Keep hope alive! Pondering the Future prospects of the Toledo Area Artists Exhibition that was shamefully taken away from local artists ten years ago this month (We will never forget!)
The irony, of the Toledo Museum of Art to completely revamp itself in the past three years with so much new bureaucracy – a chief people person, a belonging and community engagement czar, a “branding” department of all things, not to mention the new perpetual position for a director of access initiatives. The museum brands itself as a caring community museum that aims to foster a sense of belonging, when 10 years ago this highly hypocritical museum ended the nearly one hundred-year old venerable annual event and valued community tradition of the prestigious Toledo Area Artists Exhibition. So many new bureaucrats but all they are good for is blowing smoke… What would be more community minded or foster a greater sense of belonging than to continue the long tradition of Toledo’s local art show? (for background, check out my many blog posts about the demise of the Toledo Area Artists Exhibition – and the demise of the museum itself – here.)
I remember museum people saying back then that the local art show was a dinosaur and that all the museums in the country had eliminated theirs. So to be modern, Toledo would be eliminating the Toledo Area Artists Exhibition as well. But, judging from Brooklyn’s revival, maybe Toledo will come around in another 10 years – so keep hope alive.
This weekend the Brooklyn Museum local artists show, which began in 1980 and ended in 2004, was revived with the opening of The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition, of 2024.
Exuding community energy and a sense of belonging, the Brooklyn Artists Exhibition was pretty great. This piece, a beautiful sculptural dress made out of packets of hair weave, was created by Tinuade Oyelowo. It would make a great addition to the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art — because the museum likes artwork to talk to each other, and I can see this artwork in conversation with the 1893 Libbey glass-spun dress, or of course in the contemporary galleries.
Incidentally, along with adding all of the above-mentioned bureaucrats, in 2021 the Toledo Museum carved out a new position for a contemporary art curator, hiring Jessica Hong, who is leaving already! Has the contemporary art curator position been eliminated? Will this institution in transition (hard to call it a museum anymore after they moved out the Impressionist paintings) hire a general “cultural worker” instead – that is, a worker who is merely “accountable to the idea of culture” with no art history degree necessary? After all, you don’t need a PhD to buy a burnt American flag to hang in the American gallery, as did Jessica Hong. Perhaps these days a genuinely educated art historian/art expert is passé, even superfluous for whatever it is that this bloated bureaucracy is trying to achieve.
Speaking of the bloated bureaucracy, it is interesting to note that Rhonda Sewell, who was initially hired in 2021 for the new post of “Belonging and Community Engagement Director” transitioned to another new bureaucratic museum post, that of “Director of Advocacy and External Affairs” in June 2023. This role is described as “forming and maintaining key relationships with legislators and policy makers at the local, state and federal levels.” Fascinating, since it was only a month before that the Ohio Attorney General embarked on an investigation of the Toledo Museum of Art regarding the circumstances surrounding the sale of three famous Impressionist paintings for $62 million in 2022 and the apparent breach of fiduciary duty by the trustees of the Edward Drummond Libbey and Florence Scott Libbey endowments – the Libbeys being the museum founders. Last I checked with the Attorney General’s office, the investigation is still ongoing, so Ms. Sewell must have her work cut out for her.
Curiously, but not surprisingly, the short-lived position of “Belonging and Community Engagement Director” at the Toledo Museum of Art has been abandoned.