Solo Show install at Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Day 1

May 9, 2010

Arrived at Fort Wayne, Indiana at 9:30pm, from Los Angeles.

May 10, 2010

10:30am: Short walk to Fort Wayne Museum of Art, weather is cool and breezy. We were greeted by the registrar Leah Reeder at the museum.

Met curatorial assistant, Joe Rohrer, who had finished painting the walls in space I'll be in. Mr. Joe will be helping us get things done in the following week. He is a brilliant artist and thinker himself. If I were a wealthy artist, he will be instantly hired with good pay to be my studio director, not studio assistant, "Studio Director" :-)
I love the color curator Sarah Aubrey chose for me. Originally I had wanted it all black, but this dark charcoal works out better. Glad I did not end up with black:)

In the mean time, I realized that the space is taller than I imagined. It is huge and my brain went blank.

 Leah took us to bring the works out from vault. Drawings arrived 10 days ago, sculptures arrived last Wednesday. It is unrealistic to see them here, 2,160 miles away. Two weeks ago, some of them were still laying around in the studio like daily objects, now they are all wrapped up nicely in cozy boxes guarded by security alarms.

My curator Sarah came in, we talked about the logistics of hanging glass sculptures. Joe came up with the idea of using airplane cables instead of I and Jesse's old "hardware cloth stretched over wood frames." It will look so much more professional. "We are in a Museum," I have to constantly remind myself. What's better is that Joe will make the structure and all we need to do is to hang the pieces. Oh, I am so lucky! 

While Joe went to get the materials needed, I continue unpacking the works and start sorting the clusters. Jesse went on to tour the permanent collection exhibitions in the museum.