作者:Jonah Grinkewitz
的 巴里艺术博物馆 at bet8体育娱乐入口 has appointed Sara 伍德伯里 as its first permanent curator.
伍德伯里, who has served as the Barry’s guest curator since 2020, has more than a decade of experience, including stops at the Roswell Museum in New Mexico, the Shelburne Museum in Vermont and the Dallas Museum of Art, 等.
她毕业于Lake Forest College的艺术史学士学位, Illinois and earned her master’s from Williams College in Williamstown, 麻萨诸塞州. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in American studies at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
ODU网站登录采访了伍德伯里，了解了更多关于她的背景以及她将为这个新职位带来什么.
ODU网站登录: You have a diverse background working in different museums and curatorial positions. 你认为这段经历将如何影响你作为巴里艺术博物馆馆长的角色?
莎拉伍德伯里: 也许最直接的方式告诉我在这里的经验是，这个系列本身是折衷的. In terms of media, you have dolls, glass, paintings and sculptures. It’s a lot of different material spanning about two centuries. Although I haven’t worked with a lot of it directly, 不断适应不同地方的新系列的经历使我能够胜任这个职位. I’m very comfortable with learning new materials, subject matter and artists. 的 most important skill that I have isn’t so much my expertise in any one field, it’s my versatility and willingness to learn new things.
ODU网站登录: What is your personal philosophy and approach to curating an exhibition?
SW: Two things have always interested me since I started in the field around 2010. One is the connections between different artists and artworks, whether it’s 分享d geography, 关系或媒介. 的 other is finding the lesser-known gems within a museum collection. Everybody knows the greatest hits in a particular museum, 但很多藏品都有很少能见到天日的作品，因为它们是纸上的脆弱作品，或者不是著名艺术家的作品. I would say those interests still fuel me, but what’s changed within the last three years or so is my emphasis on collaboration. 学术界正在进行的清算让我非常清楚，我不可能知道一切. I don’t know all the stories and I don’t have all the perspectives, 但这不是缺点——这是一个机会，可以让我接触到那些能以比我更好的方式讲述这些故事的人.
ODU网站登录: Looking at the 巴里艺术博物馆’s collection, 真正让你兴奋的是什么?你如何看待与社区分享这些故事的责任?
SW: What excites me the most are the conversations between the different materials. 的 paintings and the glass actually talk to one another really well. 的 Barrys collected pieces with those kinds of dialogues in mind. 但这些娃娃是博物馆里最广泛的藏品之一，它们在自己的画廊里生活. 我真正感兴趣的一件事是让这些物品与收藏中的其他物品进行对话，无论是通过强调创造它们的艺术过程，还是深入研究一些社会历史问题，如经济和商业.
In terms of ensuring representation, 我真的很感谢我们为每个节目组建的委员会，因为这带来了来自不同领域的教职员工和社区成员，他们提出了我可能没有想到的问题. 这带来了丰富叙述的观点，为我提供了专业知识方面的资源，或者作为参谋.
的 most important skill that I have isn’t so much my expertise in any one field, it’s my versatility and willingness to learn new things.
ODU网站登录: You served as guest curator at the Barry for about four years before this. What are some of your favorite shows that you’ve worked on so far?
SW: 这是一个很难回答的问题，因为我最喜欢的节目往往是我当时正在制作的节目. 这并不是我所独有的, but as soon as an exhibition goes up, you’re already thinking about the next project. Each one has had different facets that I’ve enjoyed about it. “运动/情感”很有趣，因为我有机会与STEM教师进行更深入的交谈，否则我可能无法与之合作. “Rhonda Holy Bear” was a powerful experience. She is a Lakota doll maker and does exquisite work. 对我来说, the most important part was making sure that her voice was the primary curatorial one, so I saw myself very much as a facilitator rather than the curator.
我很喜欢玩偶展，因为我不是一个喜欢玩偶的人——我更像是一个喜欢毛绒玩具的孩子——但参与这些节目让我从更大的社会历史角度来思考它们，比如商业和商业, especially with the women entrepreneurs. 它鼓励我思考学生如何使用这些收藏，以及什么会吸引他们. Maybe they’re not as interested in the details of the doll construction, 但他们正在写一篇关于性别研究的论文，或者写一篇关于艺术史的经济学论文，这些物品可以说明这一点.
ODU网站登录: That’s a great lead-in to my next question, 你打算如何通过博物馆的藏品来吸引学生和社区?
SW: 当我适应了这个角色后，我想做的一件事是更直接地与教师合作，学习他们在课堂上教的东西，这样我们就可以为他们和他们的学生服务. 他们在做什么样的作业或研究项目，我们的收藏如何支持他们? Another way is to work with our fantastic gallery guides from a curatorial angle. When I was starting out doing internships, 有机会为我自己的节目工作是一次非凡的经历，这对我的职业生涯真的很有帮助, so I’d love to pay that forward. 就社区而言, certainly the advisory committees are important, but also getting involved with the community itself, going to different organizations and vendors to see what they’re interested in.
ODU网站登录: You’ll be the first permanent curator for the 巴里艺术博物馆. 这对你有什么影响?你认为领导策展有什么机会?
SW: 的 Barry is a young institution. Most of the museums I’ve worked at were at least 70 years old. That means that they have an institutional history with their own traditions, 包袱——不管你怎么称呼它——不管你是在颠覆它还是拥抱它, you still have to acknowledge that legacy. 知道巴瑞酒店开业才五年而且正处在扩张的风口浪尖, the museum is in a state of growth that I haven’t encountered before. But it’s also an exciting time because the museum field itself is always changing. 我知道一种常见的批评是，博物馆是一个古板的机构，不愿改变——是的, I agree to an extent – but they can and do change over time. 这意味着策展人的角色已经发生了变化，当你可以重新思考策展人的工作时，进入这个领域是令人兴奋的. Especially since I’ve spent the past three years writing a dissertation that looks at the history of museum operations; I’ve had plenty of time to think about it in the abstract. This institution is a great place to start that process.
ODU网站登录: 是什么让你对艺术如此着迷?
SW: On a selfish level, art excites me because I make it myself. Before I got into art history, I grew up drawing and painting. Beyond that, art interests me for its connections to society at large. 作为一名艺术史学家, I love seeing the connections that develop between different geographic regions, 不同的个体, 更广泛的社会焦虑，以及艺术如何表达或不表达这些焦虑. Art is vital to our mental health, 我们的自我意识和在世界上寻找自己的方式，无论你是想发表一个重大的政治声明，还是只是在桌上画出你看到的东西.
ODU网站登录: Any final thoughts on your new role and the future of the 巴里艺术博物馆?
SW: I’m excited to be here and I want to see this museum be a resource for students, 所以我愿意为他们服务. Whether they’re working on a project, 他们需要一个学习空间，或者他们想进入博物馆领域，把巴里作为一个重新想象策展工作的地方, 我们是为他们而来的.