Extreme MOG Makeover: Bohemian Boudoir Edition

By Katie Phelps, Museum of Glass Curatorial Assistant/Visiting Artist Coordinator

Welcome to the Museum of Glass blog!

Working in the Curatorial department at Museum of Glass often feels like the museum version of an extreme makeover reality TV show. When we install exhibitions, we typically have 10 business days to completely transform our galleries to tell a new story through paint, lighting, objects and labels.

We joke that to visitors, it must seem like elves tiptoe in and convert the galleries overnight. If only! The reality is that changing an exhibition space, even a small one like the wall in our Grand Hall, takes planning.

Here’s what our Grand Hall wall looked like in December when it featured our exhibition An Experiment in Design Production: The Enduring Birds of Iittala:

On Monday, January 13 and Tuesday, January 14, while MOG was closed to the public, we installed Bohemian Boudoir, a display of Czechoslovakian perfume bottles from the 1920s and 1930s.

Our Exhibition Designer mocks up all of our exhibitions in Google Sketchup, so that we have a 3D scale model of what the exhibition space looks like. Here is a rough sketch of how this wall was transformed for Bohemian Boudoir:

Our goal was to make the space feel warm and romantic, accomplished by our burgundy and cream color scheme. The display cases are the same ones used in An Experiment in Design Production: The Enduring Birds of Iittala, but they have been repainted brown to resemble dressing tables.

The goal of all of this planning was a smooth installation. We only had 20 hours total, and a team of 2-3 people to accomplish this Extreme MOG Makeover. Now that we have unveiled the finished product, stop by to see our exhibition Bohemian Boudoir.

Katie Phelps is the Curatorial Assistant/Visiting Artist Coordinator at Museum of Glass. She is an alumnus of Whitman College (BA) and University of Washington (MA). In her life outside of the Museum she is outside as much as possible, wearing skis as often as she does hiking boots.