People Engagement with Art and Museums

People Engagement with Art and Museums

            I visited the Orange County Museum of Art, which deals with contemporary and modern art. It is located at the major arts complex on the Segerstrom Center for Arts, making it easy for scholars and the public to visit and learn from the facility. The building of the Museums is a modern three storey building that is very large to cater for public visitations, enable OCMA to organize exhibitions and room for educational programs. The main floor of the building is majorly used for the exhibition of jewel-box and black-box galleries. The upper-level section consists of the administrative section, a roof terrace, a sculpture garden, and an outdoor screening platform during events. Inside the building, there are flexible exhibition galleries that are used for education and extensive room for the Museum’s permanent art. From the architectural design of the building, visitor interaction with art has been greatly prioritized to ensure a better view and learning experience.

As I first entered the Museum, I noticed the excitement from people’s faces, who were taking photos of the art and asking extensive questions from the attendants. The spacious interior of the Museum facilitated more accommodation of people and easier movement from one art section to another. Lighting in the building was adequate and made it very easy to view the artifacts. For the people who felt the need to sit down and study the art extensively, there was sitting spaces for comfort and easier facilitation of a learning environment. The art was categorized into specific categories for easier access. This made it easier for people to visit every section without missing to view any of the interesting artifacts in the Museum. The vibrant incorporation between the outdoor and indoor creates an immersive experience for the visitors viewing the art. Touching of the art was not accepted, but the taking of photos was acceptable, and many of the visitors opted for this option.

The Museum has a wide collection of close to over 3500 items, with most consisting of Californian art, Pacific Rim that dates back from the 20^th century to the current. Exhibits consist of sculptures, traditional paintings, photographs, and new digital art. Some of the artists with their piece of art in the Museum are Carolina Caycedo with some of her art depicting about local river and other water bodies. Daniel Duford’s pieces of art are there, such as the Underworld Stories and Santa Ana’s Mulyana: A Man and the Sea. Some of the exhibits required the use of technology to view. Yang Yongliang’s virtual reality video was one of the exhibits that needed the aid of a Virtual Reality headset to view. I enjoyed the view as the experience matched that of live events. Many of the people gave very positive comments about their experience, and as much as it was a learning experience, people seemed to enjoy every bit of it.

Unlike many of the museums I have visited before, my experience at the Orange County Museum of Art can compare to none other. Every piece of the exhibit was placed in a very spacious area, different from the rest. This made it easy to view the art, especially those that were huge in size. Especially the Mulyana: A Man, A Monster, and The Sea piece of art, it was colorful and quite big. For this particular piece of art, touching was not allowed, as it was very delicate and complicated. It depicted the imagination of the sea plants and animals as it appears under the oceans. The Museum dealt with modern and contemporary art. The architectural design and the interior design complemented the main purpose, making it easy to view the pieces of art that needed the aid of technological assistance like the Virtual Reality headset, etc. The color used in painting the interior of the Museum was colorful, well decorated, and matches the art stands. I found digital art to be very appealing to adults and individuals of the younger generation as well. This is because it is something that the younger generation could relate with, unlike some of the ancient pieces of art that need an extensive explanation to understand.

The category of art that consisted of landscape paintings were painted through the use of lightened square-shaped stands that were using electricity. Unlike other museums where they only deal with one particular type of art, there was a lot of variety of artwork that could be viewed in this Museum. The landscape type of art was also very unique to me as it involved a lot of detailed visual images that seemed like features that existed only to understand that they were pictures of visualized imaginations. Most of the people were fascinated by the Wanaawna, Rio Hondo, and Other Spirits exhibit which was quite long and had been hang in an open space running from one corner to the other. Viewing of this unique piece of exhibit was from the surrounding balconies at it was suspended in the air. It was made of fabric that represented the waterfalls and local rivers. Rivers that have been represented in the exhibit are the Santa Ana River and Rio Hondo.

I noticed that all of the exhibits had been placed in places that were well lit to ensure that they were visible. They were also placed on very firms stands, for those that were heavy and could fall off easily.  People engaged with the art through close examination and studying its various aspects to understand its purpose and meaning.  Most of the people had a lot of information prior to the visitation and got to learn that art has a deeper meaning to what is merely seen.  Unlike other forms of art, a lot of people got to enjoy the experience at the Museum, due to the unique type of contemporary art that is diverse and current. Viewing some of the exhibits required use of current technological material, which was fun.