Mood Swings at the Museum
Presented by the student curators in Curator High
Installation Overview
Museum of Glass, in partnership with Jobs 253 (Tacoma Public Schools) presents Curator High, a program for students interested in learning more about the curatorial process at museums. Working closely with the Museum's Education and Curatorial departments, students design a display for the Grand Hall with work from the Museum’s Permanent Collection. The high school curators determine the display’s topic and content, build interpretive content for the case, and work with all departments in the Museum to realize their vision.
Read below for more from the current student curators about Mood Swings at the Museum, opening August 31, 2024.
From the Curators:
We are interested in exploring human connection through shapes, colors, and other motifs in glass that impact our perception of emotions. Mood Swings at the Museum introduces a range of feelings we experience when viewing artworks conveying a spectrum of design features that create a visual mood swing.
In our exhibition, we encourage the viewer to humanize these pieces and consider what their own emotions would look and feel like in glass. We selected pieces that we believe represent these vast, and somewhat daunting emotions most people in some way experience. We also recognize that through exposure to art and media, our choices have been influenced by the shapes and chromatic spectrum that the Western world ties with specific emotions. Similarly, our audience’s point of view may vary, as individual experiences may change how our exhibition is perceived. Our intent is to consider and explore human connection using the intense beauty of art, and we welcome that responsibility with open arms and hearts.
Mood swings are like weather. Like a sunny day turning to clouds and rain, or thunderstorms turning to ice, they can change quickly. Our hope is to convey that there is nothing wrong with experiencing these emotions. They are common ties throughout humanity, and this exhibition is one more step toward spotlighting and celebrating them.
Mood Swings at the Museum Opening Reception
Saturday, August 31, 2024 • 1-5pm
Mingle with Curator High participants and ask them about the piece they selected for Mood Swings at the Museum. Refreshments and finger food will be served.
Artistic crafts and activities related to the exhibition will take place in the Education Studio 1-5pm. Regular Museum admission required.
Flo Perkins (American, born 1951). High Five Cactus, made at the Museum in 2009. Blown glass; 17 1/4 x 12 x 9 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo by Duncan Price.