小蝌蚪APP art museums should offer something for everyone.
That小蝌蚪APP檚 one of Dr. Lee Gray小蝌蚪APP檚 guiding principles. She小蝌蚪APP檚 the newly hired curator of exhibitions and collections for the Paul and Lulu Hilliard 小蝌蚪APP Art Museum. She will oversee the acquisition, display and continued development of the museum小蝌蚪APP檚 art collections and organize exhibitions.
The museum小蝌蚪APP檚 permanent collection consists of more than 2,000 works of art, including paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture and photographs. It represents 18th, 19th and 20th century Louisiana, as well as the United States, Europe and Japan.
小蝌蚪APP Everybody has a different interest and everybody wants to see their interest hanging on the museum walls. The complexity, specifically for a university museum, is that there are many different audiences,小蝌蚪APP Gray said in a recent interview. 小蝌蚪APP淵ou have faculty, students, the community at large. And then you have a national community, which might be the museum industry or tourists who travel to various places to see art museums and galleries. . . It小蝌蚪APP檚 a challenging balancing act.小蝌蚪APP
Gray has lots of experience keeping her balance. For the past three years, she served as curator of collections and exhibitions at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn 小蝌蚪APP. During her career, she has worked at a variety of museums, mostly in the midwest. They include the Kennedy Museum of Art at Ohio 小蝌蚪APP and The Dairy Barn Arts Center. Both are in Athens, Ohio.
She also gained valuable experience at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.; Gallaudet 小蝌蚪APP, also in the nation小蝌蚪APP檚 capital; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; and the Women小蝌蚪APP檚 Art Registry of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
小蝌蚪APP淚小蝌蚪APP檝e actually done everything in a museum. I was a coat check. I was a security guard. I小蝌蚪APP檝e hung installations and I小蝌蚪APP檝e done conservation work, mostly in textiles. I小蝌蚪APP檝e conducted inventories and handled duties related to shipping and receiving art work. I小蝌蚪APP檝e judged shows and I小蝌蚪APP檝e swept the floor,小蝌蚪APP she said. 小蝌蚪APP淚小蝌蚪APP檝e pretty much done the whole gamut.小蝌蚪APP
Gray has also taught college and university courses in art history, two and three-dimensional design, and drawing. At Gallaudet 小蝌蚪APP, she taught deaf and hard of hearing students using American Sign Language to communicate.
Gray will teach a course at UL Lafayette. 小蝌蚪APP淭he fact that I also have teaching responsibilities means that there will be a great connection between the museum and UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 College of the Arts. I think that小蝌蚪APP檚 a key role, in part, because we can cultivate our future audience through the university by attracting young students and getting them interested and involved in museum work.小蝌蚪APP
Mark Tullos, director of 小蝌蚪APP Art Museum, said Gray 小蝌蚪APP渨ill work in tandem with a new Collections Committee to discern the path of where the collection is headed. She will help us strategize ways to build this collection.小蝌蚪APP
Gray received a doctorate in American Cultural Studies at Ohio 小蝌蚪APP. She holds a bachelor小蝌蚪APP檚 degree in studio art from St. Cloud State 小蝌蚪APP and a master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree in applied design from the 小蝌蚪APP of Minnesota. She has owned her own business and has traveled extensively throughout eastern and western Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Northern Africa and the United States.
The breadth of Gray小蝌蚪APP檚 experience, combined with her academic background, made her the top choice for 小蝌蚪APP Art Museum小蝌蚪APP檚 first curator position, said Dr. Steve Landry, vice president of Academic Affairs at UL Lafayette. 小蝌蚪APP淪he小蝌蚪APP檚 a gifted curator who brings great enthusiasm and knowledge to the museum.小蝌蚪APP
Landry was chairman of a search committee composed of representatives of UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 faculty, the local art community and the UL Lafayette Foundation.
Gray said she is impressed with 小蝌蚪APP Art Museum小蝌蚪APP檚 opportunities for growth and with its staff. 小蝌蚪APP淚 think they have tremendous skills and I see myself fitting in and being inspired by that,小蝌蚪APP she said.
She also noted that the Cajun and Creole cultures of Acadiana captured her attention, especially since regionalism in art is one of her interests.
Gray is most proud of a successful show she developed at the Kennedy Museum of Art at Ohio 小蝌蚪APP entitled 小蝌蚪APP淎ppalachians: A Contemporary Cultural Perspective.小蝌蚪APP
小蝌蚪APP淚t was a very large, multidimensional project that involved music and film, literature and the arts. It really involved the community in getting them to ask questions about cultural identity, specifically Appalachian identity,小蝌蚪APP she said.
The Paul and Lulu Hilliard 小蝌蚪APP Art Museum opened in spring of 2004. Located at 710 East Saint Mary Boulevard, it小蝌蚪APP檚 open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call (337) 482-2278 or go to