Typically, a featured exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art will be accompanied by a prix fixe menu in Provenance, the museum restaurant. Due to COVID safety measures, Provenance is temporarily closed.* However, Executive Chef Joe Perez has created a colorful dish inspired by an artwork on view in our current exhibition Stories from Storage.
Stories from Storage is a spellbinding exhibition featuring an anthology of 20 stories from our curators about 3,000 years of art. This unique exhibition reveals artwork kept in storage for various reasons: some are light sensitive, some have condition issues, some have contested attributions and…
Have you ever wondered how we select products for the museum store? This is a unique retail space is unlike any other shop or boutique. We put a lot of thought and care into making sure that the products we sell are related to and inspired by the art in the galleries. Think about how exhibitions are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Similarly, the museum store has a limited window of time to develop collections of products to complement our exhibitions. You can find pieces of art to take home that are created by local and international artisans, all in one place.
We are so happy you found our blog and can connect with art and the museum in this way, espeically during the pandemic. Thanks so much for sharing!
By Amanda Mikolic, Curatorial Assistant for the Department of Medieval Art
“In the age of COVID, the facemask is the most visible form of PPE, or personal protective equipment. But the art of PPE has a long history.” — The Art of PPE
Let’s take a look at another piece of protective equipment from the Medieval era, the helmet.
Helmets are among the earliest forms of Old World protective armor, the first examples are made of fabric, leather, and bone. During the European Bronze Age, 3200 to1200 BC, metal was added to offer greater rigidity and durability. The Greeks perfected…
By Andrea Vazquez de Arthur, Leigh and Mary Carter Director’s Research Fellow
If you have ever seen a mola, chances are it was displayed as a decorative panel, perhaps framed on a wall, or made into an ornamental pillow. These textiles are made from layers of colorful cotton fabric, hand cut and sewn into extravagant images and patterns that at times appear to visually vibrate. But before being repurposed as décor, mola panels are initially made in pairs and attached to separate fabric to form the front and back of a woman’s garment.
Photo: Hemis / Alamy.
Take an art-inspired journey through the CMA exhibition Gustave Baumann: Colorful Cuts.
Although COVID-19 has limited travel, the artworks in the exhibition, Gustave Baumann: Colorful Cuts allow us to journey to the American Southwest, where artist Gustave Baumann spent most of his life. Before we begin, the key to any trip is to prepare through research and planning. In this case, we’ll focus on the work of the artist who inspired this road trip.
Born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1881, Baumann immigrated to Chicago in 1891 with his family. Baumann returned to Germany in 1905 to attend art school where…
By Amaris Sturm, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Conservation
Preparing objects for display requires collaborative efforts across the museum, from designing exhibitions, to interpreting artworks, and, in the case of this Central African mask, preparing objects for safe display. The treatment and installation of the Mwana Pwo mask, on view through Sunday, March 14 in the exhibition Second Careers: Two Tributaries in African Art, provides an excellent example of this collaboration.
Composed of carved wood, paint, and plant fibers, this beautiful Mwana Pwo mask from the Chokwe communities of southwestern Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo depicts a woman’s idealized…
By Amanda Mikolic, Curatorial Assistant for the Department of Medieval Art
Did you buy your face mask from a well-known designer or was it lovingly made by hand by a family member or friend? Does it feature a trendy design inspired by pop culture? Is it a reflection of your personal style and taste? Did you order it online or design it yourself? In the age of COVID, the facemask is the most visible form of PPE, or personal protective equipment. But the art of PPE has a long history. …
A Table of Contents for Our Featured Exhibition
By Jessica Ketz, Digital Communications Manager
Due to the pandemic, exhibition projects that had been in development for years were suddenly halted and turned upside-down. However, this offered a new perspective and resulted in a spellbinding exhibition. It usually takes years to plan and curate a show, but we curated Stories from Storage within a mere handful of months by looking to our own resources.
Stories from Storage is a narrative told through art about life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Think of the exhibition as an anthology of twenty short stories authored by our curators. …
By Hajnal Eppley, Gallery Teaching Director
If there ever was a time to focus on social-emotional wellness, it’s 2020. In this year’s uncertainty and change, children and grown-ups traverse a wide range of emotions each day. As a parent working from home while also supporting my two children in their remote learning, I can say that today my household experienced excitement, frustration, guilt, confusion, joy, and exhaustion.
Naming these emotions is one of the first steps to helping children navigate their feelings. The next step: what does one DO with all these feelings?
