My First Museum Visit

    My first museum visit was to the New Britain Museum of American Arts, on Friday, March 29th. I started my day by parking my car and going on a stroll by Walnut Hill Park since it’s basically on the back side of the museum. The weather was a little chilly but nice, I walked briefly and then headed into the museum. This was a solo visit, so I was a little nervous since I don’t tend to visit places alone. I was a little anxious but I went for it and decided to get started on my sightseeing.

    In New Britain, Connecticut, there is an art museum called the New Britain Museum of American Art. It is the nation's first museum devoted to American art, having opened its doors in 1903. The "New Britain Institute" was founded in 1853 with the intention of promoting art and education in the city, particularly among the immigrant community. John Butler Talcott donated the museum a $20,000 bequest in 1903 to be used for the purchase of "original modern oil paintings either by native or foreign artists". Tonalist Allen Butler Talcott of the Old Lyme Art Colony was Talcott's nephew. At the time, Bryson Burroughs, the curator of paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, advised museum administrators that it would be most economical to focus their efforts on acquiring American art. Following his guidance, the museum collected artwork valued at millions of dollars today, spending more than $1,000 on any piece piquing their interest.

  My favorite live of the was was the exhibit "Do You See What I See?". The Justin Favela exhibit, "Do You See What I See?" is located to your left as you enter the museum and was just unveiled at the end of February. Born in Las Vegas, artist Justin Favela is of Guatemalan and Mexican descent. A large portion of his work addresses the experiences of Latin X people in the United States as well as the ways that much of Latin American culture has been appropriated, Americanized, stereotyped, etc. He approaches things in a lighthearted, joking manner a lot. Conericot is used in reference to his most recent exhibit, which is on display at the museum. It's sort of like an immersive postcard that plays on the way, as Latinx Spanish speakers would phonetically spell Connecticut. Think of it as a Latin American welcome to Connecticut.

This display uses tissue paper and party steamers to create a beautiful piece of art. It is bright, colorful, and entertaining, and it is made with the same materials as piñatas. It's an unusual art medium that isn't usually found in museums, which traditionally house primarily sculptures and paintings. Favela uses material closely linked with Mexican and Central American culture while playfully challenging traditional hierarchies. Piñatas and celebrations come to mind right away when you look at the material. Here, though, Favela is showcasing beauty in a different way by taking this full-sized mural and turning it into a highly labor-intensive endeavor utilizing a very craft-based medium for his artwork. It was reported that Favela would work for weeks on end in his Las Vegas studio, meticulously chopping thousands of pieces of this piñata paper by hand with his assistant. Installation within the museum took three days for this piece to be fully in place. I thought it was a beautiful piece as I myself could resonate with it as a Mexican American who sees my culture within this piece.

It resembles an impressionist painting in that the image kind of disappears when you are up close, but it becomes visible as you shift your perspective. Palm trees and a tropical environment are seen; everything is so large and vivid. In reality, the pictures he used for the mural in this museum were taken from Latin American landscape paintings by painters who were part of the permanent collection. In a way, he's reclaiming these paintings from his heritage and is taking these paintings and sketches, making his exhibit a place that everyone is welcome to be in. Some of the inspiration for Justin Favela's painting may be seen next to the mural, including sketchbooks by Canadian artist Keith Miller. If you continue to walk a bit further into the museum, the museum holds a few of Miller's sketchbooks, which show scenes from Mexico, Guatemala, and Latin America. Justin Favela created and collaged his mural on display in the museum directly from these sketches. Miller traveled the world, exploring Europe and Asia before settling in Mexico, which all inspired his work.

There are permanent pieces further within the museum; Favela was inspired to create one based on one of those pieces but with a Latin X viewpoint. Favela reproduced the famous American still-life painter Raphael Phele's 1816 painting "Bowl of Peaches" in the Colonial and Federal Gallery. For Favela peaches, speaking up about the effort of Mexican farmers—whose labor is frequently unseen and unappreciated by the broader public—who toil away in the United States. However, there is also a personal meaning; Justin Favela relates how his great-grandfather and grandpa immigrated to the US and worked on farms; his grandfather in particular always had peach and orange trees on his estates. Favela believes that Raphael Phele's "Bowl of Peaches" would be his grandfather's favorite piece at the museum if he visited because he might have connected the painting to experiences in his own life. All in all, I enjoyed this visit since I haven’t been to a museum in a long time. I am excited to continue my visits and am thrilled to discover new artists and work.