Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Getting In Touch
FSRAM opens new hands-on gallery
When Louis Meluso came to the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum Nov. 1 as its executive director, his first task was gathering artwork for an exhibit remembering John Bell Jr.
Many of the 65 pieces in the exhibit were loaned by private collectors in Fort Smith, “so it was a matter of me doing the shoe leather work and going around to all these homes and businesses and the courthouse,” Meluso says. “It was a wonderful introduction to the town.”
Now, Meluso has gone to his own collection to fill the museum’s newest space, which he has titled the “Touch Gallery.”
“The inspiration for the Touch Gallery came from a discussion I had with the education staff at the Art Institute of Chicago, where I worked before coming to RAM,” he says. “They have a few sculptures there for visitors to touch — though they don’t call it a ‘touch’ gallery — and my discussion with them helped me understand the power of our sense of touch in understanding how art is made, the materials used in making it and the artistic intent in its creation.”
“The staff here at RAM are always looking for ways to relate to our guests, and when our guests talk, we listen,” adds Melissa Conry, marketing coordinator for the museum. “It had come to our attention sometime last year that a lot of visitors had mentioned they wish we had more hands-on displays, for both adults and children. It’s always bothered us that we never really had anything on display that young children could interact with.
“We wanted something that would be kid friendly but also interesting to adults and senior citizens,” she continues, “so we went with a broad array of items, from a textured painting created by our education director, Daleana Vaughan, to a marble owl that is smooth, soft and cold to the touch. We have a wooden parrot, a detailed bust of young Franklin D. Roosevelt, and more.”
“All the objects, except the painting, are from my personal collection,” Meluso says. “I selected them for the variety of media, their textural interest and subject matter that would engage a wide audience.”
“Our Touch Gallery is small for now,” Conry admits, “but that won’t stop your imagination from running wild when you get the chance to visit the new permanent display. It’s human nature to be curious, and curiosity makes us want to touch and feel. It’s an exciting feeling getting to be interactive with artwork in a place where you are usually told ‘no touching!’ — and that is exactly the feeling you’ll have when you visit this display: Excitement.”