Columbia Museum of Art Offers Citizens the Chance to Be the Curator

By Emily Brady
March 7, 2014

Citizens Can Vote to Bring Masterpieces like Matisse’s Teté Out of the Museum’s Vault and Display on the Gallery Wall

A few floors below the Columbia Museum of Art’s (CMA) pristine galleries is an extensive collection of artwork masterpieces and treasures located within the Museum’s vault just waiting for a moment in the spotlight.  

Art museums, including the CMA, generally only exhibit 2-5% of their collection at any given time due to limited gallery space and the conservation needs of delicate works. Right now the CMA has nearly 7,000 pieces on display, but there is a vast amount of artwork not on public view. However, with a new CMA initiative called Be the Curator, the public has the opportunity to be part of the art and determine which pieces from the vault deserve a spot on the gallery wall.

Be the Curator is an exciting way for museum supporters and art lovers alike to help CMA’s curatorial staff decide which piece will be showcased next. The Museum selected six community members to serve as ambassadors for the initiative, and each ambassador chose a piece of art from the Museum’s vault for which they will promote and encourage the public to vote for by making a donation to the Museum’s Annual Fund. The Annual Fund allows the Museum to provide award-winning educational offerings, exceptional exhibitions, meaningful community outreach, and dynamic programs and events. The support of our members and visitors is crucial in achieving the CMA’s mission and commitment to lifelong learning and community enrichment. Whichever piece of art raises the most money for the Annual Fund will be taken out of the vault and displayed for the public to view in the summer of 2014.

I am proud to be one of the ambassadors for this initiative. During my visit to the Museum’s vault a few months ago with a coterie of the CMA curatorial staff, I discovered Teté by Henri Matisse. This lithograph, a type of original print made from drawing on stone, was created by one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century, Henri Matisse. An admirer of impressionist art, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the CMA owned a Matisse and dismayed to learn that the Museum has not displayed it before.

According to CMA Curator Will South, Matisse made lithographs as an extension of his drawing. In Teté (meaning Head in English), he uses line minimally and with simplicity, keeping the emphasis on the flow of graceful lines that combine to form an elegant face, one that feels immediate and yet intimate. Matisse often made portraits of friends, family, and fellow artists, in addition to the images he made of female figures and nudes, including a great number of odalisques made after a trip to North Africa.

With support for the Be the Curator effort we can bring Matisse’s masterpiece out of the vault for the public to enjoy. By supporting the arts in Columbia, we are supporting the growing creative class and further economic development of our community. Growing up in Columbia, I developed an early appreciation for the arts, studying music and theater at Hammond School and making frequent trips to the CMA with my family. Upon graduating from Duke University, I returned to Columbia and became involved with the Museum’s Contemporaries membership affiliate program for young professionals where I served on the board for two terms, and my husband and I helped with the Museum’s major acquisition of the Dale Chihuly chandelier.

Be the Curator now provides an opportunity where we can become part of the art. There are 70 days left to make a contribution and vote for your favorite piece, and then on May 15, at the CMA annual meeting, the winner will be named. Please visit columbiamuseum.org/be-the-curator to learn more about the initiative, watch videos about Matisse and the other selections, and make your donation to Be the Curator.