With safe travel starting to become possible again, and folks thinking about engaging together in culture, art, and history to gain hope after a worldwide pandemic, it perhaps seems natural that people might seek out special beauty in the places they choose to visit. I …
Though it might seem paradoxical to expect blind and low-vision visitors to enjoy a visit to an art museum—after all, the contents of art museums are often called the visual arts—museums have a long and rich history of proving that this is absolutely not the …
The Smithsonian Institution felt the same pains that museums around the world experienced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its global shut downs —massive economic loss, sweeping reductions in staff, and an intense burnout as they, and museum professionals across the globe, struggled to adapt to a “new normal.” Fortunately, it appears that we are finally seeing the other side of this pandemic, and the Smithsonian has joined the likes of many others in reopening its doors to the public.
This era in the Smithsonian’s narrative will also be marked by none other than Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon and soon-to-be astronaut. Just days before his historic voyage to space through his rocket company Blue Origin, Bezos made a personal $200 million donation to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, the largest philanthropic donation to the institution since its founding in 1846. The gift will help complete ongoing renovations at the museum, but the majority will go towards the development of a new education center that encourages learning and exploration in STEAM fields.
The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is also in the midst of historic change. In 2019, artist Hiroshi Sugimoto’s proposed re-design for the Hirshhorn’s sculpture garden was approved, but not without major backlash. Sugimoto’s design drew heavily from Japanese culture and many felt that this detracted from the original concepts of museum architect Gordon Bunshaft and landscape architect Lester Collins. Though Bunshaft and Collins also used Japanese architecture as in inspiration for their work, the Hirshhorn has a largely Modernist aesthetic, and opposers of Sugimoto’s concept feared that his re-design would clash with this existing aesthetic. Some even called for Collins’s work on the sculpture garden to be included on the National Register of Historic Places. Ultimately, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts has voted to approve Sugimoto’s design, and this change will hopefully bring a new sense of design unity to the Hirshhorn and its sculpture garden.
Since it’s founding, the Smithsonian Institution has had an incredible story of creation and change, and it is promising to see the institution continue to follow this narrative even in the wake of a global pandemic.
At thirteen, I picked up David McCullough’s hefty volume on John Adams and the course of my life changed. A special fascination with early American and United States history was formed in my heart that would, eventually, inspire my decision to pursue History and Museum …
Though the holiday weekend is over and most of us have headed back to work, museums around the country have put out plenty of content to keep the Fourth of July celebration going! From blog posts to videos to at-home activities and beyond, check out …
My daily commute to work is a sacred time of reflection, an opportunity for me to walk through urbanized areas before the rest of the world has gotten out of bed. I often find myself, during this time, staring up at the towering apartments and office spaces and I imagine what will occur behind those window panes today: a 9:00am office meeting, a student Zooming into class, a family gathering for breakfast – these small everyday details that seem to get drowned out in the larger shouts of political turmoil, climate change, and social injustices.
Ferenc Mere shared this interest in everyday life. An incredibly skilled taxidermist in the 19th and 20th centuries, Ferenc Mere was most famous for “Froggyland”, a museum featuring Mere’s 507 stuffed frogs displayed in everyday situations – human situations, that is. Mere spent an entire decade collecting and stuffing Rana esculenta, the common European frog also known as the “edible frog”, but his decision to create exhibits based on human life using these frogs did not come until much later at the start of the 20th century when taxidermy became increasingly popular. These exhibits feature displays ranging from a frog dinner party (complete with frogs smoking cigarettes around the table) to a school group of frogs taking notes behind a desk.
Though Froggyland is based in Split, Croatia, the mobile museum has gained international recognition, boasting more visitors than the nearby “Game of Thrones” museum. Ivan Medvesek, the owner of Froggyland, hopes to get his circus of frog people to the U.S. and says that it is mostly the Americans and British who love Froggyland. Is American emphasis on work and careers the underlying root of our fascination with Froggyland? Mere’s introspective look at human lives seems to suggest this, almost turning our daily routines and habits into a caricature through his frogs. This subliminal messaging is intriguing, but not without its controversy. Many have chastised Froggyland and Mere himself for his display of animal cruelty, others uncomfortable with the use of dead frogs to mirror human life. Despite the reactions, Froggyland is consistent in its ability to leave visitors discussing Mere’s work and reflecting on their own humanity well beyond their visit. For me, Froggyland is a comfort – a way to compartmentalize trivial, everyday habits. In the face of larger, global problems, Froggyland is a strange and unique sanctuary that offers this comfort and space for self-reflection.
To learn more about Froggyland, visit their website here: https://froggyland.net/