Blog Posts: July 2011

"Will Work for Art" takes you behind the scenes to meet the people who make the Fine Arts Museums work. This week we take you into the whimsical world of the Flower Committee, where we meet artist Ann Hedges. Originally from New York City, Ann has been volunteering with the Museums for fifteen years.

For the past six weeks, we have followed the progress of Balcomb Greene's Six-Sided Planes through the museum on its way to exhibition. We began tracking the painting's journey when it first entered the Fine Arts Museums via the registration department. It then went on to paintings conservation for a makeover before heading on to the Board of Trustees for final approval. Next it re-entered the registration department for final acquisition, after which it was photographed for record-keeping purposes. And last week, we learned about the work's art historical context and significance from the American art department's curatorial perspective. Now, after all the research, preparation, and planning, Six-Sided Planes is finally on display in Wilsey Court!

Art technician Paul Tavian wheels the painting through Wilsey Court.

Every Friday Night at the de Young is an adventure! Each week, the intrepid Public Programs team puts together an evening to remember, and no one Friday Night is alike. It is huge undertaking that requires the careful orchestration of many moving parts. Navigating an endless array of logistics, including a sea of chairs, flyers, AV equipment, and feather boas (yes, boas), the Friday Nights team seamlessly works together to present museumgoers with an experience they'll never forget! We thought you'd be interested to see what goes on behind the scenes of what has become a weekly institution in San Francisco's nightlife.

3:00 p.m.

Supplies for the night's events are laid out on the 7th floor of the tower, including a detailed description of the night's many events.

For the past three years the education departments of the Asian Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have met to explore how collaborative programming can better support Bay Area teachers. Last week, building on this objective, the museums jointly hosted a four-day institute for high school teachers that focused on the theme of Discovering Connections.

FRAME|WORK is a weekly blog series that highlights an artwork in the Museums' permanent collections. This week, we feature a fabulous ballgown designed by fashion icon Christian Dior. This garment is currently not on display, so we offer you this exclusive online viewing!

“One must always draw, draw with the eyes, when one cannot draw with a pencil. “—Balthus

The Drawn to Drawing week of summer camp at the de Young was very exciting! Read on to learn about the master artists’ experience (8–9 year olds).

Drawn to Drawing introduced the young artists to new materials, new ways of defining what a drawing is and new ways of looking at the museum’s collection.

The artists were captivated by different materials and tools. Each artist had a sketchbook, which over time with new additions and explorations, told a story about their art making experience during the week.

On July 8, visitors who attended Friday Nights at the de Young had the chance to experience the Artist Fellows Showcase, which featured contributions from the first class of Artist Fellows: Campo Santo, Kevin Epps and Todd T. Brown. The Koret Auditorium was transformed into a dynamic space of interdisciplinary exploration and expression with three pieces that brought you into a hip-hop theater collective, onto the streets of Oakland and into the sights and sounds of Africa and South Asia.

"Will Work for Art" takes you behind the scenes to meet the people who make the Fine Arts Museums work. This week we take you into the curatorial department at the Legion of Honor to meet Jim Ganz, curator of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts. Originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, Jim has been with the Museums for three years and one month (but who's counting, anyway?).

Now that the Board of Trustees has approved the purchase of Balcomb Greene's Six-Sided Planes and it has been permanently accessioned into the Museums' collection, the next step is to make identification photography of the artwork. This photo will be used for internal recordkeeping on the collections management database and the website.

Art technicians Osvaldo Ruiz and Mark Grim prepare the painting for transportation to the photo studio. For safety, two people handle artworks at all times.

After Six-Sided Planes received its makeover in the paintings conservation lab, it was transported to the Legion of Honor for review during the full Board meeting (there are several sub-committee Board meetings that take place throughout the year).