#BeTheCurator

January 16, 2016 – January 22, 2017

Exhibition Overview

In the age of social media, the act of curating takes place every day. An experiment to harness the power of social media and democratize the process of curating an exhibition, Museum of Glass invited visitors and online fans to select works of art for the exhibition, #BeTheCurator.

Crowd-curating of the exhibition began in the summer of 2015 with Museum visitors and Facebook users voting on artwork displayed in Treasures from Glass Collectors to return to MOG’s galleries in a larger exhibition of pieces from the Museum’s collection.

Visitors were invited to vote for and comment on pieces from the Museum’s Collection using a ballot at MOG or by liking photos in a series of albums on the Museum’s Facebook page. #BeTheCurator featured the most “liked” pieces and included Facebook participation from as far away as Brazil, Armenia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Kazakhstan, along with visitors’ comments and reactions.

"It was exciting to see the Museum’s collection through the eyes of our visitors,” said Katie Phelps, Curatorial Assistant at Museum of Glass. “So many of us are engaged in online experiences, so by bringing a social media component into #BeTheCurator our visitors will felt empowered to also engage with the art.”

The exhibition encouraged audience engagement through a variety of features, such as a social media glossary, Facebook-themed profiles of each artist, and boxes where visitors could vote for an artist featured in the exhibition to receive a future Visiting Artist Residency. Erich Woll’s Mistakes Will Be Made recieved the most votes during the exhibition.

Featured Images

Image Credits

Photo by Duncan Price
Photo by Duncan Price
Mary Kay Simoni (American, born 1955). Marriage, 1992. Cut, ground, polished, and glued plate glass; 17 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 2 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, gift of Elizabeth H. Wolf. Photo by Duncan Price.
Toots Zynsky, American, born 1951. Growing Chaos Again, 1997. Extruded, fused, and slumped glass threads; 9 × 14 3/4 × 11 1/4 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, gift of Bonnie and Murray Nelson. Photo by Duncan Price.
Erich Woll (American, born 1970). Mistakes Will be Made (blue-footed Boobies), Made at the Museum in 2014. Hot-sculpted glass; 29 × 68 × 40 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, gift of the artist. Photo by Mark Aimerito.