tomb. But the most I benefitted from this portion of the museum was on the other side of the wall. It explained and had examples of all the things they do to the body to mummify it, and get rid of our insides. I did not know that they took out the major organs of the body and put them in bottles for safe keeping in the tomb. I spent a lot of time reading about how it is all done. 

3.      Give a brief, one paragraph (100 words) description of a special exhibit (ask the curator what these are; they are usually in one of the first rooms).

The special exhibit displayed at this time is called “At Work” which consists of Prints form the Great Depression. The main theme of this display was to display individuals doing all they can during the terrible time in history that they were in.  They display lives from farmers to those building the frame of a building. Every person in the paintings were working very hard to make a living.  Every person played their part and were always “at work.” They would do anything for a small bit of money. It is incredible what jobs were done at this time. Many were very dangerous and killed many people but it was a job. I enjoyed envisioning the people that actually went through this time period, starting with my Grandmother. I remember her telling us her own stories and not really knowing how hard it really was to live at that time.

4.      What kind of information is provided about the words? Tell me three places you might find more detailed information that doesn’t include the web {hint: ask a curator for help with this question}

What helped me the most in the museum to find out more information was the plaques they have next the pictures, or about the whole general area of artwork that link together. They also provide learning that you can hear on your own phone if you would like to. All it said to do was to call the number on the plaque and there would be a recording on the other end of the line that told you about the piece of art you are looking at. They have brochures that you could grab off of the side of the wall that also have information about the exhibit as well. I don’t think it is possible for someone looking through the museum to be completely confused on any piece of art because of the much recourses that are given to you.

5.      Choose several works that particularly appealed to you. Explain why you were drawn to these works. Comment on the subject, style, medium, time period, etc. Who were the artists? This question must be answered in its entirety. (This should be at least 500 words.)

I thought it was cool to be able to experience all of the different, marvelous, fantastic, intricate works of art. They must have taken a long time to collect and preserve. One of the first things that became one of my favorites was done Deborah Butterfield, who called it “Rex”. This contemporary, life size structure of a horse was made out of cast bronze that looked like wooden sticks. It was very impressive and I didn’t understand how it stayed upward. It looked very graceful and poised. On the plaque it explains that it is “a dressage horse, capable of the graceful, rhythmic movements of controlled, formal exercises.” It has a very fragile appearance. And I love the emotions that it was meant to portray.

Next I really enjoyed one that was a part of the same collection as the horse. The message of this one was to show the trustworthiness of shipping companies. Sounds like a weird thing to make an art piece about but it was one of my favorites. The Artist shipped glass boxes that were about the same size as the FedEx box to himself. All of the boxes were labeled as fragile. Every glass box was cracked and broken upon arrival. He set the glass and FedEx cardboard boxes next to each other in a neat design and it turned out to be a great piece of art and humor. I’m sure that many people relate to this piece of art because of their experiences with shipping fragile things.

I like how artists can do things that people have never thought of doing before. I think that is what makes them most successful. But not everyone can do that so it is very impressive to see something new. There was one piece of art that was done with strips of tires. They placed the strips in unique positions to create what looked like whirled up ball of black material.

Lastly, I loved the feel of the area with the European items of history. I have always loved looking at old vintage furniture, frames and portraits. One of my favorite movies is Pride and Prejudice. It is one that I really enjoy! I felt as though I was in that time period when I walked through that part of the museum. This was a very large section as well, so I enjoyed checking out every vintage chair, candlestick, table, and clock. It made me feel like I was placed in my favorite movie. There is a part of the movie where the main character is walking through a very expensive “museum-like” house that is filled with artifacts, statues, paintings, and expensive furnishings. I felt like that character and envisioned the movie as I slowly walked through. The only thing that was missing was the piano music in the background. I took time to look at the things I am interested in. I think I spent most of my time looking at this exhibit, just because I like to analyze the furniture and the unique rips and tears in each one.

6.      How did the artworks you looked at relate to material we have discussed in class? {they do relate in many ways, you just need to look for those relationships} Minimum of 150 words.

I thought it was very exciting to know about one of the artists because of how we talked about him in class. Thomas Cole’s painting that was titled “Pastoral Landscape with Fisherman” was in the Museum. While I was walking around, I decided to start read the names of the authors and ironically the first one I had read. I was really excited that I knew all about him, his background and purpose. I looked around and I was in the area of the museum titled “American West”. It then made perfect sense why he was in that portion. I then looked around to see if I recognized any other names or art pieces that had the same style of work. There was another piece of art painted by Thomas Doughty called “Along the Hudson”. Although I didn’t recognize the name of the painter, I did predict that this person was also a part of the Hudson River School group of painters.

7.      What was your personal reaction to this experience? Would you enjoy attending this type of event again? Why or why not? {Minimum 100 words}

I really enjoyed going to this museum. My experience may have been different than a lot of the other students because I went by myself. The museum was very quiet and it felt as if the security guys and I were the only ones wandering through the place. I did enjoy the silence. I really felt like I could take my time. I had plenty of time to kill and wasn’t rushed the museum at all. I also took my digital camera and took some shots of artwork that I thought was interesting or wanted to show to my family. I would enjoy attending an art museum more often because of the way it helped me relax and ponder without a time limit.