ART MUSEUM CRITIQUE

Use the following format for your museum critique; answers must be typed below the
questions and all questions must appear in full on your final copy. You can use this
document as your template. Pay careful attention to the required number of words for those
questions that have them. Failure to follow the instructions here and on your syllabus will
result in a substantially low grade. Minimal answers poorly written are a D grade or less.
Elaboration of points, excellent arguments, and good writing garner higher grades.
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Name

Casey Sharkey

Class period/section

230-350

1) Which museum did you visit? (check one) _x__ Univ. of Utah ___ BYU
2) Describe at least one of the permanent collection exhibits on a theme, period,
geographic region, or topic) within the museum. {150 words}
One permanent collection at the exhibit is called the Nazi-Era Provenance Research
Project. It is one of the biggest exhibits because of the meaning it holds. During the
Nazi ruling, many officials and personnel stole works of art from private artists, galleries,
and religious institutions. The purpose of this collection was to give credit of the
paintings to the rightful owners. Many, homes, museums and educational institutions
were looted, and many artists and civilians were brutally beaten, and raped for the
Nazis could get their hands on the art work that they wanted. I thought it was really
amazing that people went out to restore these pieces of art work and bring recognition
to the artists who deserve it, even though it is years later. In the end of a horrible era of
the Nazi rule, there could be beauty and names brought to the victims who were
nameless for so long.
3) Give a brief, one paragraph description of a special, temporary exhibit (for help, ask
museum staff what these are; they are usually in one of the first rooms). {100 words}
Constructing the Utah Landscape is a current exhibit at the museum. I thought this
one was interesting because the art was so simple but I thought it showed how caught
up we get in things, and what our idea of beauty is now. The art showed the beauty of
nature alone, and a few trees and a pink sky painted in front of you can stop and make
you think about things that really matter. I realized while I was looking at these
paintings that its really important to go out and experience nature especially at my age
and how businesses and homes are spreading so rapidly, the beauty around us may be
gone in the blink of an eye because material objects are becoming an object that is
ruling our lives.
4) What do you think the museum administration and/or exhibit curators want you to learn
or gain from the exhibits you viewed? {100 word minimum}
I think especially in this Era, and how our generation is becoming, the museum
administration wants us to remember that social media and all these ideas we have in

our minds of what beauty is, is now skewed because we are so caught up in capturing
what we experience on camera and sharing it for likes or comments, instead of just
enjoying simple moments to be able to keep them as memories to share with close
friends, or just yourself and enjoying simplicities. I think they want us to forget about the
material and social issues we stress about so much on a regular basis.
5) What kind of information is provided about the works? Where might you look for further
information if you were interested? (Name three possibilities)
There is usually a description explaining the exhibit that you are viewing, and there are
workers around the studio to explain the art and the exhibit if anyone has any questions.
You could search the artist or the exhibit online if there are more questions
Usually art exhibits have pages online to further explain the artists and their point of
view
6) Choose several works that particularly appealed to you. Explain why you were drawn to
these works. Comment on the subject, style, medium, time period, etc. Who were the
artists? What message do you think the artists were trying to convey in the works you
chose to discuss? This question must be answered in its entirety. {This should be at
least 500 words}
An exhibit that had appealed to me especially was Brian Bress Make Your Own
Friends, It was an exhibit showing plants, and nature and creating faces out of it, the
faces were bright colors, so it looked kind of weird at first cause you would have thought
he would try to use more subtle colors to blend it in, but at the end of the exhibit I really
started to like how it looked and I realized there was a meaning behind it. I found out he
used a lot of thrift-store finds in his work to make them look silly. I really liked this
exhibit because he was showing that you dont have to be consumed in the world
around you, you can go out and become friends with things you wouldnt have thought
you would call friends like nature, and plants. Friends dont always have to be actual
people around you, they can be anything that makes you feel good. One of his
sculptural pieces called cowboy, there is a man drawing a face in front of him, literally
saying make your own friends. I think this exhibit was really special and could be
related to a lot of people because of the message it is portraying. I thought a lot about
how its the cool thing now to go out and experience nature, but people are doing for the
wrong reasons, they arent going out to be one with nature and become friends with the
world around us, they are doing it to take pictures of them doing it and post it on social
media so people think they are active and love the outdoors. I kind of hate seeing the
girls I follow on social media go on a hike because theyre wearing a really cute outfit
and have their makeup done and of course her best friend is going to be her
photographer for the day, but shes not doing it to experience anything. My best friend
and I love to go on hikes when the sun starts to set and we leave everything in the car
and bring a flashlight for when it gets dark, because when you are at a really pretty
view, alone and not worrying about what the picture would look like, you appreciate
what is going on around you so much more.
7) How did the artworks you looked at relate to material we have discussed in class?
(They do relate in many ways, you just need to look for those relationships). {Minimum

of 150 words}
I think it relates to material we have discussed in class in a lot of ways. In every reading
we have I think the main goal is to read what is in front of us and create our own opinion
and understanding on the reading. I think that goes hand in hand with the art museum,
we are supposed to be experiencing things around us and building our own opinions
and figuring out who we really are. There is no right or wrong way to feel about the art
we saw in front of us, just like when we share our opinions in class, we are never told
how we feel about it is wrong. Everything has a meaning behind it, even if it isnt
straight up about what it is, its important to try and figure out what the bigger picture in
every situation is because there could be more going on than what we see or hear.

8) What was your personal reaction to this experience? Would you enjoy attending this
type of event again? Why or why not? {Minimum 100 words}
I really did like this experience because it was a reason to go out and do something that
I wouldnt have chosen to do on a regular basis, and it didnt really feel like I was doing
it for an assignment because I got to relax and clear my head a little bit looking at all the
different exhibits and styles of art. I would definitely do this experience again, but I think
I would enjoy it more if I did it on my own time, and did it for myself instead of forcing
myself to go out to get a grade. It was a really good experience and I would love to go
back, but for myself. Its nice to do something that Im not doing for any particular
reason, just to do it.

As always remember that I want to see reflective thinking on your part. Show me you are
aware of your limitations, your biases, etc. Show me that you are thinking about your own
responses and why you respond the way you do.
As a young adult who is very social, I know I get really wrapped up in social media and
forget that there are more important things out in the world that I need to go out and
experience, thats why I started volunteering at the homeless shelter downtown as well, I
am so blessed to live the life I live and I dont think its fair to not give back to the
community in some way, and Ive learned a lot about people. Some of the nicest women I
have ever met come through the shelter doors looking for a room to sleep in for a night with
suitcases and backpacks full of all of their belongings, and their meals for the week. These
women have nothing to take for granted and its beautiful to see how they love life, and
talking to new people, despite their struggles. Although I should not be comparing anyones
life to a piece of art, I am saying that taking time out to focus on other things than just
yourself can open up so many possibilities.