virtual viewing
With their doors shut, museums add to their online collections
San Antonio’s museums may be closed, but they’re still in the exhibition business. Parts of their collections can be seen online.
“It’s a little like taking a virtual tour, but you get to determine the objects,” said Kate Carey, head of education for the McNay Art Museum. “The cool thing about this, too, is that you can see things that are not on view. That’s definitely a little bit of an advantage.”
For the most part, the museums had been featuring their collections online already, but the closures prompted by efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic have given them time to add to those offerings.
In addition, staffers have been generating social media content designed to help people engage with the work more deeply than they might if they were just looking at it.
Folks who feel like no museum visit is complete without a stop in the gift shop are in luck, too: The McNay and the San Antonio Museum of Art both offer online shopping through their websites.
Here’s a look at what’s on display:
Ruby City: To find the content, click on “Collection” on the homepage of rubycity.org. More than 100 imag
es have been posted so far, including Isaac Julien’s moody print “Film-Noir Angels (Looking for Langston Vintage Series),” Christian Marclay’s hyper-extended “Accordian” and Do Ho Suh’s lilac fabric installation “3rd Floor, Union Wharf, 23 Wenlock Road, London N1 7ST, UK, 2016.”
More images are coming. “We’ll continue to add to our collection online,” said Kelly O’Connor, head of collections and communications.
The museum, which was built for the collection of the late artist and philanthropist Linda Pace and opened in October, houses more than 900 works.
There is more to the online content than the images. Click on the artists’ names, and you’ll get information about them and their work.
And there also is a virtual version of “Waking Dream,” the inaugural exhibition, with text written by curator Kathryn Kanjo. Click on the links in the text to get an up-close look at works in the show.
For some, there are also links to related pieces. Sylvie Fleury’s neon exhortation “be amazing” connects to Julien’s “Stones Against Diamonds” video installation, Marilyn Minter’s 2006 digital print “Runs,” Linda Pace’s 2006 silver igloo “Mirror Mirror” and Dario Robleto’s 2002 piece “Men Are the New Women.”
Those looking for additional ways to connect with the collection might want to check out the museum’s Instagram page, which highlights individual pieces, such as Cornelia Parker’s “Heart of Darkness” installation.
In addition, a new video tour series, hosted by Randy Guthmiller, the museum’s manager of visitor experiences, has gotten rolling on its YouTube channel. Links can be found by clicking Engage with Us on the homepage.
And the newsletter Ruby City Weekly includes a #Collection Pick, in which people write about a piece that has meaning for them. It also includes craft projects and recommendation lists. It’s available on the homepage.
Folks also can subscribe to an email edition by clicking on the Newsletter tab on the Engage with Us page.
“The newsletter is doing two things,” O’Connor said. “It’s helping us create great editorial content for our various audiences. And it’s also helping keep our staff engaged with the mission and excited about Ruby City and what it has to offer.” San Antonio Museum of Art: To access images from the collection, click on the “Artwork” tab on the homepage of samuseum.org, then click
“Browse the collection.” On that page, the online material can be searched in its entirety, which includes 945 entries.
The collection also can be searched by artist — click on San Antonio artist Franco MondiniRuiz, and up pops his piece “Legally Separated,” depicting a slice of chocolate cake divided in half, each topped by a ceramic figure — and by collection.
The collections are American art, ancient Mediterranean art, Asian art, European art, modern and contemporary art, Latin American art, Islamic art, photography, Oceanic art and pre-Columbian art. There’s also “Guide to the Collection from 2012,” which features artwork included in the museum’s book about the permanent collection.
Be sure to open the label text included with each image for insightful information from the curators.
In addition to spotlighting the permanent collection, the site also is giving online visitors the chance to check out the exhibit “Texas Women: A New History of Abstract Art.” Images of some of the works on display can be found on the exhibition page — click on Current Exhibitions under the Artwork tab, then scroll down to the link to the exhibit — as well as a digital tour.
The museum also has a lively social media presence, including #FromtheVault posts in which curators share things that haven’t been displayed for a while or that are surprising, including a hairpiece for a Roman portrait; #Anatomyof Art, which explore individual works; and #MuseumMomentofZen, which highlights relaxing images.
“We want people to be engaged and interested, and to also change their moods and to get them inspired and entertained,” said Emilie Dujour, the museum’s PR and digital communications manager.
The posts can be found on the museum’s feeds for Instagram, @sama_art; Twitter, @SAMAart; and Facebook, @sanantoniomuseumofart. McNay Art Museum: To access the images, click on the “Art” tab the top of the homepage, mcnayart.org, then click on “Collection.”
More than 15,000 items can be accessed through the database. They are broken up into the museum’s collections: European art, American art, theatre arts, prints and drawings, modern and contemporary art, contemporary Latino prints, French art glass, medieval and Renaissance art, and Southwestern art.
Regular visitors to the McNay who miss strolling through the grounds might want to start with eight images of outdoor sculptures, including Robert
Indiana’s “LOVE” sculpture and George Rickey’s kinetic “Horizontal Column of Five Squares, Excentric II.”
The database has some fun search options. There is an object type search — click on drawings and watercolors, the largest category, and you can scroll through 7,467 images, including Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Evening Star No. V” and a ballet costume design by Henri Matisse.
Folks also can search under color — click on the red square, and the images that pop up include Lalo Alcaraz’ 1997 screen print “Che,” which depicts the revolutionary with the Nike swoosh on his signature cap; and Gronk’s 2009 piece “Human Denial,” which features dozens of doodlelike images against a solid red background.
Click on the artists’ names, and more information about them comes up.
Folks who want to dive a little deeper might want to check out the museum’s blog, mcnayart. org/blog, which includes posts about individual works as well as some fun art activities. And the museum’s Twitter and Instagram feeds include information about individual pieces, as well as ideas for art projects.
And visitors who want to get a taste of “Fashion Nirvana: Runway to Everyday,” the museum’s spring exhibition, can check out a video on the exhibition page or on the McNay’s YouTube channel. The YouTube channel also includes videos pegged to the “Selena Forever/ Siempre Selena” exhibit and the Contemporary Art Month Perennial.