Through the Eyes of Others Travelling Show Preparations

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

With the current exhibits in place for the remainder of the calendar year, the curatorial department at FAM is keeping busy behind the scenes getting travelling shows ready for the road. On August 28th our first travelling show, Through the Eyes of Others: African Americans and Identity in American Art, is being shipped from FAM to New York State Museum in Albany where it will be on exhibit from September 8, 2009 - January 6, 2010.

With the time for packing and shipping the show so close at hand, we find ourselves scrambling to make sure every detail has been accounted for. It really is an exciting yet anxious time yet I must confess that it feels good be part of an exhibition that will (hopefully) touch the lives of hundreds of museum visitors, and to know that each of us contributed our own personal skills and talents to making it all happen.

As you may recall from my previous blog, every loan incoming or outgoing must have condition reports done, insurance coverage in place, and packing and shipping scheduled. For this particular show there are 46 pieces of art (ranging from paintings and drawings to sculpture and historical documents) that have to make it from FAM to NYSM on time and without incident. This is just the kind of thing that keeps us up at night! A professional art handling company arrived on August 18th to start packing the objects, some of which are large and very fragile. We will be keeping our fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly… and that our measurements were correct! I must say that it is quite a sight to see when everything is all packed in brand new crates ready to be loaded on a tractor trailer (the crates will never be this perfect and clean again!), and even more so when the truck is packed like a intricate puzzle.
If you have the opportunity, you should definitely visit NYSM to experience this exhibition. It truly is an inspirational and visually rich show and we would love for you to see in person all of the hard work and dedication that went into its creation. And of course we welcome comments letting us know what you thought!

Through the Eyes of Kyra

By: John Buchinger, Associate Director of Education
There are days when you get things right. November seventh at The Fenimore Art Museum was one of those days. Roughly 150 eleventh graders made the pilgrimage from Yonker’s New York Public schools to attend a very special day in Cooperstown featuring tours of the exhibit Through the Eyes of Others, curator by Gretchen Sullivan Sorin, and to hear from one of the shows artist Kyra Hicks.
I had the good fortune to play tour guide and roadie to Kyra while she was here. She is a dynamic woman whose history is as fascinating as the brightly colored quilts that bear pivotal moments, emotions and stories from her own life. Her appearance at the Fenimore was made possible by a grant from IMLS and the students travel and attendance were all supported through the grant.
Kyra spoke to the students not just about quilting but about life. She made connections with students, by asking questions, getting their interpretations on her quilts, and teaching them that if they have a dream that they should go for it!
Kyra is a marketer by trade and a world traveler who was accustomed to bringing the messages of major corporations to people. But in the 1990s, after viewing a quilt show that featured the likes of Faith Ringgold, she had discovered her passion: story quilts.

The quilts which all are queen size are a combination of images and words that come from Kyra's "soul." The exhibition, Through the Eyes... deals with the topic of African American identity in art and Kyra’s work are brightly colored vivid representations of her politics, personal longings, and social observations. Her Black Barbie Quilt which features and image of an African American woman dressed in classic Barbie swimsuit and sunglasses reads Barbie: America's Doll…Was never intended for me.

The message is clear and succinct. It is provocative, but the image is celebratory despite the thought provoking controversy of the text. Students both male and female were riveted by the artist and her work.

Kyra shared with me that her favorite part of the day was when a group of young men who had clearly sequestered themselves in the back of the auditorium noticed and asked “Why are there no men in your quilts?”

This was an aha moment not only for the students realizing that the absence was a telling side of the quilts message, but that message Kyra had to process as well.

Rarely does anyone have the opportunity to engage with not only art, but an artist in this way. We owe a great thanks to Kyra and the students from Yonkers!