Staff Favorites

This week we started taking down RAiR at 50 in preparation for our big summer exhibition, Magical and Real, currently on view in Doylestown. That show opens on June 15, but in the meantime we wanted to have something on view for visitors while we're prepping the galleries. The solution? Staff Favorites, a collaborative mini-exhibition on view now in Spring River Gallery.

This isn't the first time I've co-curated an exhibition with my coworkers. Last year a group of us put together Collecting Roswell, a show that explored some of the major donors behind our permanent collection. By having my co-workers curate a part of the collection that really interested them, we got an exhibition that was more thorough and dynamic that what I might have done on my own.

Collecting Roswell was on view in 2017.

When I was putting together the idea for Staff Favorites, then, I used a similar concept: let your coworkers choose what they want to talk about, and you'll get a more interesting result. I asked seven of my coworkers to select their favorites works from the collection, and complete a short write-up explaining why. I also had each co-curator describe their position at the Museum in 2-3 sentences, so that visitors can learn about all the different jobs needed to make this institution run efficiently.

Since this exhibition is only on view for a few weeks, I decided to take a fun, informal approach to the show. I left it up to my coworkers to decide not only what to exhibit, but also how to write about it. Some folks picked works that have an interesting history. Others picked their works for aesthetic reasons, or personal ones. I also let each co-curator decide how to best express their thoughts about their works, with responses ranging from thoroughly-researched essays to poetry. As a result, viewers will get to hear a variety of curatorial voices, as well as learn about some of the different jobs that we all do here.

Let's take a closer look at these voices:

Amberly Meli, Registrar, picked out paintings with a strong narrative quality, as she enjoys teasing out stories from works of art.

Lia Nickson, Daphne and Apollo, 1958, oil on panel.

Loyce Easley, Saturday Night, 1978, oil on linen

Brandon Strange, Preparator, loves the Aston Collection of the American West and majored in history, so he selected objects from that collection that have shaped or influenced the course of military history.

Springfield Arms Company, Rifle Carbine, 1882-1883, wood, iron, steel

Maker unknown, Spanish, Cabasset Helmet, 16ht-17th centuries, iron, brass.

Caroline Brooks, Executive Director, selected two unusual works by Taos artist Dorothy Brett because she admires her as a woman artist and wanted to showcase some lesser-known gems from the collection.

Spud Johnson, The Laughing Horse, No. 15 and 16, ca. 1920s

Dorothy Brett, Fish (Christmas '43), mixed media.

Amanda Nicholson, Curator of Education, picked out this work by Doris Cross because she likes her use of altered texts, a practice she uses in her own art.

Doris Cross, Embassador, 1989, ink on photostat.

Barbara Posuniak, Store Manager, is a practicing artist who appreciates the sophisticated abstraction of these works by B.J.O. Nordfeldt and Louise Ganthiers.

B.J.O. Nordfeldt, Geophysical Forms, 1954, oil on linen.

Louise Ganthiers, Abstract Landscape, n.d., oil on canvas.

Jeremy Howe, Planetarium Coordinator, liked this portrait of Robert H. Goddard because of its affinity with Magic Realism, and this Robert D. Ray landscape for its brilliant, jewel-like color.

Ephrem S. Melik, Robert H. Goddard, 1968, oil on canvas.

Robert D. Ray, Taos Sunset-Tres Orejas Mountain, 2001, waxed, varnished watercolor, encaustic on paper.

Candace Jordan, our recently-retired Librarian and Archivist, has always experienced a poetic affinity for these two paintings by Gussie DuJardin and Elmer Schooley, and penned her own verse responses.

Gussie DuJardin, Crustose Lichen on Pink Granite X20, 1976, acrylic on linen.

Elmer Schooley, Between Here and Santa Fe, n.d., oil on canvas.

As for me, I picked out these works by Howard Cook and Gustave Baumann because I liked the visual qualities distinctive to each piece.

Howard Cook, Waterfall, 1952, oil on canvas.

Gustave Baumann, The Pathfinder, 1954, wood, metal, polychrome.

I don't see myself as a curator for this show, but instead a facilitator. I organized a timeline for people to follow, but everybody contributed to this exhibition in terms of content. Beyond giving viewers something to look at for a few weeks, my objective for this installation is to showcase our talented staff. The Museum depends on these people, and we're lucky to have them.

Staff Favorites is only on view through June 3rd, so be sure to stop by if you're in the area.