First Day

Sunday, October 11^th, was my first shift as an interpretive guide. I was in the gallery for only 3 hours during the afternoon but it was a great learning experience from the start. I got my first experience of approaching visitors and was able to gauge where I do well and what I need to work on or what information I am lacking.

I got a broad range of responses from visitors, some very positive, some very confused, but none that were hateful of the work. Some, like a family with two children, just wanted some information for clarity or at least some sort of understanding. With others I was able to have a more two way conversation and even give the floor over to them. One woman who was very moved by the work really enjoyed talking about her experience of seeing the work, even though sometimes she was at a loss of words to describe it. One man responded with his interpretation when I asked him but then wanted reassurance and said “So am I right?” I feel like many visitors are confused by the work, but they have a reaction to it or see something in it and feel like they need permission from the artist or museum to think that. I often remind visitors that Anne Truitt wanted her work to be a visual experience for the viewer. Another interesting conversation I had was with a family of three, mother, father and daughter. I originally approached the woman and had a discussion concerning the column pieces titled after the four seasons. She expressed interest in the work but said that the way the artists depicted winter was far from how she saw it, she is used to winter as white, beautiful and reflecting light and Anne Truitt chose to use browns that are almost black, that to her were reminiscent of death. Then her husband and daughter approached, and I learned that the daughter is interested in psychology, so the idea of perception tied to this exhibit as well as the fact that Anne Truitt also studied psychology brought the family to the museum. The conversation I had with the husband was very different from the usual. He pointed out to me the proportions he saw in the pieces and wanted to understand why Truitt chose those. We discussed several pieces in term of math, which was his background. It was very interesting to try and analyze her work from such an analytical point of view. That experience reminded me the broad range of visitors I will be interacting with, and I am curious to see what other perceptions will surprise me.