Ronak Patel

WMST250 - Section 0107

2/14/2008

Assumptions List 

1.  The National Museum of Women in the Arts

• I assumed that the majority of the art displayed would be about women.
• I assumed that the museum would be very large and take up a large portion of the block.
• I assumed that the museum would strongly display feminism, and thus not use “feminine” colors such as pink so often.
• I assumed that most, if not all, the workers there would be women.
• I assumed that most of the visitors there would be females.
• I assumed that a lot of the paintings might attempt to degrade men
• I assumed that the founder of the museum, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, wouldn’t be so “woman-like” and “gentle-looking”.
• I assumed that this museum would be feminist.

 

2.  Hirshhorn

• I assumed that the building would be just another regular rectangular building.
• I assumed that the museum would be boring, because I thought the name was unusual.
• I assumed that the museum wouldn’t be very large  and crowded.
• I assumed that the museum would contain very abstract and unusual paintings.
• I assumed that this museum would be the most boring out of them all.

 

3.  The National Museum of the American Indian

• I assumed that the building wouldn’t be very large.
• I assumed that the museum would be easy and fast to cover.
• I assumed that the museum to be packed with visitors
• I assumed that quite a few of the workers would be of Native American descent.
• I assumed that there would be many interactive exhibits there for the visitors.

 

4.  The National Gallery of Art

• I assumed that the museum would be extremely large, in part because of its name.
• I assumed that there would be countless floors, and paintings
• I assumed that it was just one large building, not two (East and West Wings)
• I assumed that inside the museum, everything would be well lit and highly secure.
• I assumed that there would be tons of visitors there.
• I assumed that the museum would take the longest to cover.
• I assumed that there would be high security and surveillance.
• I assumed that some of the paintings would be dull, simple, and boring.
• I assumed that many of the workers would be females.

 

The Canvas Within

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, feminism is defined as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes”.  It is an extremely important movement, which originated in the late 1800’s and is still well displayed today, not just by parades, sittings, riots, and speeches, but also by art, whether it be a painting, a sculpture, or an object.  In order to get a first hand experience, my friend and I ventured to the nations capitol, Washington, D.C., to journey through four prestigious museums and get a feel for art and culture, whether it be a piece of history or present-day. Throughout the journey, at each art venue, we asked ourselves, “Is this place feminist?”  We were surprised with our findings and have discovered that feminism can mean more than just paintings of women.

The very first museum we arrived at was the National Museum of Women in the Arts, located on New York Avenue.  My friend and I were a bit surprised by the building structures; we assumed that it would be a separate large building like most museums, but instead, it was part of the city block, and not very large or eye-popping.  As soon as we walked in, we noticed pink tiles, many pink ceiling moldings, flower wall moldings, pink tablecloths, and in the first piece of artwork we laid our eyes upon in the lobby, which was a painting of the founder of the museum, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, who was dressed in all pink!  This was very surprising to me because I believed that a women’s museum like this would try it’s best to avoid and/or eliminate using the color pink, because it might be seen as “typical feminine”.  However, the color was very proudly and prominently displayed throughout the venue, including the artwork and paintings.  I also noticed that every worker I saw was female, an interesting observation.  After snooping around the museum and working through everything it had to offer, especially the 3^rd floor’s permanent collection, I believe that this museum is feminist for a number of reasons.  Every artist I recorded was a female, there was an abundance of information about feminist movements, what feminism is, and important feminist leaders, such as Rosa Bonheur, who even wore men’s clothing just so she could paint at certain places in public, and much of the artwork displayed would contain women and various shades of pink/red.  It was difficult to find males in many of the paintings.  I recall viewing a painting in which sex equality is displayed.  In addition, many of the white walls contained chunks of information about feminism and feminists, right next to pieces of artwork.  This leads me to conclude that this art venue is indeed feminist.

Our next stop was the unusually named (at least I think) Hirshhorn Museum off of Seventh Street and Independence Avenue.  As soon as we arrived there, I was astonished; I had never seen such a beautiful museum structure.  The building was circular in shape and hollow in the center; it almost resembled a small European coliseum.  Once we walked all around the building and finally found the entrance, we were a bit disappointed to hear that the second floor of the museum was closed due to plans of adding more exhibits.  Nevertheless, we went up to the top floor and worked our way down.  I immediately noticed that many of the paintings contained simple and abstract images, such as triangles, hexagons, squares, and circles, with highlighting color.  Quite frankly, many of the paintings looked so simple and effortless that I believed I could paint them without a problem.  I kept asking my friend and myself, “Is this art?  How is that art?”  I guess it takes a true artist to see the beauty within each simple painting.  After some time, once we viewed a large chunk of what the museum had to offer, I asked myself if this venue was feminist.  Frankly, I believe this question is not very meaningful to ask at this location.  Unlike the previous museum, I saw no signs of art displaying feminism; much of it was of abstract shapes, lines, and simple designs.  I think the exhibit contained a different and unrelated type of artwork, nothing that displayed feminism. 

The third venue we ventured to was the National Museum of the American Indian.  From the outside, the building looked like many other museums I have visited.  Once we entered, we noticed that the museum was very large and open, containing a huge front foyer with some artifacts with numerous overbearing floors.   Working through the exhibits, I learned that many Native Americans lived in and used everything they possibly could from their surrounding environment to survive.  For example, I found an exhibit displaying boats/canoes, which were constructed from tree bark, straw, and canoes.  In addition, on the second floor, we came across a large room which was specially dedicated to Native Americans’ clothing, in particular, women’s clothing!  From interactive games, to displays, to special displayed media broadcast, there was so much information about women’s clothing.  My friend and I observed that many different things, such as Navajo Indian women’s headdresses, cradleboards for carrying babies, what materials the Indians used, and babies’ dresses.  We even learned how to put on a women’s headdress.  Overall, we had a good experience in the large exhibit.  After viewing as much of the displays and artworks as possible, I came to the conclusion that this art venue also displays some form of feminism.  Part of the theory of feminism is the belief that the sexes are equal.  This museum clearly displayed that by dedicating a whole section and a major part of the second floor strictly to women’s clothing and lifestyle.  Clearly, one can see that this museum values art by women and art of women.  Because it prioritizes the women’s exhibit, I believe that this venue is feminist.

 

Our final visit in Washington, D.C. before heading back to College Park was the famous National Gallery of Art.  Right off the bat, I was surprised to learn that the museum actually consisted of two buildings: the East Wing and the West Wing, both located across the street from one another.  Upon entering, we noticed that the museum’s main halls and alley wasn’t very well lit and was a bit dark inside; however, it was very open, large, and spacious.  We also noticed that around the paintings, there was very good lighting, which helped when viewing the paintings.  There were a vast variety of impressive displays we looked at; from the Baroque Woodcut pieces, to the famous Renaissance paintings from the Robert H. Smith collection, to the abstract paintings of faces and figures displayed throughout the museum. There was a lot to cover and everywhere we looked, there was some kind of art.  Overall, I don’t believe this museum is a feminist institution.  As a whole, the museum contained so much variety and different types of paintings that I don’t think it focused on any one recurring theme.  It seemed as if the museum contained a piece of history from about every time period and movement.  Thus, I believe that labeling this museum as “feminist” is inappropriate.

Throughout our journey, I have discovered that art is the canvas for millions of ideas, whether it be feminism, slavery, historical movements, or even wars.  We witnessed how much variety many museums have to offer first hand.  In conclusion, out of the four ventures we visited, I believe that the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the National Museum of the American Indian display feminism.  The other two institutions we visited, Hirshhorn Museum and the National Gallery of Art, are more general based and their pieces do not focus on one recurring theme, they all display so many different themes and ideas.  All in all, this trip was very worthwhile and opened my eyes up to art.  Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but art is worth a million.