Art Bridges Foundation

Let's meet the stars of our next webinar, coming up on March 27! Introducing... (insert drum roll??) - Susanna Temkin, Ph.D., Senior Curator at El Museo del Barrio, who will preview artworks that are available through our Partner Loan Network - Dr. Karli Wurzelbacher, Ph.D., Chief Curator at The Heckscher Museum of Art, who will dive into our very first exhibition of works by Emma Stebbins. You’ll also get a sneak peek at new acquisitions to the Art Bridges Collection from our Associate Curator?Javier Rivero Ramos, Ph.D., before?Brittany Vernon, MBA—Director of Engagement, Awards, and Impact—shares how your museum can drive community impact with Learning & Engagement support. Last but certainly not least, our wonderful host, Director of Partnerships Rashida Phillips, returns to guide the discussion. Will you be joining us? RSVP at the link below: https://lnkd.in/guXSqpwz

Did you know? Every Sunday at CMA is #FreeSundays thanks to the generous support of the Art Bridges Foundation Access for All program. #FreeSundays means free general admission for all visitors, regardless of age or address. Grab a friend, bring your family, or enjoy a solo visit and explore our newest exhibitions "Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu" and "Louise Nevelson: Dawn to Dusk."

Relevance requires trust, and we love this exciting example of a museum trusting the public enough to be its partner in the way it exhibits art. Congratulations to Masha Turchinsky and Hudson River Museum for a creative use of support from Art Bridges Foundation and art shared by the Joslyn Art Museum. You don't need a survey to know that the public would appreciate more ways to see museums listen to them AND respond in real time.

The HRM is proud to announce it has been selected as a winner of Museum Association of New York 2025 Award of Distinction! The HRM is one of 14 museums and museum professionals across New York State honored this year. The Museum was recognized for its Free First Fridays initiative in the Engaging Communities category, which celebrates organizations that use exceptional and resourceful methods to engage their communities and build new audiences. #HRMFreeFirstFridays is made possible with generous support from Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program. Anne Kraybill, CEO, Art Bridges stated: "We are thrilled to celebrate the Hudson River Museum’s Award of Distinction from the Museum Association of New York for its Free First Fridays programming. We are honored to support this program through our Access for All initiative, which aims to increase access to museums across America and foster engagement with local audiences. The success of Free First Fridays, and acknowledgement from Museum Association of New York, demonstrates how impactful programs like this one successfully break down barriers to access quality art.” Read more at hrm.org/press Art Bridges Foundation #MANY #MuseumAssociationofNewYork #AccessForAll Images: Images: Left: Free First Fridays: Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, photo by Jason Green. Right: Free First Fridays: Free First Fridays: Salsa Night with DJ Antonio, photo by Kathryn Jagelka.

Thanks to Art Bridges Foundation for highlighting this fun interactive experience in conjunction with our exhibition "Order/Reorder: Experiments with Collections." Visitors were invited to arrange reproductions of artworks to tell their own visual story - grouping works according to subject matter, style, color, shape, pattern, design, aesthetic, or whatever came to mind! #HRMOrderReorder

Evaluation doesn’t have to be complicated. We love how our partner, the Hudson River Museum (HRM), used a programmatic approach to gather visitor feedback after reinstalling a selection of artworks, including several on loan from the Joslyn Art Museum through our Partner?Loan Network. Spoiler alert... this story does not involve a survey! HRM opened “Order / Reorder: Experiments with Collections,”?an exhibition co-curated by Laura Vookles and Bentley Brown, in June 2022. Throughout its run, which ended in the fall of 2023, the museum provided a magnetized reproduction of each artwork in its lobby alongside a prompt that encouraged visitors to curate another version of the show, organizing the works in a way that told their own visual story. After a few rounds of voting, HRM chose the most popular arrangement and reinstalled the works in its gallery to match.?? We always encourage our partners to think beyond the sometimes-overused survey and incorporate fun techniques, such as this, into their plans to determine how the public engages with artworks and how to improve upon future Learning & Engagement efforts. Have you ever participated in an interactive activity like this at a museum? If so, tell us about your experience in the comments! Photo by Steven Paneccasio.

Are you passionate about sharing the transformative power of art with others? Join our Learning & Engagement team and help our partner museums create interdisciplinary programming that engages audiences and connects communities everywhere! Visit the link below to learn more and apply: https://bit.ly/3F0v2VQ

"Louise Nevelson: Dawn to Dusk" opens March 7th! “Dawn to Dusk” traces the full arc of Nevelson’s career, showcasing over 50 works—from early figurative paintings, drawings, and sculptures to her signature wood assemblages, collages, and handcrafted jewelry. Originally organized by the Farnsworth Art Museum this exhibition offers a deep dive into her groundbreaking vision, enduring impact on modern sculpture, and lasting connection to Columbus. Learn more and plan your visit: https://lnkd.in/gDsVGYQ2 Art Bridges Foundation

Where Are They Now, you ask? Well, we would love to tell you! In this series, we highlight partner museums who have continued or expanded upon art sharing and community engagement opportunities that began as a project with our team. Today, let's take a trip to Idaho! ? In July of 2021, Boise Art Museum became the first venue to present “Many Wests: Artists Shape an America Idea,” a national touring exhibition created by the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s American West Consortium as part of our Cohort Program. The exhibition examines?a broader, more inclusive view of the American West through the perspectives of 48 modern and contemporary artists. ? In preparing for its opening, Boise Art Museum worked with our Learning & Engagement team to pilot new affordances that would enrich the experience for all visitors. With a commitment to accessibility and inclusion, the museum developed tactile 3D representations of artworks, large-print copies of wall labels, audio and text transcripts, Braille overlays, and an audio guide of visual descriptions and artist commentary. ? Fast forward to today, and Boise Art Museum has integrated many of these affordances into its exhibition slate and permanent gallery spaces to be more inclusive of people with disabilities and welcome the widest possible audience. Visit our website to learn how we can support offerings like this at your museum! Photo Credits: Wendy Red Star, "Four Seasons series: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer," 2006, archival pigment print, edition 27, 23 x 26 in. each, Boise Art Museum Permanent Collection. Tactile reproduction created by Mallory Lind. Marita Dingus, "Untitled Bowl," c. 2005, wire and found objects, 7 1/2 x 8 x 8 in. Boise Art Museum Permanent Collection. Tactile reproduction created by Mallory Lind. Photos courtesy of Boise Art Museum.

This week's Black History Month spotlight is Margaret Burrough's 'Black Venus.' Burroughs was an American visionary artist, educator, and writer. She helped establish the DuSable Museum of African American History and the South Side Community Arts Center in Chicago. ??? 'Black Venus' will be on view in the exhibition 'Define Yourself!,' now open at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Mosely Gallery. Inspired by James Baldwin’s book, The Fire Next Time (1963), the exhibition title comes from Baldwin’s warning to the Black community: those who do not define themselves are at risk of being defined by others. ? This exhibition is part of a cohort program supported by the Art Bridges Foundation. The next iteration of 'Define Yourself!' will open at Elizabeth City State University in the fall of 2025. For more details about this exhibition, visit https://lnkd.in/euPzi5vH #ChryslerMuseum #BlackHistoryMonth