Hunter Museum of American Art

Lately, a lot of my work and personal life has been managed through online portals. Most museums are moving in that direction as well, including the Hunter.

This May, the Museum was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for new collection management software, one that will improve our ability to provide images and information online. Internally, this opportunity allows us to begin to bring our collections management into the digital age.

My coming into the digital age has been conservative. I have friends who blog and use Twitter so much, I wonder how they find time to do anything else. And I also wonder where their creativity manifested itself before status updates and blogs. My digital dependency is more centered on need.

This is my first blog and I’m writing it because everyone at the Museum has been asked to do so. I don’t upload much on Facebook, and I never upload my opinion about items on Amazon or Epicurious.com, (although, I love to read what others have to say).My phone keeps me scheduled and sends me emails. I text my sitters. I’m sure I will soon be texting my kids.

While I might not be very creative, I do love to discover and experience the creativity of others, through digital media as well as through reality. When its 95 degrees outside with 95 percent humidity in July, I can’t help but consider the lives of those who lived without air conditioning, electricity or indoor plumbing. When my phone reminds me of upcoming event, or new email, sometimes I wonder how we lived–not 30 years ago–without mobile phones and computers.

I also wonder about the artists of the past, and perhaps those that lived in obscurity, only because they didn’t have the means digitally to convey themselves. We now have the opportunity to experience tremendous amounts of information and art online and this has enriched many lives that otherwise would not have that opportunity because of geography or some other limitation. But you can’t beat the reality of standing in front of one of Dale Chihuly’s installations, or seeing the thick brush strokes on Hans Hoffman’s Scintillating Blue, or resisting the urge to reach out and touch Duane Hanson’s Fundraiser. Or, like buying shoes online, the final, ultimate reality of actually putting them on your feet.

The Hunter’s new collection management software will help us not only present the best digital representation of our collection online, but it will also allow us to include additional information, and will invite viewers to respond or react to what they see. I hope it will further deepen the experience we already offer to those who log on and visit the Hunter.

Caroline Von Kessler, Director of Development