We’ve asked FWMoA staff the hardest question you can ask art museum people: so, what is your favorite artwork currently on display? As “art museum people”, we often get asked about our favorite artists, artworks, and the art we choose to hang on our own walls. Since not all of our staff are front-end, and not all of them write for the blog, this series gives everyone a chance to get to know them, too. Taking advantage of our rotating exhibitions of artworks, from painted portraits to sculpted bronzes, FWMoA staff from all departments are choosing artworks that enthrall and enchant them; or, in other words, playing favorites.
Michele Andrews, Visitor Services, has made the FWMoA her place of work for the past two years. As a security guard, she is constantly interacting with the art as she passes each piece multiple times a day. Her current favorite? St. Nazaire: Sky Red Blues from Jon Schueler’s solo exhibition, Lost Man Blues: Jon Schueler-Art & War, on loan to FWMoA from the Jon Schueler Estate.
Q: What is the first thing you noticed about this artwork? What drew you to this particular piece?
A: How all the colors seamlessly flow together; the colors exist symbiotically.
Q: Would you hang this artwork in your home? Why or why not?
A: Yes! I would hang it on the ceiling and get lost in the wonder of it.
Q: What does this artwork mean to you?
A: As the colors pulled me in I thought: “This is the first time I’ve seen art”.
Q: Why did you choose to work in an art museum?
A: I wanted a job I would enjoy. Being able to admire the art is pleasurable.
Q: What has been your favorite exhibition at FWMoA during your employment? What exhibition are you most looking forward to in the next year or two?
A: Jon Schueler’s Lost Man Blues. I’m most looking forward to the decades yet to come in our rotating exhibition, A Century of Making Meaning: 100 Years of Collecting at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.
Come visit FWMoA to see Michele’s favorite artwork on display through June 13th in Lost Man Blues: Jon Schueler-Art & War.