In a significant policy shift, the Seattle Art Museum has agreed to let visitors take pictures of the art in the galleries. There are a few trifling limitations, which Nicole Chism Griffin explains on the museum’s blog, called Soap. In a story I wrote late in 2008, Seattle Art Museum’s Search for Youth, this shift was part of my number one recommendation.
1. Lighten up:
Let people take notes using a pen. Major museums in New York have no problem with pen users, but in Seattle the guards say no.
Let people take photos in the galleries. There might be outdated and tiresome copyright issues for contemporary art, but surely the work in SAM’s own collections can be photographed. Why is it OK to photograph anything at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and off limits at SAM?
Let people sketch the art using pencils, crayons, oils, watercolors, wired sketchpads or ashes and spit, like James Castle drawing in his room. Worried about safety concerns? That’s what guards are for.
Last year at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, I saw a woman in her early 20s snap a photo of a wood-carved Buddha on her cell phone. A guard rushed over to chastise her for breaking the museum’s rules. He forced her to delete the picture while he stood over her to check. His voice was loud, and her posture was one of humiliation. I can’t be sure, but I’m willing to wager she has not become a museum regular. (more)
This is great. Can we send a fleet of art-bombers over there?
YAY!!