Ackland not concerned about other museums, but is instead competing with Netflix

Although the Ackland Art Museum has been open for 61 years, the museum is constantly changing to better its content, and it has big changes in store as the 2020s approach. 

As the decade comes to a close, staff members at the Ackland dream of a new state-of-the-art building and more versatile exhibitions. However, when the 2010s were just beginning, the museum was still recovering from the effects of the market crash, said Lauren Turner, assistant curator for the collection. 

“I started right after the big market crash, which meant that all art museums across the country really struggled in terms of financing and how to handle a decrease in donations and support and things like that,” Turner said. “I think as the market has improved and we’ve gotten back on our feet, along with a lot of other museums in the country, we’ve been able to return to having more things.” 

Although the Ackland has finally escaped the pressures of the market crash, with the rise of technology and social media, the staff is constantly competing with platforms like Netflix said Allison Portnow Lathrop, head of public programs. 

“In the last 10 years, I think especially as entertainment has grown, I mean, you compete with people wanting to sit on their couch and watch Netflix, like I want to do a lot too,” Portnow Lathrop said. “So, part of my job is to find ways so that people might want to spend a few hours not on Netflix, in addition to wanting to come see an exhibition just to see it and enjoy it with friends.” 

As people become more absorbed into the technological revolution, it has become important that the staff at the Ackland work to make visitors' experiences more dynamic and interactive, Portnow Lathrop said.

“We make your visit really dynamic, so you get to spend time talking about an exhibition and walking through it,” Portnow Lathrop said. “You get to experience a concert, you get to collaborate on an art-making project with people you know and don’t know when you get here, so having those sorts of weird and fun interactive things.” 

One instance of making events dynamic and interactive within this decade was a live theater exhibit that the museum did in collaboration with the UNC communications department. The event featured five short plays, each focusing on one work of art in the museum. Portnow Lathrop said although this was a hectic event, it was one of the most memorable and successful of the decade for her.

“It was a lot to produce, it was really a lot of work behind the scenes and a lot of the playwrights wrote for months and researched the works of art,” Portnow Lathrop said. "But it’s the kind of thing where you’ll never see the painting the same way once you’ve seen the short play about it.” 

Another popular and memorable exhibit of the 2010s was “More Love: Art, Politics and Sharing since the 1990s,” which occurred in early 2013, Turner said. 

“We got a lot of people who really loved our 'More Love' exhibition, and it was a lot of work,” Turner said. “I think it was really successful and probably one of our high water marks in terms of exhibitions because it was something where we were able to fundraise and get a lot of spectacular loans. It also had a lot of participatory elements, so it was great in that it was marrying a lot of currents trends in museums right now.”

With 2020 approaching, the Ackland is making changes to both its exhibitions and its brand, having recently unveiled a new visual identity. Dana Cowen, Sheldon Peck curator for European and American Art before 1950, said the celebration of this new identity was very memorable for her. 

“We just had a huge party unveiling our new visual identity, and the energy and excitement for that evening, it was just incredible,” Cowen said. “There were lots of people that had never been to a museum function before, from all walks and backgrounds, and it was just really exciting.” 

The Ackland’s new brand, called Zoom In!, featured a change of logo, color scheme and website, and is part of a move forward. As the staff moves forward into the next decade, a new building is a desired change, Turner said.

“We lack enough space to show art, but we also lack spaces like auditoriums and cafeterias and things where we can really encourage people to stay even longer, look at the art even more,” Turner said. “In terms of just facilitating the cool stuff we’re doing, that’s my biggest hope.” 

While a new space is wanted for the new year, the staff is still making the most of their current space. The final exhibition of the year, to close out the decade, will be a photography exhibit called “Lost and Found: Stories for Vernacular Photographs.” The exhibition includes vernacular photography and encourages visitors of the museum to participate in a caption contest, Turner said. 

“We’ve been collecting vernacular photography, which is a phrase to sort of describe all of the photographs that have been taken, not necessarily by artistic practitioners; Like your families scrapbook photos and things like that,” Turner said. “If you are really trying to preserve the history of photography, not just art photography, then you need to have some representation of polaroids and grandma’s birthday and things like that in your collection.”  

“Lost and Found” opens on Friday, Dec. 13, to close out the year, and will also subsequently be the first exhibition of the 2020s. 

“I think it’ll be cool, the last show of the decade,” Portnow Lathrop said. “Although, it does stay open until the first week of classes next semester. It’s also the first of this decade, so we’ll be talking about this in ten years.”

@Sarah_campbs

arts@dailytarheel.com