Museum executive director Jessimi Jones noticed how many people used the trails which extend around Veterans Park behind the museum and along Buck Creek. It set off a brainstorm.
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“We have a benefit some museums don’t - we have trails,” said Jones. “A highlight of our day is when people using the trail stop by and wave and I kept thinking about how we can take advantage of this and we could use these large windows to complement our Moments of Joy program.”
Moments of Joy is an online campaign to bring various forms of art to people while they quarantine.
The staff chalked out an arrow to draw attention to the display. Another advantage of the Trail Gallery is displaying pieces of the museum’s collection rarely seen by the public. Jones estimates maybe 90 percent of a museum’s collection remains in storage.
“We thought what if we got these out so people could see it while social distancing,” she said.
The first display is a spring theme with several British sculpted figures of animals, birds and plant life. Jones said getting an email of appreciation about the display clinched the decision to create the Trail Gallery.
The trail also goes through the museum’s sculpture garden, which includes several larger permanent pieces including a statue of Shawnee Indian leader Tecumseh. Jones hopes those who haven’t been to that part of the museum may discover those as well.
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Although the staff is mainly working from home, the displays may change in the future. Jones looks forward to the museum reopening.
Until then they continue Moments of Joy posts to involve the public in its specialty, including community art heroes, images from other galleries or activities like an art scavenger hunt.
“This has forced us to be creative and flex muscles we didn’t know we had,” Jones said. “We hope people will stay safe and enjoy the art at the same time.”
For more Museum of Art updates, go to www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMuseumOfArt/.
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