Description

Project:
The Center for Art in Wood seeks to share its permanent collection more widely through a touring exhibition. In preliminary discussions with the organization, it was determined that a permanent-collection project would be the best fit for the Foundation’s American Art Program. The Center’s director raised the possibility of an exhibition, given that the collection is so little known and there are audiences for this material at museums with like or related collections. The curator of the exhibition comes from one of them, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, WI.  The project staff has made a selection of 74  highly varied objects representative of the range of craft and sculpture that constitutes the collection overall. Significantly more than half of the material was produced by US artists. They hope to maximize their efforts by securing 5 to 8 venues. Two are firmly committed, and others are reserved. The exhibition opens at the Woodson this month. The grant would be used to provide budget relief for the expenses of the subsequent tour, thus allowing The Center to lower the fee charged to the venue institutions and as a result attract institutions that might not have been able to consider hosting the exhibition.
Rationale for Funding:
The Foundation’s American Art Program considers support for the study and sharing of permanent collections to be among its highest priorities in the categories of Responsive and Special Grants. While it has long focused on this work in the context of large institutions with well-known collections of American fine arts, numerous and significant opportunities to assist smaller organizations with less widely-recognized collections remain, particularly in the fields of decorative arts, studio crafts, and design.  The Center has a unique and compelling mission and collection, and they have not yet attempted to share it beyond their immediate Philadelphia audience. The fact that they have already traveled other special exhibitions (not from permanent collection), and have an experienced registrar on staff, is evidence that they have the capacity to take on this project. The Center is to be commended for not expressly seeking to generate income through the tour. They are pursuing a mission to share their institutional commitment to collecting and showing significant art and craft in wood.