When the Bellevue Arts Museum shut its doors in 2003, the board said the museum had been hobbled by a tough economy, a difficult new building and a failure to find an audience. In 2005, it reopened with a focus on crafts.
Even in craft circles, plenty of people didn’t think it would work.
As Vicki Halper, Seattle crafts curator, put it at the time:
It didn’t work as an art museum. If it doesn’t work as a craft museum, maybe it can be a cat museum. (more)
Halper deftly summarized Seattle’s attitude toward its nearest neighbor, the shopping capitol of the region. Seattle does a lot of sneering at Bellevue, but the city’s only museum has earned respect. Not only is BAM still here despite the increasingly grim economy, it has racked up serious credit for a strong lineup and an intelligent commitment to artists in the region.
This summer, however, BAM drifted into abject amateur hour.
The Art of Discovery: The Northwest Art Collection of the Junior League of Seattle is a mess. There’s good local art here amid the forgettable, but the presentation is completely uncurated. As the admirable Ken Johnson recently observed in another context:
Art just isn’t the kind of thing that lends itself to no-budget, laissez-faire populism. You need a higher order of selectivity by and coordination among organizers to produce something that people in the art world are going to feel compelled to see and talk about. (more)
Arline Fisch: Creatures of the Deep is too cute for words. It isn’t art, and it isn’t craft. Maybe, following Halper’s prediction, it could pass muster as cat toys.
I have high hopes for BAM Biennial 2010: Clay Throwdown! It debuts Aug. 28 with an excellent lineup. Also promising is Ginny Ruffner: Aesthetic Engineering: The Imagination Cycle, opening Oct. 5.
With its current lineup, however, BAM is doing its best to confirm its detractors’ view. That view remains hearty because of the way BAM closed its doors in 2003. Clay Body had opened three days earlier, set for a three-month run. Its curator, Miriam Sternberg, lost her job in the shuffle, and the three artists featured – Claudia Fitch, Patti Warashina and Akio Takamori – did a lot of work for nothing. Seven years down the road, isn’t it time to give that exhibit the run it so richly deserves? Throw in a catalog this time, and bygones will be bygones.
Fitch:
Warashina:
Takamori:
Is it be-mean-to-museums day? First the Frye, now Bellevue. I think what we need to say to museums is thank you.
I like the idea of bringing that show back. I saw it in that 3-day window and it was hung horribly, stretched out into hallways. Give it a real show and a real catalog. Capital plan!!!
I enjoyed this and many shows at the Bellevue Art Museum. By the way Miriam Sternberg is still a wonderful curator (and daughter…)