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Find behind-the-scenes museum stories about artworks, artists, and more.
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Seeing Things05/11/2018
The other day, my colleague, Libby, and I walked through the museum in search of an artwork we could talk about. And though each artwork has a story to tell, Lava Thomas's "Requiem for Charleston," the artist's response to the church massacre at Mother Emanuel in 2015, spoke the most to us, in a quietly powerful way (if such a thing is possible).
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things06/22/2017
The other day, in my quest to look at works of art with fresh eyes, I asked a colleague to join me (that's one way to get new eyes) in a walk through the museum, and let me know what spoke to him.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things01/20/2017
This is the seventeenth in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts about seeing things in a museum.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things05/24/2016
Photography has a way with time. Two works of art, both photographic series currently on view, speak to each other in a poignant dialogue without words. In the Lincoln Gallery, on SAAM's third floor, Nicholas Nixon's The Brown Sisters can be seen on the wall adjacent to Camilo José Vergara's series 10828 S. Avalon Blvd., LA, a work whose compression is echoed in the title's insistence on abbreviations.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things01/29/2016
This is the fifteenth in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts about seeing things.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things07/28/2015
The ghosts, the commuters, the visitors, the stories...they all pass across the screen in Jim Campbell's Grand Central Station #2, a poetic meditation on movement and memory. On view in the exhibition, Watch This: Revelations in Media Art, Campbell's LED-based work features shadows that move across the floor of New York's Grand Central Station.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things06/18/2015
This is the fourteenth in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts about seeing things. Today, celebrating Christo's 80th birthday and a look at his Running Fence.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things05/29/2014
It's Throwback Thursday! And we at Eye Level have decided it's a great opportunity to bring back some of our interesting posts from the past. American Art has been publishing our blog since September 2005 (that's an eternity in Internet years) and some of our posts are as current now as the day we first posted them. First up: Howard's January 2008 post on capturing the moment, both the art and your visit. This post is part of a series of personal observations Howard has made about how people experience and explore museums.
SAAM Staff
Blog Editor
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Seeing Things03/04/2014
This is the thirteenth in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts about seeing things.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things12/30/2013
My favorite new story comes from the writings of poet Naomi Shihab Nye and her prose piece, "Museum," from her collection, Honeybee.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things09/10/2013
This is the twelfth in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts about seeing things.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things06/20/2013
This is the eleventh in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts about seeing things.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things01/25/2013
This is the tenth in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts on the subject.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
Image Not Available
Seeing Things12/20/2012
This is the ninth in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts on the subject.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things04/22/2011
This is the eighth in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts on the subject.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer
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Seeing Things01/04/2011
This is the seventh in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts on the subject.
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Howard Kaplan
Writer