Busy, Busy, Busy

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind. I've built out a few of my topics into more complete sections but I keep wanting to bounce around when finishing my content. On Monday I interviewed Dr. Jonathan Katz, one of the curators for Hide/Seek about the programming at both the Brooklyn Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. Dr. Katz provided insight into some aspects of my case study while confirming other conceptions I had already had about the role or nature of each program. I still have a bit to finish or edit in all of my sections, which is making me nervous but I've tried to continue pacing out my work over the past few weeks. I feel confident considering I have added roughly 20 more pages to my paper, though this does include completing my current bibliography and starting to compile one of my appendices. As of right now it feels like a lot but here's hoping I can continue to pace out completing the remaining content.

Just Keep Swimming

This week I've been working toward completing the sections of my thesis that focus on the Smithsonian's visitor study "Hiding in Plain Sight" and the public programming for both the NPG and Brooklyn Museum presentations of Hide/Seek. These sections are key in developing my conclusion and future recommendations for museums. I also hope to finish developing my sections about the controversy as a whole and the importance of Hide/Seek and the works selected for the exhibition in museum history. I know these are key sections but I'm not too worried about completing them before our first full deadline. I know I need to revisit my literature review before submission but I'm not excited to begin reworking this section.

We have also been tasked with developing our initial layouts for our final presentation posters which has gone relatively smoothly, though it has been difficult trying to determine the size and placement of images on my poster. I am excited to receive feedback on my poster layout, specifically on the timeline I've included along the bottom to summarize important events in the Hide/Seek controversy.

Figuring out which path to take

After a stressful and hectic end to last semester I was excited to see where my research would take me. At the end of last semester I had proposed looking at 3 different case studies to develop recommendations for best practices when handling controversy, specifically through the use of programming. Though I am still looking at developing recommendations for programming when museums face controversy I am focusing solely on Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture. Hide/Seek was a landmark exhibition for the LGBTQ+ community which opened at the National Portrait Gallery in October 2010. A month after it opened the exhibition received backlash for its inclusion of A Fire In My Belly, a film by David Wojnarowicz. The controversy became much larger following the National Portrait Gallery's decision to remove the piece from the show. I won't go in to too much detail as that is what my thesis is for.

Over the break I was lucky enough to be able to look through some of the Smithsonian's press clippings related to the controversy. This research allowed me to delve deeper in to the controversy, where I found that when the show traveled to the Brooklyn Museum the following fall (2011) there was a plethora of programming done to foster a dialogue with the community. This little nugget of information is now expected to grow in to a much larger section of my thesis which will discuss the methods and topics used to develop the programming for the Brooklyn exhibition. As of right now, I am hoping to some how get in touch with someone from the Brooklyn Museum who can provide me with some more insight on the effectiveness of the programming used for the exhibition. I am still working on developing all of the key points and my argument but I feel much more confident and excited going in to the second half of thesis. I no longer look at my research and freeze up, which is probably a good sign.