This was the message on palm cards that our ASK Ambassadors distributed to Museum visitors throughout June. As a special engagement activity for Pride Month, visitors could take an ASK-guided tour of our galleries and learn more about gender and queer identity in art. 

The card featured a detail of a work by Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, on view in the exhibition “Nobody Promised You Tomorrow.”

This tour could be taken as a complementary activity to the special exhibition Nobody Promised You Tomorrow: Art 50 Years After Stonewall or as a standalone activity. And, as with all our ASK engagement offerings, we kept things responsive and personalized —every visitor could set their own pace and tone.

Visitors could begin their experience in the Museum lobby at a painting by Kehinde Wiley.

As we envisioned it, this app-guided tour would include a few very popular works from our collections (like Kehinde Wiley’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps) as well as some lesser-known works. They could be works by artists who identified as LGBTQ+, portraits of LGBTQ+ individuals, or works that touched on broader themes of gender identity.

The ASK Team collaborated to select ten works of art with a range of dates and media, from Donald Moffett’s Lot 043017 (Multiflora, Radiant Blue) to a coffin in the Ancient Egyptian collection, from Aaron Ben-Shmuel’s stone bust of Walt Whitman to Deborah Kass’s neon wall-piece After Louise Bourgeois. They compiled information about these works into a reference document and they strategized about giving directions to help the visitor navigate from stop to stop.

Elizabeth of the ASK Team tracked these tours (which accounted for about 22% of our app traffic) throughout June , and she noticed an interesting split. Visitors who began engaging with us on the Museum’s first floor were more likely to invest in the total tour experience, following our cues to visit works on the third, fourth, and fifth floors of the Museum. They often spent more than a half-hour with us for this itinerary.

Special labels with Pride flag icons were placed beside the “tour stops.”

Meanwhile, other visitors encountered individual works with our ASK Pride Month labels in the galleries and sent questions about them. These visitors were usually satisfied with learning about that particular work and might move one more stop nearby when we invited them to continue chatting. However, they were less interested in experiencing the complete tour.

The ASK Team also received a few requests from visitors who were ready to go even further. For example, when one visitor asked whether they could see anything by LGBTQ+ artists in the new special exhibition Rembrandt to Picasso: Five Centuries of European Works on Paper, we added a drawing by Rosa Bonheur to our list.

It’s been two years since we first tailored an ASK activity to a specific show or event, during Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern, and we continue to learn from each iteration. Next up? An engagement option related to the special exhibition Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion. More about that soon!

Photos of Staff Show by Trish Mayo.

One of the great parts of working in an art museum is how many fine artists come out of the woodwork for events such as this. There were pieces by artists who work in conservation, collections management, digital collections, curatorial, public information, visitor services, education, audio/visual, and more. Some pieces came from the artist’s “other life” as a painter or sculptor but some, such as Digital Ikebana by Anita Cruz-Eberhard (Digital Collections and Services) fused these two lives and, as a result, made me see their museum job in a whole new light. Ms. Cruz-Eberhard uses the same skills to produce her own work and to help the museum archive ours. She also shows internationally and has a BFA. She’s a great example of yet another career that I can now tell young art students to consider.

Another option for young artists might be to think about a job in education. Jeremiah Jones, a Teaching Artist in the Brooklyn Museum’s Gallery/Studio Program, contributed Sewing Table, a multimedia sculpture piece that fuses video, textiles, and sculpture. Jeremiah also taught a fall 2010 course in moving art and animation in which a class of 8-10 year olds created original stop-motion animations with drawings and found objects. It was on exhibition last semester in the education gallery, but (yea technology!) can still be found on the Museum’s Gallery/Studio facebook page.

Museum employees need not be fine artists, or even art history buffs, but for those who are the museum is an ideal place to work. You are constantly fed new ideas in the form of special and permanent exhibitions. For example I’ve returned to the Nkishi Power Figure in the Arts of Africa Exhibition many times, thinking about wrapped sculptures. In my “other life” as an artist I work mostly with fabric, but I’ve also worked with metal and clay sculpture and, if Nkishi stays there for me to pass on my way to get my morning coffee, I will probably end up fusing the media again.

Someday I will get around to my new project of googling all our staff artists and looking at their web pages, but for now I’m just happy to see their work up on the walls.

Image Courtesy of Sarah Gentile

Remembering the Triangle Fire by Know Your Museum

March 25, 2011 marks the centennial of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Brooklyn Museum staff will join the world in ringing a bell at 4:45PM to commemorate this horrific event.

Where are you originally from?

I’m very proud to say that I was born and raised in Brooklyn.

Where do you go to school now and what are you studying?

I’m currently a senior at Swarthmore College, a small liberal arts school in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. I am studying Art and English Literature.

Do you have a favorite piece or collection here and why?

I had so many over the years! Growing up, I remember loving the statue of a standing Ibis in the Egyptian collection as well as Albert Bierdstat’s A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie.

Kiki Smith (American, born Germany, 1954). Born, 2002. Lithograph, 68 x 56 in. (172.7 x 142.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Emily Winthrop Miles Fund, 2003.17. © Kiki Smith

I think if I had to pick a favorite though, it would be either one of two prints by Kiki Smith: Born and After Lewis Carroll: Come Away From Her. It was after seeing these prints that I started to become familiar with her work, and from there, became very interested in modern and contemporary women artists.

What has been your most interesting experience here?

I think developing and giving tours while I worked as a Museum Apprentice was definitely one of the most interesting and important for me. I think especially at that point in my life having that kind of autonomy and freedom to make decisions and work independently was so crucial—it was an incredible learning experience for me, personally as well as academically.

What is was your favorite thing about Museum Apprentice?

I have so many amazing memories. I wish I could go back! We all had so much fun working together and it was like we were a family. Developing our own tours and presenting them to camp groups was one of the best learning experiences. I loved figuring out how to tailor the tours for different age groups.

Do you recall your first visit to the museum?

I think I must have been too young to remember it specifically. I remember one of the Arty Fact lessons was looking at art with food and then going back to the studio and making art depicting foods.

What was your experience like in the Gallery/Studio program?

I always loved when we worked outside in the Botanical Gardens. I especially enjoyed drawing and painting in the Japanese Hill and Pond Garden. Combining my love of nature with art making was perfect for me. While a Gallery/ Studio Work-Study assistant, I was always amazed by how creative and smart younger children were. My exposure to children’s responses to artworks helped with my teaching in Museum Apprentices.

What projects did you work on while interning in with Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art?

I assisted with two exhibitions coming up at the time. For Healing the Wounds of War: The Brooklyn Sanitary Fair of 1864, I photographed and cataloged the doll and all of her accessories. For the Kiki Smith exhibition, Sojourn, I cataloged and archived images of the pieces included in the exhibition. I also researched and wrote the Feminist Picks of The Week for the Sackler Center Blog.

What do you want to do now that you’re almost finished with college?

I am really drawn to curatorial work and jobs that include a good deal of researching, writing, and closely engaging with art.

What advice do you have for teens interested in art or art history?

The most important thing for young artists and art historians is to go out and look at art, to get a sense of what kinds of images speak to you and inspire you. And if you don’t like everything you see, that’s okay too, but understanding why certain things spark your interest and why others don’t, and being able to articulate those reasons, is a great way to begin thinking critically about art. Visiting museums is especially important. They are the absolute best resources for learning about art and art history. I would also encourage teens to take part in art programs while in high school. There are some amazing programs out there and it’s a great opportunity to have a hands-on experience seeing and working with art.

Installing a Tipi by Know Your Museum

Where are you originally from?

I was born in the Bronx and moved to Long Island at 6 months of age.

What do you do here at the Museum?

I assist the Deputy Directors of Administration and Institutional Advancement in their day-to-day affairs.  I am the facilitator for communications in the Director’s office – overseeing the grapevine, and those all staff e-mails. Additionally, I arrange meetings for the Director and act as a greeter for dignitaries and celebrities. I’ve met everyone from Farah Fawcett to Leonard Nimoy.  Artists such as Ron Mueck , Hernan Bas, Fred Tomaselli , Swoon, Murakami, Annie Leibovitz and countless others.  Judy Chicago certainly gives me a hug and kiss every time I see her.

How long have been at the Brooklyn Museum?

Just starting my eleventh year now, but as of this past September, I’ve cut back to 3 days a week.

Why just 3 days?

I am completing a Master’s of Social Work at Fordham University and am interning at a mobile soup kitchen providing social services to Brooklyn’s neediest.

Providing social services –you do a lot of that here at the museum as well. Can you give some examples?

I provide information to the staff and sometimes lend my ear to those who need me. I have been known to assist with everything from employee’s love lives to their diets.

Yes, I’ve heard you are partially responsible for an engagement and several births.

Perhaps.

Do you have a favorite piece or collection here and why?

I like the Egyptian Sculpture of Erotic Group. It’s nice to know the ancients had a sense of humor.

Sculpture of Erotic Group, 305-30 B.C.E. Limestone, painted, 6 1/2in. (16.5cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 58.13. Creative Commons-BY-NC

I’ve heard that you yourself have several collections. What are they?

Everything from Santos to chamber pots, but I think I’m most proud of my collection of the portraits of myself done by my artist friends. Quite a few of them even work here like Katie Welty (Registrar’s Office), Elaine Komorowski (Collections Management), and Jason Grunwald (Art Handler). One of the artists featured in 1^st Fans, Matt Held, did me as well.

Peter's collection of chamber pots.

What has been your most interesting experience here?

Working here on 9/11 was surreal. We all gathered in the 6^th floor window watching the smoke, not knowing what was happening.  No one really left work and I found it comforting being with others during that time.  I remember Arnold called us into the auditorium for an all-staff to brief us on what little we knew.  It took 3 hours to get home that night and most everyone came in to work the next day. I was proud that the Museum was open then – it was important to show that New York institutions would keep running.

What were you doing before you came to the Museum?

I was a stock broker and options principal on Wall Street for seven years while getting my Master’s in Art History from CUNY.  Previous to working on Wall Street I worked for a French Art Gallery and a Swedish Art Gallery which sparked my interest in the arts.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an architect like Mike Brady from The Brady Bunch.  How funny is that?

I know.

So in the tradition of Brooklyn’s Finest, I have to ask: What is your commute like?

Although I live on Prospect Park in Windsor Terrace, there are no direct transit options. I take a ride when I can get one, I walk, and I’m seriously considering getting a bicycle.

Conservation Object Cleaning by Know Your Museum

Where are you originally from?

My family is from Malawi in Southern Africa but I was born in Los Angeles. So, questions of origin are part of my artistic search.

What do you do here at the Museum?

I am an audio-visual technician. My real specialty is sound which comes from being a musician.

How long have been at the Brooklyn Museum?

About 6 years, 3 part time and about 3 full time.

Do you have a favorite piece or collection here and why?

Right now I’m really interested in Sara Van DerBeek’s, A Composition for Detroit.  It is a series of four images on the fourth floor. She has managed to capture the severity of this moment in America in terms of urban decay and poverty without leaving the viewer hopeless.  The images tell a story.  You see Detroit and the crumbling of industry but in every image there is a human face. The faces are black even though the artist is white.  I love it when any artist is sensitive enough to move beyond the idea that race, gender or class must dictate who you can represent in art.  Human suffering is human suffering.

In the first image you see a profile as though the subject is unwilling to engage. In the second image you see can see a pair of eyes through a rear view mirror as if you were in the back seat making eye contact with the driver who again is not ready to engage.  In the third image you see the full profile of an elderly black woman who looks firm even in the midst of the decay. In the final image you see a half face that may be staring directly at you from the shadows. This seems to represent a reversal , it as if the portrait is now looking at you and asking you what you are going to do about all of this.  There is a newspaper clipping that says “Tragedy” right in the middle of image four.  So, the artist was not willing to let you miss the point which is that there are people catching hell right here in our country right now and we must become participants instead of just viewers of reality.

What has been your most interesting experience here?

That is a hard one! Just yesterday I met Randy Weston who did a concert for Black Brooklyn Rennaissance in the Auditorium. He is my favorite living jazz musician.  He was a protégé of Thelonius Monk.  He was explaining that the ancient Egyptians made musical scales from studying the sound vibrations that planets give off.

In the last month, I’ve gotten to do sound for Kara Walker, Women of SNCC and work with Osaro Hemez our other AV tech on the Jay-Z and Charlie Rose episode that was filmed for TV. The Women of SNCC panel was really powerful. I think SNCC was the most important organization in the history of America because they were young people who decided that they could shape the direction of the country through vision and collective work.

I guess what I’m saying is that there is a lot of amazing stuff that happens in the museum these days.

What were you doing before you came to the Museum?

I had been doing music in South Africa where things have been going pretty well since 1999. I have a group called Blk Sonshine. Here is a video clip from back then:

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a musician or the president of the United States. I decided to give Obama a shot though because he was definitely going to lose to a black man who could sing…

What is your commute like?

I live a couple stops away, so I often ride my bike which is an adventure in a city where everyone is trying to get everywhere as fast as they can.

Tell me more about being a musician?

For me, music is a vehicle to move people into the world of their emotions.  I am a songwriter with a deep love of poetry. I read up a little on Sara Van DerBeek and found out that she is into Walt Whitman’s, Leaves of Grass.   I think that is why her work moved me. She understands that there is always a story to be told with art and that the telling of that story should be poetic in nature. Good art in my opinion is an attempt to show the world that everything is intrinsically connected and interdependent.  That is what I attempt to do with music. This is a video that was filmed by my nephew Opiyo Okeyo and includes my children Jabulani and Aminata:

Blk Sonshine “Gliding” [Video] from Stellar Creative on Vimeo.

Are you performing anytime soon?

I will be at a new bookstore called Daddy’s Basement on the 30^th of December. It is bookstore started by two of my wife’s students from Medgar Evers University.  I like to support them because they are attempting to move the community towards literature in a time when folks are too busy paying the bills to read. I think that when we subvert the intellect in an attempt to pay the bills we begin the process of spiritual death which creates the automatons we see taking the train to Manhattan in the mornings. The one thing I love about working in the museum is that I’m always surrounded by creativity which makes it impossible for me to become a machine.

How did you end up on the Putumayo South Africa CD, for sale in the Museum’s very own gift shop?

My group Blk Sonshine was nominated for a South African music award in 2010 for our CD, “Good Life.” The nomination led to us performing at the Fifa Fanparks during world cup and performing at the biggest international arts festival in South Africa. One of the scouts from Putumayo came out to a gig and next thing you know we were got a request to have one of our songs on their 2010 South Africa CD. That has been really good for me too because Putumayo is well respected and they have pulled me in for interviews with stations all over America which has given our music a greater audience. Pick up the CD in the gift shop – it makes a great Christmas present in the year of the world cup.

Conservation Hammering Mount Metal by Know Your Museum